I need sun! I can understand why plants need sun to grow. I think I need sunlight for energy. We have not had a lot of sun at the race track lately and I'm low on energy.

When we got to the race track on Wednesday, the weather was perfect. It was sunny and I went out and walked the track for a while. I always feel like I need to re-familiarize myself with a track if I have not been there in a while, just for precautionary reasons if nothing else. I like to walk it to see where the groove is and where any bumps may be. I like to go through the entire track so that when I am in the car, I am aware of where I need to be at certain points in the run. I also make sure to know the layout of the turnoffs, sand traps and everything else about the track before I come flying down the track in my Skoal Racing Monte Carlo.

The track looks good and I was looking forward to coming back here so much that it's nice to see that the facility has met those expectations.

After the track walk Melanie and I went to a mall on the north side of Richmond that was recommended to us by some friends. Shopping is our hobby and we basically spent the rest of the day up there. I got a couple of shirts and a new pair of shoes to wear to the track.

Mel started coming down with a cold and wasn't feeling well, so we cut the day short and went back to the track. The team was going out bowling but I decided I should stay in the motor home and take care of my wife. I made her dinner and watched TV most of the night. Mel went to bed early.

On Thursday I just hung out with the guys at the race trailer. Mel went to the press conference for the race, which was held downtown and I stayed at the track and waited for my dad to show up. I helped him park his motor home and since I had not seen him since the Indy race, it was great to be able to catch up and talk all afternoon.

That night we went to a Miller Lite party thrown by the Kozak Beverage company. They have been big supporters of Snake Racing for more than 10 years and I think they were the happiest bunch of people when Richmond was added back to the NHRA schedule. It was a nice gathering and everyone had a good time. After that, Mel, my dad and I went to a pizza joint right down the street and had dinner.

On Friday my mom and brother-in-law arrived from Mooresville, N.C.; they are all going to be here all weekend. Friday it rained all day and I hardly left the motor home. I didn't even get over to the race trailer, it rained so much. Mel is starting to feel better, which is a great thing. My mom made dinner in their motor home, so we all went there, ate a great meal and watched the ARCA race to get our racing fix.

Since then I've played a lot of solitaire and other computer games, just trying to wait out the rain. It feels like we are reliving Reading all over again. Well, they just called the race, so now we have to figure out how to get home and wait to come back next weekend.