There has been a lot going on with Tommy and me since his last blog. Of course we endured the rainy week in Pomona. There is only one thing worse than not racing at the Winternationals for us, and that’s sitting in the rain at the Winternationals while you are not racing. On the positive side, because no one was racing, it gave us plenty of time to make the rounds and visit with everyone at the track.

It was the first time that we had been at a race with neither of us racing. We used the opportunity to do some things that we wouldn’t normally do. We ate at a great little Italian restaurant in Laverne, just a couple of blocks from the track, called Café Allegro. I just love all the little college towns in the area with their cute little shops and restaurants. There is another area like it in Claremont and we eat at Walter’s, a favorite place of ours, just a few miles from the track. I was introduced to the restaurant by Micki and Larry Michael, parents of Rick Michael who owned the car back in the days that I drove the Western Rock dragster. We go there just about every time we are in Pomona. Okay, so are you seeing a trend? I like to eat and I love finding new restaurants while we are traveling.

With all this eating I have been doing I guess it’s a good thing that I have taken up running. I have been trying to decide whether or not I wanted to commit to this in the blog or not, but here goes. I am going to run the mini marathon here in Indy on May 2. I have said that I wanted to enter the race for several years, but it falls on the St. Louis race weekend. I didn’t want to say anything about the race until I was sure that I would follow through but I have been training for over three weeks now and I feel really good about it. My only goal right now is to be able to finish it. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Last weekend while Tommy was in Phoenix for the race, I was in Boca Raton, Florida for the Concours d’Elegance, benefiting the Boy’s and Girl’s Club. Roger Burgess, my car owner, invited Tommy and me to join him at the event. Of course Tommy needed to be at the race to continue working on a ride for this year, so I joined Roger, his wife Barbara, Frank Hawley and his wife Lana at the event. If you are not familiar with Concours d’Elengance events, (don’t worry I wasn’t either) they are centered around showcasing classic and vintage collector cars. On Friday night we were at the hangar party where they displayed rare collector cars, planes, race cars, and motorcycles as well as being treated to food and drink from local eateries. On Saturday night, we attended a black tie dinner and auction that was hosted by Howie Mandel. Roger donated a trip to the Las Vegas race on his plane along with Frank’s donation of a trip to his drag racing school. My favorite part of the night was the show by Michael Israel. It is hard to explain what he does if you have never seen it. He paints frantically to music, and when he is done he turns the canvas upside down to reveal the finished work. They auctioned of each of the pictures he made that night. I think we all had a great time, and there was a lot of money raised for the charity that evening. On Sunday I had to head home so I missed the car show, but I hear it is quite the spectacle.

Well that’s all the important stuff that we have been up to. Obviously my team is still hard at work trying to get our car back on the track this season. I think we all know how tough it is for everybody out there right now, not just for the racing community. I know that it is just a matter of time until things turn around.  One thing that helps me keep a positive outlook on this year is that I am trying to do all the things that our racing schedule would normally keep me from doing. That being said, if we are able to put together the sponsorship to go racing, I won’t be disappointed in the least to never get to run in the mini-marathon. Until that happens, I‘ll keep running.