Whew... Yesterday was what you'd call a long day, in travel terms, but now I'm back home again in warm Minnesota, where the high temperature on Wednesday was two degrees on the plus side of what it was in Jacksonville. I know this because I spent much of the day getting to Jacksonville, got a little lucky to get to the airport on time, and was chilled each time I stopped for gas. At the gate, the agent made a point of letting us know it was 61 there at the airport and 63 in Minneapolis. So take that!

Even though Tuesday night was my third night of sleep after winning the race, the constant "on the go" travel and socializing didn't allow me to fully recharge any batteries so I was still bushed when I got up on Wednesday morning, but I had still had to get from southwest Florida up to the northeastern corner of that very long and skinny state, back to JAX to fly home on a 6:00 flight. Sounded easy, and I did have plenty of time, so I chose to veer off on some alternate routes rather than join the NASCAR-style "rubbin' is racin'" event that is I-75, and in the end I think that was a lot more enjoyable and probably just as quick. I even got up through Waldo, Starke, and Lawtey again without coming close to getting a ticket!

Once I got up to I-10, though, I came ever so close to having a real problem. I had just stopped to top off the gas in Baldwin, where Route 301 intersects with I-10 just west of Jacksonville, and from there it's usually only about 20 minutes or so to the airport. I was way early, and I considered running into the Subway that was next door to get a sandwich but decided to plow on ahead and just get up there, get checked-in, and get through security. I figured, if I was still starving there would be options at the airport, and even though I was still listed in coach the Upgrade Status web page showed me as No. 1 out of 8, with five seats still open up front, so I'd probably get something to eat on the flight as well. Let's just say it was a very good thing I didn't go into that Subway for a tuna on wheat...

As I approached the off-ramp to go from I-10 to I-295 (the loop that goes around Jacksonville and takes you to the airport) I saw a lot of people swerving up ahead, and a lot of brake lights. I was already over in the exit lane, but then saw people running toward the ramp and I knew something big was happening. Rolling the dice, I pulled out of line and got over to the far left lane where I was just barely able to get around the mess, which included an overturned tanker truck that had blown right through the exit sign and now was laying across the exit ramp leaking its cargo... The big interstate exit sign was spread across much of I-10, there was gravel everywhere, and people were busting out the windows on the cab of the truck, to get the driver out. Just as I inched by, the first of dozens of emergency vehicles arrived behind me, shutting down the interstate.

I went up one more exit on 10, where I was able to turn around and head back to the northbound ramp for 295 coming from the other direction, and by that time the scene was nothing but sirens, flashing lights, and parked cars. I got online this morning to check the Jacksonville newspapers, and it turned out the driver was okay, but he was booked for reckless driving (duh!). The tanker was carrying oil, but by the time I inched by and the fire department was showing up, you could tell there was great concern about how flammable the cargo was, and the whole area was, indeed, shut down for quite some time while they cleaned it up and removed the truck. Had I been just a few minutes later, I probably would've gotten caught in one of those scenarios where they shut the highway but the people up near the wreck have nowhere to go, until the authorities can block off the freeway at the previous exit and then begin the tedious job of turning cars around, one by one, to send them back there. Whew. Missed it by that much...

Anyway, I did get upgraded, I did get home, and I did stand up at the end of the flight to discover my right ankle had decided to seize up and become dysfunctional at some point during the trip. Sweet! Even in the front cabin, the seats on the Embraer 175 are situated a little funny and I never found a comfortable way to put both of my feet out in front of me. With my lousy ankles, I had gotten through the weekend with a lot of Advil and some preventative care, but there on the final leg of the week-long journey, almost home, it finally all added up and by the time I got back to the ranch here in Woodbury it was swollen and sore. Better today, I'm happy to report, and those two Advils I took this morning seem to be having a positive effect. It's lousy getting old...

This morning I awoke to the sights of real spring, all around me. Not a speck of snow, a rapidly receding ice pack on the ponds, and real-live ducks and geese in the area. When I left for Gainesville, I posted a pic of the first tiny corner of the pond that had melted, and now we have water all around the edges on our side. There's even enough of an ice-free zone for the mallards to come in on final approach and make a smooth water landing.

I have the door to the porch open, letting Da Boyce go in and out as they please, and we'll be back up around 60 today. Then, because this is Minnesota and because it's March, we get a little snap of cruddy stuff tomorrow, with a chance of snow or sleet and gray skies. What I'm looking forward to is Sunday, when we have our Open House at Target Field, and right now most of the forecasts are calling for sunny and 45. I'll take the 45 if the sun is out...

In today's photo gallery, I'll include some additional pics from Gainesville, including the new "head shot" of Tim I managed to get after he put on his new Simpson fire suit for the first time. Trust me, any fire suit never looks quite the same after even one lap in the car, so I was lucky to get him looking all cleaned up and nice. A moment frozen in time, just before four big round-wins on Sunday!

An enormous "V" of Canada Geese just flew over, with at least 35-40 honking members in the group. Ain't no stoppin' 'em now...

Upstairs, here at home, the master bathroom renovation is well underway and making great progress. Cory, the expert tile guy we have on the job, is about finished with the shower and will probably have the floor done today, as well. The concept for the shower design is Barb's, and seeing it now in "real life" as opposed to rough sketches that demanded a healthy amount of imagination, I have to say it's terrific and she could probably do this for a living.

Barb is outstanding at her real job, but I've always said she should hire herself out to people who are buying cars, too, because I've never seen anyone go through that process so expertly and thoroughly. I'll never forget the Saab 9-5 we bought when we lived in Austin, Texas. The whole sales process took two or three days, and in the end the general manager of the dealership (who had taken over negotiations after Day One) just threw up his hands and said "Okay, we'll take your offer. Now just go out on the lot and pick any car you want, with any options you want. Take whatever one you want. Seriously. Just take one and we'll say this is over..." She had brought the poor guy to his knees. She had planned it out to buy the car on the last day of the month (always a good idea), but she had been unaware it was also the last day of the dealership's fiscal year! Once she figured that out, all bets were off... We basically stole that car, and it was a privilege to watch her work the deal. Poor guys never stood a chance...

Well, after seeing this bathroom design come together, I'd say she could also moonlight as one of those renovation project hosts on TV. This thing is going to look NICE! And very original.

Boofus and Buster were pretty happy to see me last night, although they had to go through the whole dance that includes being standoffish at first, then a little inquisitive, then maybe happen to walk by my leg and give it a glancing "Oh, did I bump up against you?" rub. By this morning, all was back to normal, and they were playing with their toys at a frantic pace. Blog readers Keith and Kelly, who have two Bombay kitties just like ours, were kind enough to bring some new toys to the race over the weekend, and throughout the year I probably bring home a couple of dozen new things for our boyz to play with, thanks to kind people who bring little stuffed mice or other objects to the races. I can assure you that Boof and the Big Fella appreciate that very much, at least for a few minutes, although I've also gotten the double evil-eye from the TSA agents at the airport, when I forget to pack catnip items in my checked bag and instead have them in my briefcase. I'm surprised I haven't yet been surrounded by German Shepherds and taken to a back room yet...

Well, this is a bit short but now I'm off my routine a bit so I wanted to get this posted. Next week, we'll start grappling with the bizarre reality of what's to come in Charlotte. Four-wide, all weekend! It's going to be very strange, and probably a little overwhelming... I'll be wearing ear plugs under my ear muffs, I can tell you that! Just that one exhibition deal we did last year was one of the loudest and most impactful experiences I've ever had the privilege to be a part of...

See you in a couple of days, I'm sure. Until then...

Wilber, out!

It's actually dinner time on a Tuesday night, which is not standard blog-writing time, but I'll spend most of tomorrow driving back up to Jacksonville so I thought I'd delay my evening meal in order to start this blog. I'm not sure when I'll finish this, nor have I a clue when it will be posted, so it might very well end up being Wednesday before this sees the light of day. To me, that's better than not blogging at all...

When I last left you, I was hustling to write a quick installment on Monday morning, trying to wade through the pea-soup fog in my head to come up with some sort of coherent replay of how Sunday happened. Like any writer, I looked back on it later and wished I'd had more time, more wide-awake brain cells, or more talent (actually, all three) but at least I got it out there and a lot of people seemed to like the rushed and furious pace of it. That would be appropriate, in the end, because Sunday's pace did go from sleepy and leisurely in the wee early hours of the morning, to fast, furious, and unrelenting for the rest of the day.

And here's one thing I'm proud of... As many people have noted via email, my decal work looked good on TV. I can't tell you how much I hate it when I see the car in either photographs or on the tube and I immediately spot either a crooked one or something that just doesn't look right to me. When I finished this car, I stood back and was happy with how it looked and now I'm even happier, because it did turn out rather nicely, and I really appreciated the comments so many people sent my way. And, I suspect, decal placement and application was probably not something many of those who emailed had ever thought much of, before.

Most of those pesky decals also stayed pretty much in place throughout the weekend, which is also a good thing. Flames, vibrations, and 300 mph all conspire to do unbelievable things to little sticky decals, and it's impossible for all of them to survive all those elements, but I only had to get the razor blade out and trim a few flapping edges by the end of the day. I give credit to the Ford Shelby Mustang, for being so swoopy and sleek it doesn't put as much strain on the decals!

And speaking of people who have emailed me, I once again have to offer up a very sincere apology. I've never been so upside down and swamped as I am right now, in terms of even attempting to reply to people who have taken the time to drop me a note, and that eats at me like a headache. Since the first time I wrote one of these blogs I've done all I can to respond to as many people as possible, but the Gatornationals win obviously touched a lot of people because my in-box is overloaded, but at the same time my days are busy and my brain is mush, so it's all gotten me far behind. It may take a week, but I'm still going to give it a shot to respond to every note...

Anyway, once I finished the Monday blog I headed over to meet my sister Mary at the assisted living center where my mom lives, and we headed in to see her. I will say this: I am SO GLAD I went there and did this. Frankly, I was prepared for the worst and yet I walked out of there feeling so happy to be my mother's son and to have lived such a rich life because of what she and my dad provided for all of us. This is normally private stuff, but I've always been pretty open on this blog so I might as well be candid and let you know she has been moved to the hospice side of the facility and won't be with us for very long. That's why I went to Sarasota after the Gainesville race.

When we found her in the public area of her floor, she was napping in a big chair. Mary gently touched her on the shoulder and she woke up, said hello to both of us, and then looked me right in the eye. I haven't seen my mom for a while, but I thought that was remarkable and in my gut I felt that somewhere deep within her she knew it was me, her youngest boy. Perhaps, though, it was just my willingness to submit to my imagination... Mary lives close by and sees her all the time, and later, after we left, the first thing Mary said was "My gosh, she sure locked right on to you, didn't she?" So I hadn't imagined it. That's why I'm so glad I did this and saw her. Rather than the visit being as I had feared, wherein I'd be left with the image of a shell of my former mother, I feel like we briefly got to connect, and she smiled a very happy smile.

I got a post-race email from Sergeant Jim Olson, who works for the Cypress, Calif. Police Department, and Jim (whom I do not know) kindly wrote "Enjoy your time in Florida with your mother and sister. After reading what you wrote about your mother, might I suggest sharing in your blog what type of mother she was and what she means to you? All the NHRA stuff is cool; however nothing is more important than family."

Well Jim, I am a product of two of the most amazing people anyone could have for parents, and I'm equal parts both of them. Most people know my dad was a life-long baseball man, and I obviously got some of those genes (not quite enough to follow him to the big leagues, but a good enough amount to get a college education and a short pro career out of it). My mom, though, gave me what's between my ears. She was, over the years, a radio personality on KMOX in St. Louis, a writer, a PR expert with her own agency, a deep thinker, and a barrier buster in terms of gender equality in the workplace.

Beyond that, she not only gave me the communications skills I possess, she also instilled in me the fairness, tolerance, and appreciation for diversity that I am proud carry on as a Wilber. It was my mom who raised me to be color blind, to be tolerant of other people's differences and their own agendas, and open to ideas that might not specifically help only me. I cannot recall a day in my life, even as a very small child, when I was not firmly aware of how lucky I was to be born into this family, and how clear my mother made it that others might not be so lucky, and that we should all be willing to help, willing to understand, and willing to share.

She also raised me and kept me alive. My dad was gone so much with his baseball career that most of us were raised more by Mom than by Dad. For me, as the fifth and final kid, I just happened to also be born with horrible asthma, very bad allergies, and just an overall lousy bill of health, and it was my mom who gave me the shots (sometimes daily, always weekly), hauled me off to the wide variety of doctor's offices I had to visit every week, and made sure I had my medicine and could breathe. It's not fun to be five years old and gasping for every breath while all the other kids are outside playing "kick the can" in the street, but she was always calm and there's no doubt that helped me. When I got through each bout and started feeling better, she would always take me to Steak 'N Shake, so perhaps it's now more clear why I love those delicious steakburgers to this day.

In a nutshell, that's my mom.

Mary and I both left her feeling really good about our brief visit, and for the rest of the day I was in the hands of my near-twin sister. We were born only 11 months apart, so all the years before college consisted of the two of us helping each other grow up, and we only wished we'd have been born in the opposite order. That would've made it so much easier in terms of finding dates for each other during high school... LOL. As it was, none of her friends wanted to date her "little brother" and all of my friends were intimidated by older girls. So, during those times when we both were "between dates" we'd basically just hang out with each other. I probably went to more concerts and movies with Mary than I did with any other girl in high school... That's why it's always so easy to see her, and her family.

She drove me all around the area, along the beaches and through some wonderful neighborhoods (both she and her husband Lonnie are in real estate, so she knows all the cool places) and then we had "Grouper Fingers" at a place called The White Elephant (where we watched dolphins playing just a few yards out in the open water) followed by dinner at wonderful little waterside restaurant called Pop's, where we were joined by my niece Kim and her boyfriend Brad, who have just recently moved down here from St. Louis. For the record, Grouper Fingers, just like Walleye Fingers at Shorty's place in Minnesota, are delectable. And no, Grouper fish don't actually have fingers either...

Today, I got up at the crack of 9:00 (still recharging after the race) and headed down to Fort Myers to meet up with the Finkster and attend the Twins game at Hammond Stadium. You know, when Barb and I moved to Minnesota in 2002 the Twins were one of the teams MLB was considering for elimination. They weren't drawing well and they weren't playing well, so the commissioner picked them (along with the Expos) as teams to be "contracted" and sent off to baseball heaven as nothing more than a memory. Fortunately, some Minnesotans in high places kept that from happening and what has occurred since is nothing short of remarkable. Since 2002, they've always been contenders, they've developed an incredibly loyal fan base, and now we're getting ready to move into Target Field with the prospect of the Twins actually selling-out the entire season before the first pitch is thrown! Who'da thunk...

That same wonderfully loyal and devoted fan base is also on display in Fort Myers, and I discovered that when it took me 40 minutes to get from the freeway exit to the ballpark, which is all of five or six miles away. They fill Hammond Stadium for every game, and gosh it was fun to be surrounded by Minnesotans, all decked out in their Twins garb, down here in Florida. The PA announcer also takes great joy in announcing the current weather conditions, for both Fort Meyers and the Twin Cities, just so everyone feels just a bit more comfortable down in sunny Florida.

The game wasn't all that good, but it was great to be wearing sandals at a ballgame in March, and John actually won a bobble head doll during the game. There's just nothing like spring training...

Tomorrow, back up to Jacksonville and then I'll get to fly home... It will be great to hug my wife, pet Da Boyce, and see how the bathroom project is coming along. Barb has been sending me pics of the new tile in the shower and the other parts of the job, so I'm really looking forward to getting back home.

Then, next week I'm off to Charlotte to see if Mr. Wilkerson can stay hot and win some more rounds. It's great to have gotten that first win under our belts so early, and now we want more! Somehow, I'll find room for more Wally trophies in my office... Even if we have to build an extension.

Back in a few days, gang. Thanks for the support, the great emails, and for letting me write about my mom.

Wilber, out!
 

Whew... I have no idea where to start, little idea how to write about it, and almost too many ideas to bring into focus, but here I go, diving into the deep end like a swimmer on a mission. I have more to do today than I have time to do it, however, so I'm afraid this might not be the longest blog I ever wrote... I just have to write fast!

First of all, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who posted notes on my Facebook page, or sent emails and text messages. By the time I got to this hotel room late last night, I had well over 250 emails in my in-box, and then a similar amount of new ones this morning when I finally got up, so I'm going to have to apologize right up front if I'm not able to send a personal note back to everyone. I'd love to, but the next couple of days are going to be a bit nuts, too, so I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to do in that regard. Right now, my main focus (if you could call my foggy brain focused at all) is this blog, since it reaches the greatest amount of people all at once.

As I type, I'm in my room at the Holiday Inn by the Sarasota Airport at noon at Monday. I could've slept until Tuesday. Somehow, when I plotted out this whole trip and this visit to other parts of Florida after the Gatornationals, I actually didn't factor in winning the race and then going to dinner with the team afterward, nor did I speculate that with a 6:00 a.m. departure from the hotel on race day and the loss of an hour's sleep due to the start of Daylight Saving Time, I'd be operating on fumes by the end of Sunday. I got here at 12:30 last night, still amped up from the win and too many Diet Cokes, but it was probably around 3:00 a.m. when I fell asleep, and my brain still hasn't fully engaged yet on this beautiful Monday.

My plan today is to meet up with my sister Mary and her husband Lonnie, and the first mission is to go see my mom. Emotions are emotions, whether they're incredibly positive or tougher to take, so like the last 24 hours this day will continue to be emotional for me, in all ways. We know my mom will not be with us much longer, and with her Alzheimer's we've lost real contact with the mother we all knew and loved for the vast majority of our lives, so I'm here to make a visit and perhaps say goodbye. On the positive side, Mary is my closest sibling (both in terms of age and attachment, since we grew up together) and it will be great to spend a day with her and Lonnie, along with my niece Kim. There will be laughs, for sure, and valuable time spent with people who mean the world to me.

Heading back to yesterday, however, let's just go back through a Sunday to remember. I'll never forget it, and I hope I have the writing capabilities to put it into some sort of coherent story for you. Maybe I need another cup of coffee before I try this...

In the photo gallery, I'll start with the shot I took of our pit area right after I arrived at the track. I think it was about 6:40 on Sunday morning, and I know I took a similar photo last year but the chance to catch a glimpse of a professional Funny Car pit area before sunrise is too good to pass up. I'm also amazed at my Nikon's ability to give me photos like that, with no flash in a darkened world. Pretty neat stuff, and you can just see the first pinkish glow in the eastern sky as dawn nears on race day. No wonder I was so tired when I got here last night!

After a long and slow morning, the first round finally happened and we were all pretty excited about the day. We ran so darn well in qualifying, making successive laps of 4.13, 4.12, and then 4.11 with our new car, we surely hoped we'd have a shot at getting our first round win in the bank, but with my old buddy Jeff Arend as the opponent we knew we'd have our work cut out for us, and after we slipped to the 9th spot on Saturday, we also knew we wouldn't have lane choice.

Before we ran, I walked over to the far side of the starting line and found a golf cart sitting there, in the area where crew members are allowed to stand. I took a seat on the golf cart and watched all of Top Fuel and most of the Funny Car class, since we were going to be the 8th and final pair in round one. All of us prefer to go early in the round, even first if possible, and going last drives us a little nuts in a lot of ways. By that time, you just want to get out there and race, to see how it's all going to turn out, but you have to watch seven other pairs go ahead of you. Then, if you do win, you have the shortest turn-around time in the class... As the 8th and 9th qualifiers, though, you can only take what's left after the top seven have picked their slots, and it's almost always the last pair.

Finally, we got up there and ran Jeff and although it wasn't a perfect lap, we went A-to-B and got our first win light of the year. As I said in my post-event report, at least we knew we weren't going to finish the 2010 season 0-23! From that point forward, the day now seems like a blur. It was a mad dash back to the pit, lots of updating, writing, and internet posting, a madhouse of power tools, frantic crew work, and cheering fans, and then a blast of nitro from the warm up. Before you knew it, we were pushing the car out of the pit and heading back up there again, trying to even our season record at 2-2 against Matt Hagan, who had qualified No. 1 by running enormously fast. Tim, however, had that devilish look in his eye, because he was falling quite madly in love with his race car and he knew we had a chance to win some rounds.

For me, it was all about routines. Back to the same golf cart, following the same procedures. This time, we really ran great and the 4.09 we put on the board was not only enough to advance another round, it was our best lap of the year so far. Back to the pit, same updates, same routines, everything the same. Before the day started, we knew we were on opposite sides of the ladder with Bob Tasca and our teammates next door, and we all had hope, but by the time we had each advanced to the semifinals it all began to seem possible. Could we actually meet up in the final round for the first time? It wasn't going to be easy... We had to beat Tony Pedregon and they had to take out Ron Capps.

Back to the line, back to the same golf cart, and back to the all the routines we all follow. Jeff Jacobs, our talented and illustrious Car Chief, and I do a double-slap and fist bump behind the car, right after we've pushed it to the water box, then Nick Shaff and I do a fist bump before we push the car forward to get it rolling for the burnout. Krista Wilkerson then hands me the video camera, Finkster and I then do our fist bump, and then Cole Nance finds me after he's moved the starter cart off to the side of the track, and when he does we bang shoulders so hard I think I've jammed a few vertebrae... Then, I stand behind the car to shoot the video.

We beat Tony, to advance to the final (from 0-2 we were now 3-2) and I stayed up there to watch the Tasca boys take on Capps. They won too, with a huge lap, and we all shook hands and headed back to the pit for our all-Ford final.

Same routines, same everything. Update our stats, update the dry- erase board, update Twitter, update Facebook, update everything. Back to the line, back to the same golf cart, back to the fist bumps, the shoulder bangs, and everything else. As I stood behind the car, watching Tim stage through the viewfinder, I actually thought "Well, here we are. In about four seconds we're all either going to be going nuts, or we'll be shaking hands with the Tasca team and congratulating them. Isn't it odd I can stand here and think this, not knowing how it will turn out but knowing it's about to all happen in one huge moment?" Bizarre to be standing there thinking that, as the yellow bulbs came on. True though. I actually thought all of that, while watching through the camera.

Tim took off, I held the camera as still as possible to keep him in the frame, and then the world went crazy. Holy cow, we won the Gatornationals!!! Amazing... Absolutely amazing.

We all went certifiably crazy for a bit, then headed to the top end to get the boss. After that, a whirlwind of interviews, hugs, handshakes, laughs, and hats. Lots of hats! We got back to the Winner's Circle, Tim did some interviews there, then up to the Media Center to do more press work, then finally back to the Winner's Circle to take photos and do the "hat dance" for all our wonderful sponsors. We had event hats, we had Full Throttle hats, we had Tire Kingdom hats, Ford hats, Summit hats, Valvoline hats, and Goodyear hats. We had a lot of hats. And we loved wearing them and cheering for the cameras. There's really nothing like it... Again, absolutely amazing.

After that, we finally headed back to the pit and while the guys put the car away I tucked myself into my little corner of the hospitality area to write my report. Just as I finished, the guys finished and we were off to the Gainesville Ale House for a dinner and celebration with all our teammates on the Tasca side. We ate, we laughed, we looked at Marc Denner's iPhone and his seven pages of apps. Wings, burgers, salads, fish, steak, you name it... A good time was had by all, including most of the Force team who were also there.

The coolest part was the fact the race was on ESPN2, and it was on most of the screens in the Ale House so we got to watch it and re-live it again. When we won, the Force team applauded for us, and that caused the rest of the restaurant to look over in our direction, then up at the screens, then back at us, and before long the whole place was clapping. How cool is that! One more time, the whole thing was absolutely amazing.

At 9:00, I got in my car and headed south. At 12:30, I was in this room. Now, 12 hours later, I need to wrap this up and go see my sister and my mom. Tomorrow, down to Fort Myers to see the Twins play with the Finkster. Wednesday, back up to Jacksonville to fly home. Hello Florida!

Thanks again, everyone! You know what? It was absolutely amazing!

Wilber, out!
 

Greetings from my room at the Paramount Plaza Hotel in Gainesville, just south of the University of Florida, home of the Gators. Turns out, this is a nice place with a full-service restaurant (which means room service, for those of us who are anti-social) and it's a breeze to get from here to the track. Especially on rain-drenched Thursdays when no one else is going to the track.

I got up at the crack of dawn today, just to peer outside (I'd show you the view from my window, but shots of the parking lot are so last year) and the much-predicted rain was coming down steady. Not hard, not torrential, but "you need a rain coat or an umbrella" steady. Around 8:30 or thereabouts, I left here and swung through Mickey D's to grab a sausage and egg McMuffin and a large coffee, and then off I went. It was still coming down pretty hard when I got to the track, but as I pulled up to the pit area (it's not impossible for us to drive right to the pit on Wednesday or Thursday) I could see Annette and all the guys hard at work, still putting up the transporter awning and the hospitality area. Ouch... Everyone was soaked.

I got involved immediately, although I have to admit that the main awning for the hospitality area was up by then so I wasn't standing out in the pouring rain like they had been, and a few hours later we had the whole circus put together, zipped up, and ready to go. Do I feel bad that they all got soaked and I just got inconveniently damp? Yes. I owe them all something, I'm just not sure what. Dinner is always a good option. Or candlesticks...

Once all that fun stuff was done, the guys got the new car out out of the trailer and I, therefore, got my decal file out as well. Time to get to work, stickin' them vinyl bits on a shiny new body! I went through my collection and discovered I was only missing three sponsor decals, and two of them will be available at the track tomorrow while the third is being shipped to us, so I knew I could proceed.

The car has to pass tech inspection before it can race, of course, and at first the guys were assuming they'd be heading down to get that done pretty quickly, so I figured I could at least get a head start and stick a few of the big ones on before they left for what could be many hours. Then, Tim returned from where they do the inspections to report that a long line of cars, motorcycles, and other race vehicles were all in line and the whole process wasn't moving very quickly, so the guys might as well keep working on the car for a while. He had the bright idea to send one of our other vehicles down there to get in line, to effectively "hold our place," and since that spot was right behind the NAPA team, those guys promised they'd give us a heads-up when our spot was getting close. What this did for me, selfishly speaking, was give me the opportunity to nearly finish the car, in terms of associate sponsor and contingency sponsor decals. No argument from me on that one, I can promise you that.

I plowed through nearly the whole thing, and starting with a blank canvas like this gave me a shot to fix some of the things that had been bugging me about how I did the '09 cars. In the end today, I was happy with the placements and the look of it all, and nothing jumped right out at me as be horribly crooked, so I'm good with it. After one lap, we'll see how good with it I remain. There are simply a few spots on the car that are not good places to stick decals, due to either a proximity to the flame-spewing headers or due to the fact they have to be folded over various lips, ledges, or curves. None of those things are friends to decals that have to ride along at 300 mph... I still have more decals than space, though, so I have to put stuff there and hope for the best. Like I said, we'll see how bad it looks after its maiden voyage...

Right now, I'm missing my Autolite, Aeroquip, and T-Shirts Unlimited decals, as well as a big Ford logo for the back window, but all that will be available tomorrow so I'm calling it a 90 percent victory on a very sloppy and rainy Thursday. Good work, me. To mark the Autolite and Aeroquip spots, along the bottom edge of the car, I put small strips of masking tape with each sponsor's name written in Sharpie, and that reminded me of a funny story from the CSK days...

One year, I was doing this exact same routine when it came time to do super hi-res photos of the car for the huge vinyl wrap that would go on the transporter. Since the car has to be seen as going "forward" on both sides of the trailer, it has to be shot from both sides as well, and I totally forgot I only had one Clevite sticker in my file that day. The photographer did his thing, and a week later the the trailer was wrapped and everything looked perfect, until I noticed that the enormous photo of the race car on the right side of the rig showed a small piece of blue masking tape, with the word "Clevite" written on it in my handwriting, right where the real Clevite sticker would end up. We left it like that and didn't fix it. Just our little inside joke...

The Finkster arrived this afternoon, in his motorhome coming up from Fort Myers, and he was quick to report how absolutely awful the rain had been on his drive up here. It was the sort of deluge that caused everyone but John to pull over and sit it out, but he says the motorhome does just fine and his visibility was good, so he kept going. All of that really heavy stuff missed us, which brings to mind the all-time classic Carl Spackler line "I'd keep playin'. I don't think the heavy stuff is going to come down for quite some time..." I guess Assistant Greenskeeper actually DOES mean something...

Throughout the last few days and into the actual rain event here on Thursday, the Friday forecast has really looked bleak, but once I got back here to the hotel I checked on it again because all those same forecasts got this afternoon all wrong. While it was raining this morning, just about all the forecasters were showing a break for a few hours and then heavy downpours late in the afternoon and into the evening. That never happened, so I chose to have hope that things were improving, and according to some websites (the ones I prefer to believe) we now have a pretty good shot at racing on Friday, and the rest of the weekend still looks good. Let's go with that and get ready to rumble...

Oh, BTW, the car did pass tech inspection, so we're all good to go.

One of the last decals to go on the car went, actually, inside the side windows. There's a Ford Mustang owners club near where Tim lives called the Central Illinois Mustangers and they sent us a few decals. Our team is from Central Illinois, and we race a Mustang, so now we're honorary members of the club! I wonder if we have to pay dues?

Okay, it's almost 7:00 p.m. now and I'm getting hungry. Being an anti- social sort, I think I'll have room service...

But, before I go, a couple of words about the final two photos in today's gallery... The first one shows a momentous and important moment in Woodbury, Minn., and I got the shot just before I left for the airport on Wednesday. Yes, say it with me, the first spot of open water along the edge of the pond! Ain't no stoppin' spring now, brother. It's on, it's coming, and it's happenin' fast. It was 48 and drizzly up there today, so I'm sure much more has melted by now. Heck, the daffodils are probably shooting up out of the ground.

The final shot was sent to me by longtime blog reader Richard S., who works for DHL and is currently based in the Philippines. He's an airplane fanatic just like me, and we often get involved in email threads about old airlines, our favorite old aircraft (I do miss the old TWA version of the L-1011), and other "airplane stuff" so this time he sent me a shot of a specific plane at the Manila airport, with the caption "No matter how much you fly this year, I bet you won't be flying on this bird."

I think he is right. It's a Mongolian Airlines jet, and I have to say that I didn't know there was a Mongolian Airlines. Too bad for that, too, because I might have been able to reach Genghis Khan Platinum Elite status by now...

So that's it for tonight, which for most of you is probably tomorrow. I doubt I'll be able to write anything on Friday, and with Dick Levi and a huge throng of LRS guests joining us on Saturday I'd assume a blog is not in the cards for that day either. Hopefully Sunday will be a long and productive day, and then I have to drive down to Sarasota once we're done at the track, so I'll do my best to get something written and posted by Monday morning, before my sister and I go see my mom... Deal? Deal.

Wilber, out!