First of all, I started this blog by typing the date. September 11. I wonder if, in my lifetime, I'll ever be able to say or write that date without an immediate reaction to it. How many new generations will emerge and mature before it's simply an infamous date, but no longer a painful one? It has to be just a matter of time, I think. I know, full well, what happened on December 7 at Pearl Harbor. I know the tragedy and the horror of it, I've studied its history, and I've been there, feeling the overwhelming weight of sadness at the Arizona Memorial. But December 7 simply denotes the event for me, because I didn't live through it and experience it.

September 11, on the other hand, is still an open wound and the date itself has more meaning than any other on the calendar. It happened yesterday, didn't it? It seems like it... Now that eight years have passed, I notice more and more television programming about 9/11, but I still have a very difficult time watching any of it. It's still too vivid. As the current young generation grows up and has children of their own, September 11 will be just a date again. An important one, taught in school just like December 7 was taught to me, but the connection will be broken. Time heals...

This year, 9/11 falls on a Friday and is followed by my last weekend off until October 17-18. Barbara and I discussed some ideas as to how to enjoy this early-autumn weekend and even thought about taking a trip to the north shore of Lake Superior, or maybe to a Bed & Breakfast on the St. Croix river, but then she remembered that she actually has to leave town on Sunday morning, on a business trip, so we'll focus on having a nice dinner tonight and a relaxing day on Saturday. I'll just have to watch Brett Favre's regular-season debut as a Viking by myself, on Sunday. With chips and dip by my side, I'll be camped out in front of the big screen.

After this, it's Charlotte, Dallas, Memphis, and Richmond all in a row, and as noted above it will be mid-October when this four-in-a-row swing is completed. By that time, the championship hunt will be taking firm shape, the leaves will be beginning to turn, a little crispy chill will no doubt invade at night, and winter will be just around the corner... It's going to be a very interesting four weeks.

Before I look forward, I want to look back to a few more Indy memories. At the race, we got to spend some time with Krista McGilvry and her boys, Preston and Rayce. Krista's husband, Ryan, was my teammate on the CSK team, and he is now enjoying his job working on Tony Schumacher's Army TF Dragster. We only get to see Krista and the boys a few times a year, so it's always great to catch up a bit and see how much the boys have grown since the last time we laid eyes on them. What happened on Monday, though, is just the latest example of how great this sport is. Here's the story, straight from Krista:

"I was so excited for the Army team to get this Indy win. When we got there on Friday, Rayce told Tony it was going to be his birthday on Monday. Tony asked him what he wanted for his birthday and Rayce told Tony he wanted a Wally, so Tony told him if he won he'd get him a Wally. Well, we won and I couldn't believe it but Tony gave him the actual one from the race and the winner's circle! I was floored, and I told him he didn't have to do that, but he insisted and said, 'I promised him a win and a Wally for his birthday.' Talk about WOW. He gave it to Rayce when we did pictures in the winner's circle, and he had all the other winners and Tony Stewart sign it for him. Then, we got back to the pit and the whole team sang Happy Birthday. It was an amazing weekend, and Rayce loves his trophy... He rode home for 8 hours in the car with it right by his side and he had his arm around it the whole time."

There's really nothing quite like NHRA Drag Racing, folks. That's pretty neat, and the photos from Rayce's big birthday are in the gallery, including one of the McGilvry family with Tony Stewart.

Another interesting/touching thing about Indy is the attraction it has for Team Wilk backers and alumni, new and old. St. Louis may be our biggest race, in terms of people attending, but the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals has its own magnetic powers, and it's like a Wilk Warrior reunion. I can't profess that I know all of the familiar faces that were floating through our pit area, but I'm trying to get to know them all as fast as I can, and just having been around the sport for all these years makes most of the faces easily recognizable. It seemed like my whole Indy weekend featured a constant stream of "Hey, I remember that guy" thoughts...

And, you all remember Big Mark Benson, the greatest Wilk Warrior of them all, who passed away early this summer. Both his sister and his brother were there, and I am honored to be counted as their friend. I entered Mark's life at a very late stage, but I will always treasure the friendship, and I'm humbled by how wonderfully I've been treated by his family. We had more than a few heartfelt conversations throughout the weekend.

Okay, now let's look ahead... First off, Charlotte. We're all looking forward to heading back to zMax Dragway, and I imagine just about every crew guy is as excited as I am about the 4-wide exhibition runs that are going to be made on Sunday. Here's the thing, though. All of us are looking forward to it, but none of us really want to be in it. Why? Because the four teams that will participate in the 4-wide deal will all be losers from the first round. So, here's hoping it's as great (and as LOUD) as we expect it to be, but here's also hoping the four cars involved all have something other than Levi, Ray & Shoup on the side!

And speaking of Levi, Ray & Shoup, we announced yesterday that LRS has extended our deal another year, through 2010. As great as that is, I imagine some people still reacted with a "Well, of course they did" thought, but we know we earned this extension in a very tough economic climate, and we're absolutely thrilled that Dick Levi and all the people at LRS still see the beneficial return-on-investment this program delivers. Times have been tough since last fall, and motorsports sponsorships are often seen as one of the first things that can be trimmed from budgets when the bottom line is suffering, so we are absolutely THRILLED to know LRS will be with us again in 2010 and hopefully far into the future.

We have some more exciting plans and new elements on the drawing board for next year, but all of that will come out in due time. The bottom line is this LRS/TWR relationship is one of those classic "win/win" situations you always hear about but rarely actually see. We'd make a great case study for a college marketing class...

Looking further down the road, we'll have a full plate when we roll into Memphis. No, I don't mean a full plate of barbeque (although in Memphis that is highly probable). I mean at the racetrack, we'll be doubling-up for the second time this year. Yup, if you look at the entry list for the Memphis race, a young man by the name of Daniel Wilkerson is entered in the Funny Car class. Another guy, by the name of Leif Helander, is also entered, but I have to admit I'm going to have to do some research on him. Hang on one second while I Google...

Okay, there you have it. Leif Helander is from Sweden, and he's done enough good racing to be easy to find on Google. I'm not sure whose car he will be driving in Memphis, or who will be tuning it for him, but it's going to be fun having Leif with us at Memphis.

As for Daniel, he's excited about making his second NHRA Pro start, and we're all pumped for him, as well. He was with us all weekend in Indy, and as much as he's chomping at the bit to get his career going, he's also grounded enough to know he needs to finish school first. He's close to his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Illinois - Springfield, and of all things he's actually a numbers guy! You wouldn't think a kid who grew up around race cars would study accounting, but perhaps his goal is to always have a good handle on his finances after he becomes a full-time Professional Funny Car driver. Smart kid!

I chatted with him a bit yesterday, because we're trying to get a handout card made for him as fast as we can. We didn't do that for his Topeka debut, and once everyone started asking for his autograph and he had nothing there to sign but Tim's cards, the elder Wilkerson decided to pull the trigger on getting a card made for the kid. Yesterday, I gathered some fun details (favorite food, favorite music, favorite movies, etc) and wrote a new bio for him, then Dave found some good photos of Dan and his car that we've been using in our marketing presentations, and I think we have enough art and copy now to create a nice card for him. I guess you know you're making it when there are boxes full of hero cards in the trailer, and they have your face and name on them... Go Daniel!!!

Finally, today, I shall once again succumb to the pressure exerted by dozens (multiple dozens, actually) of blog readers who send me notes on various subjects but always include the request for me to show more pics of Boofus and Buster. You really wouldn't think that a couple of crazy cats could be that popular (and I'll never tell them) but it's amazing how often I get that request. Today, we'll wrap up the photo gallery with a couple of new shots, taken just minutes ago.

I mentioned a year ago that Buster has an infatuation with strings. I figured he'd grow out of that, but instead the obsession seems to be getting more and more intense for the Big Fella. He just loves strings! He loves to create them (he pulls most of them out of the edges of rugs, and has now discovered an easy buffet table of potential new strings that can be easily removed from the white blanket that sits on the sofa) and then he stalks them, carries them around, and tries to get us to play with him. Every morning, and I do mean every morning, we wake up with a couple of strings, a ribbon, and a long shoe lace in bed with us. He brings us these gifts in the middle of the night. Or, perhaps, he just sleeps better knowing he has them with him.

All you have to do is pick one up, and his eyes go fully round, his ears perk up, and he's in hunting mode. If you walk away from him, holding the string, he'll go nuts chasing it and grabbing it with his teeth, and at that point the tables are turned as he pulls against you and takes you for a walk, growling all the time... We play along, of course, and let him lead us all over the house as if we're the ones on a leash and he's taking us for a stroll.... He's working hard at getting Boofus in on the game, because if they'd both have an equal obsession with the demon strings, they could play for hours. Boofie likes it, and will play for a bit, but he's just not as totally consumed by it as Buster.

Once they're done playing, they crash and sleep for hours... A cat's life is pretty good. At least the life these two guys lead. I don't think they want for much around here.... Ya think?

Have a great weekend, everyone. Be safe, enjoy your families, and do something special. After all, the next four weeks are going to be a blur...

Wilber, out!