Well, it's great to be back at Virginia Motorsports Park, especially since we are finally racing.

The week between the rainout and this weekend's rerun wasn't too eventful. Melanie and I were able to catch flights out of Richmond on Saturday and we got home around 9 p.m. that evening. We spent Sunday at home, watching football. We got to see the Colts play which was good. They are a good team right now but as soon as they figure out how to stop the run, they are going to be great.

We also watched the Cup race from Talladega. I was glad to see one of our buddies get the win. Brian Vickers won the race and we were really happy for his crew chief, Lance McGrew. Lance has been to the drag races a few times and has hung out with us, so it was great to see his car win the race.

On Monday Mel and I had to errands and prepare for the weekend we suddenly weren't going to get off because of the rerun in Richmond. I had a pretty big Honey-Do list that I was going to work on during the week and weekend off, but I had to get most of it done in just a couple of days instead.

On Tuesday Melanie flew to Las Vegas for an autograph signing and I got a haircut for the first time in weeks. After I got home, Spike and I spent the night as a couple of bachelors. We grabbed a neighbor and went downtown to have some Mexican food and watch the Ultimate Fighting Challenge on TV.

I think UFC is pretty cool. It's no holds-barred, just about anything goes and it's fun to watch. We also have a guy on the crew, Neal Strausbaugh, who comes from Hillsboro, Ill., and that's the hometown of the world champion, Matt Hughes. They know each other so our team always roots for Hughes. He didn't fight that night, but it's fun to watch when you have a personal contact and interest in what's going on.

Mel had a cold last week and I think I was trying to get her cold, so I didn't do a whole lot on Wednesday. I think that worked because I feel great. It was also rainy and cold outside, so Spike and I just hung out inside and waited for Mel to get back from Vegas. We had to start packing right away to come back to Richmond and we also had to pack for her banquet in New York. We originally were going to New York from Indianapolis this weekend but that all changed.

But it's all worth it if we can race, which we are doing right now. As soon as we got back to Richmond on Thursday Mel and I headed to the mall for lunch. We goofed off for a while before going to the track. It was completely deserted, which was so weird. It made us question if we had the right weekend for a second.

Qualifying went well on Friday. We all woke up to some pretty cool weather, but it turned out to be a pretty decent day. We made a 4.86 and a 4.81 pass to qualify fifth after the first day.

As soon as we get back into the trailer Mike Green and I sit down in front of the computer and look at the run. We talk about what he's thinking about doing the next pass and everything else that's going on with the car. I usually check in with him as we get closer to the next run and see what's he's got planned. We usually spend about 30 minutes of time for each run talking about the car.

Mike and I have a really good relationship and we have built up a great chemistry between us over the years. He can give a certain look and nod and I know what's he is thinking without saying anything. We are all really lucky because we have such a tight-knit team. We have great guys on the crew and we all communicate very well with each other.

Well, we are seventh going into tomorrow's show. It's going to be a great day of racing. I'll check in with the blog and give my New York wrap up after we go to Mel's Women's Sports Foundation banquet. Hopefully she wins!