Well folks, this is blog No. 135 for us. I need to start out by thank the great NHRA drag racing fans who check in and support us and all the NHRA.com driver blogs. I’m still amazed at all the great feedback we hear both online and at the race track, so thanks for reading. That brings me back to our last quick blog entry and the Mini Cooper. I’m still stunned at all the “fan mail” I’ve received from all you readers. It’s amazing how many of you took the time to chime in on the Mini. Thank you for all the support. From all the hundreds of fans who sent both myself and PR Ted e-mails on the new car, there was only one “hate mail” e-mail and that person didn’t leave a name or e-mail address for me to respond to. So, again, thanks to all you readers.

We just finished the first qualifying session here at Texas Motorplex and it’s a hot one today. The track was 122 degrees when we ran. Our Skoal Racing Chevy made a decent run at 5.351 seconds. It spun the tires from about half-track on. Eric Medlen was low with a 5.03 in the right lane against us. We’re fifth in the order which puts us near the back of the pack for the night session. Hopefully, we can run a high to mid-4.80 and stay in the top half of the order. Those Skoal Showdown points are valuable.

Mel and I took off on Wednesday afternoon and drove to Hope, Ark., where we did the typical and spent the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I got up at 6 a.m. on Thursday morning and started driving again. We pulled into the truck was around 9 a.m. and by the time we fueled up and washed, it was 11 in the morning. We went straight to the track and got parked and set up for the weekend. After that, we went to visit some friends of ours from Ottumwa, Iowa, who recently moved to the Dallas-area. On the way, we stopped at a mall so Melanie could pick out a dress for the Woman’s Sports Foundation dinner in New York City. I was recently invited to go and I’ll just where the same suit I wore to the ESPYs. I’m not like a girl; I don’t need a new suit for each big event. The dress that Mel picked out, there were only two in the country, so it’s being shipped from Seattle to the house in Indy. After dinner with our friends, I made Mel drive home because I was tired from getting up so early. By the way, the Mini towed fine behind the motor home. So far, it’s working out just like we planned.

I didn’t bring my bike on this trip, so I wanted to sleep in this morning, but couldn’t. I woke up around 7:15 a.m. I played on the computer and hung out at the motor home before getting to the pit. It’s really windy and hot here today, so we’re drinking lots of Dasani. That’s the update for now. Have a great weekend.