Yes, the past couple of weeks has been fast paced and full of exciting things happening. When I wrote my last blog update I wasn’t pulling your leg when I said I was still searching for a ride. I was working on things, but didn’t think they would come together quite as quick as things did.

To say I am thrilled with how things worked out would be an understatement. When you are hit with the reality that you might be on the sidelines watching next year things can get pretty tough at times. I’ve already thanked Melanie for putting up with me being a little on the grumpy side at times. She understood because we have both been through this before. I wonder if I should apologize in advance now in case we match up head to head next season. It will be a fun and interesting season now with both of us in the same class. I know both of us don’t really care who is in the other lane when we are racing, you just want to win no matter who it is. I think everyone else will make it a bigger deal than we will. The bright side is we are both racing in '08.

First off I want to thank Don Prudhomme for everything he did for me in the seven years that I drove for him. Snake, Lynn, Donna, and Skip were great to work with and I will forever have great memories of my time there. I was bouncing around with teams from year to year when Snake gave me a place to call home. I learned a lot from them and it was an honor to drive for one of drag racing legends. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company was a great sponsor that I not only represented but built great friendships with everyone at the company. They were very supportive of not only my team but to all in drag racing. I wish them a lot of success next season with my buddy Larry Dixon and hopefully I can still take home some of their money in the U.S. Smokeless Showdown next year at Indy.

Now to how this all transpired. When I first found out that things were up in the air for next year, Kenny was the first person I ran into. I jokingly (but not really) asked him if he was ready to retire. He said no, but he would think about it and let me know. I saw him in Pomona and he said he was still thinking about it. I didn’t put too much faith in it because I know how hard it would be for me to walk away from driving. I had talked to a few other car owners about rides but there weren’t many opportunities out there. After our vacation I got home and there still wasn’t much happening. I made some phone calls to which I kept getting the same answer: we are working on stuff and we’ll see what happens. That’s a long ways from we are ready to go come get fitted to the car. Snake was still working on sponsor stuff for the team but didn’t have anything going on that front either. Kenny called a few times with questions and said he would give me an answer soon yes or no.

On Tuesday morning Dec. 4, Kenny called me and said "Let’s do this deal." He had made his decision, talked it over with everyone involved and it was a go. I talked with Snake to tell him I had found a ride for next season and he said he would send me over a release from my contract so I can compete next year. He has been very fair in all of this and as a former driver he understands what it would be like to have to sit on the sidelines for a year. By that afternoon I had signed some paperwork and was at the Monster Energy shop seeing how I fit in the chassis. It will be a new experience working with mostly new people, (Warrior from my team last year went to work at KBR and Ed Tyler who worked for me on my dragster back in the day works on the Monster Energy team now). It will be a little learning curve speaking the same language with Jimmy Walsh and the guys, but I don’t think it will take long. They had really started to run well at the end of this season especially for a first year team. I fully expect to start out at Pomona as one of the cars to beat.

I’ve been to the shop several days, worked on things like firesuits, and getting fitted to the cars. I’ve been to the PRI show with Melanie and back to the shop going over things. Last week I flew to Charlotte on Tuesday to do an autograph session for the Stocks for Tots program. It was a great experience and for a good cause. My dad has become good friends with Don Miller who puts the charity function on and I was more than happy to help out. I sat between Greg Anderson and Ryan Newman and had a great time. I got to spend a little time with my parents, sister and her husband Mike plus my nephew Gage. Not long enough though because I flew back home on Wednesday afternoon. I went to Murf McKinney’s shop on Thursday to get in the car so we can see what needs to be changed to make me fit. It has been non-stop for the last few weeks.

Now to the personal side of things. In the middle of all this the two yorkies have been a royal pain in the rear. Peanut is the one who likes to get into everything, but his sister Rottie likes to help out after he is in action. Peanut got into a plant that is toxic to dogs and we had to take him to the vet for medication and an IV. Melanie flew to Denver for the weekend after we got back from PRI for her mom’s 60th birthday surprise party. I stayed home and kept an eye on the dogs. They wore me out wanting to play non stop and since I was the only one here it was all up to me. She got home on Monday night and I flew out Tuesday so it was Melanie’s turn to be the playmate. My first day home last week was Thursday and lo and behold Peanut decided he would try another one of the plants out. Come to find out we have several plants that are toxic to dogs in the house. Rottie helped him eat it after he had jumped up on a table and dug the bulb out of the dirt. We rushed them both to the vet again where they spent the day. They had to induce vomiting and give them charcoal to absorb the toxins. We picked them up that night and shortly after we were home we notice Peanut’s left eye was swelling shut. Once again we were off to an after hours emergency vet this time. He had got some of the charcoal in his eye and had to have it washed out with more medicine. It sure is a good thing they are so much fun and great companionship because they sure can be a lot of work and aggravation sometimes. Needless to say I told Melanie all plants in the house have to go and we will replace them with fake ones.

It has snowed a couple of times in Indy now and I have done some serious shoveling. I bought a new trick shovel to help me with the work and it appears to be a good purchase. It’s kind of like a mini snow plow and it sure did help today when I shoveled about six or seven inches of snow. You even have to shovel the grass when you have dogs that you couldn’t see in six or more inches of snow. They seem to be warm climate dogs because they aren’t to hip on the snow.

Melanie and I are going to Murf’s tomorrow so we both can get fitted to our cars. She has a new chassis just coming out of the jig and I have two cars there we are converting from Kenny to me. A lot to get done in the last week before Christmas. Nothing seems to happen from Christmas to New Years so we have to make sure it all gets done this week. I’ve got a little more shopping to do too. I’ve got most of it done already thanks to the internet, but I have a couple of things yet to get the wife. We are heading to Denver for Christmas so I’ll try and give you an update before we head out next Saturday.