I was happy to get back to racing after all the media stuff we had to do prior to the E-town race. We had a pretty good weekend. It started off rough ending up 17th on Friday, but it finished up okay. It was hot and miserable on Sunday, but I’m okay with a semi. We’re going to run the old car this weekend and not have to switch during qualifying. We'll test the new chassis a bit more before racing it.

Mel and I took off right before the finals to try and beat some traffic, but traffic was pretty tough until we got west of Philadelphia. I had a lot of energy, so we drove until about 2:30 a.m. on Monday. We drove all the way to Richmond, Ind., which is near the Indiana/Ohio border. We got home around 9:30 Monday morning and pretty much took the day off after we dropped off the motor home.

We got home earlier than expected, so it was nice to relax. I came by the shop on Tuesday, and my new TV had arrived. It was big, so we loaded it with the forklift into the back of Brad Morrison’s pickup. We put the TV inside, and I had to wait to play with it because I had things to do. Mel and I went to the chiropractor. After smoking the tires twice on Sunday and having to pedal, my neck was sore. Then we went to look at cars and went shopping on the Northside. I bought a T-shirt at Lucky Jeans. It has a front-engine dragster on it, so I had to buy that. If you’re looking for a cool drag racing shirt, stop by Lucky’s.

When we came home, Mel worked on the computer, and I put the TV stand together and got the TV going. The TV is pretty light, but the stand is heavy. It worked great! It’s a 65-inch Hewlett-Packard. I’d highly recommend it if you're looking for a big screen. We watched TV for a while and then got in the hot tub. The chiropractor and hot tub in one day, now that’s a bonus!

I paid bills this morning, and Mel met with Lyn St. James for breakfast. Lyn is going to start being an agent for female drivers to help with endorsement deals. Now, we’re picking up the motor home and heading toward St. Louis. We're going to stop by Neal Strausbaugh’s place in Hillsboro, Ill., for a cookout tonight. Maybe we’ll run into UFC champion Matt Hughes, who’s also from Hillsboro. We’ll get to the track tomorrow morning. Melanie is doing the press conference at noon, and then we’ll both do the POWERade Challenge on Thursday evening. Then, I have an appearance at 9:30 p.m. at Wild Country in Collinsville, Ill. So, if you’re nearby, stop by and say hello. If you like country bars, this is a good one.

We don’t run until 6 p.m. on Friday, so we’ll get to sleep in on Friday. We’ve got lots of time, so I’m sure we’ll go on a bike ride before qualifying.