At his very moment we are traveling down the road to St. Louis. We just came from the Summit Nationals in Atlanta, where the weekend was full of surprises. My best friend Dee Dee, from California, happened to be in Talladega with her parents, attending the induction of Warren Johnson into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. She told her parents that she wasn’t going to be that close to the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals and not attend, so she made covert arrangements with Doug and Debbie for her and her parents to show up and surprise me. They kept the secret very well, as did my brother who also attended and knew they were coming.

To give you a little background; I met Dee Dee at a racetrack owned and operated by her parents. You all know Gary and I spent many weekends at the races, well, Dee Dee did also, however, when I met her, she was the “Girl Friday” of Los Angeles County Raceway. Still in college, she helped her parents, Bernie and Anne run the racetrack on the weekends. It wasn’t long after we met that she ended up renting a room from Gary and I while she finished college, cutting her commute to the University in half.

Any weekend that Gary wasn’t racing, I would help Dee Dee and her parents at the racetrack with whatever needed to be done: concessions, computer, staging lanes, ET booth, water box, and announcer. I wasn’t an expert at any of the duties just filled in where needed.

We’ve been close friends since we met, and have one of those relationships that we can pick up where we left off even if it has been months since we have spoken.

For those who are history buffs, you may remember when the three girls debuted at Bandimere Speedway in 1996; Dee Dee was the one who started my bike.

Surprise #2 was the arrival of some friends from our bracket racing back home in Fallon, Nev. Mike and Jen Bryson, who now live and the Atlanta area showed up on Sunday to cheer us on. Mike was, at one time, the clutch man for the BME Top Fuel dragster.

Surprise #3 happened when some of the Mike Wallace’s crew give us a call and let us know they wanted to come to the race. Running in fifth on Saturday, Mike was doing great in Talladega until they had some mechanical issues. The team loaded up and headed toward Atlanta. They actually missed our first round, but made it for round 2 and on.

Of course, the best surprise of the weekend was our second win of the season. Gary had the Vance & Hines motor tuned great all weekend. I know I sound like a broken record but I will say it again, “Our main goal is to be consistent.” I feel like after four years we are now starting to see a little of that.

The weekend of surprises and guests is one that we will not forget for a long time.