If anyone keeps up with Matt and I on Facebook most of you know he has been away for three weeks in Qatar training an Al-Anabi racer how to ride a Pro Stock Motorcycle. Last year Sheikh Khalid Al Thani purchased the orange Pro Stock Motorcycle I rode in NHRA competition in 2008. Mohammed has been doing great on the bike. Matt talked with Sheikh Khalid several times about getting involved in the US with Pro Stock Motorcycle. Matt and Sheikh Khalid have formed a partnership for the 2010 season and we are very excited. Matt’s intention this year was to run a few races and to tune my bike. Sheikh Khalid came to Matt’s rescue. It’s such an awesome feeling for Matt. He is even more excited for the race season to begin now. Matt and I want to say thank you so much to Sheikh Khalid for sponsoring Matt this season. This year is going to be unforgettable. Matt’s focus is for our whole team to do exceptional this year and winning a Championship. We have been working hard on new valve train and headwork for our motor. Matt flew out yesterday to Qatar.

Life has been crazy since the first of the year. I have been ordering everything from racing parts to crew uniforms. We are scheduled to have our transporter wrapped on February 15. My Coffman Tank Trucks/Klement bike will be back from Brian Olson’s paint shop on Friday. I am so excited to see my new bike. Robby East joined our team full time as of January 1st. He has been my crew guy for the last two years with the help of Michael Middleton. Everything is coming together as planned and it’s a blessing. I am so thankful to have everyone involved in my racing operation. I am counting down the days until our test session in Valdosta. After Valdosta we are headed to Gainesville with lots of drive and motivation with our new team. My sponsors JD and Terrisa Coffman and Karl and Kim Klement will be in attendance. We are going to have fun.

Matt and I have been building a house for the last four months. Its finally complete. It’s a relief. Now all of the complicated stuff comes in. Moving. We started moving some of our big furniture on Friday evening. We did the majority of it on Saturday. Matt ordered some new furniture for the theatre room. The furniture company delivered it on Saturday just in time for the Super Bowl. As always we had a Superbowl party. Matt’s mom Nancy helped me out tremendously. She helped me get food ready for the party. Our friends and family came over and we had a very enjoyable night. Needless to say we still have to move all of our little stuff but at least we get to sleep in our new home. Just want to say thank you to Robby, Michael. Rickie, and Nancy for helping us with everything along the way.

On Jan. 30, Rickie Smith was inducted into the North Carolina Drag Racers Hall of Fame. That is a huge accomplishment. Rickie has done more in drag racing then some people will do in their entire lifetime. Rickie Smith is a legend in drag racing and he is still doing it. He will be racing with Troy Coughlin this year and will serve as crew chief for his car in the NHRA Pro Mod category. Congratulations Rickie!!! You deserve it.

Matt and I are so blessed to have the amount of support we have in our racing careers. Its really hard at times because we don’t get to spend the amount of time with our families that we should spend. We want to say thank you to our families for all the support they have given us and will continue to give us through the year.