Most of you are aware of the unofficial and self-proclaimed group of Wilkerson fans who consider themselves to be Wilk's Warriors. I often get asked, by other good fans, how they can join, who runs the group, and questions like that. Basically, anyone who roots for Tim is one of Wilk's Warrior, but the term and the loose affiliation basically started with the late Big Mark Benson and his buddy, Dan "Dozer"
Hough, in Illinois. They came up with the name, rallied other fans together, and often attended the St. Louis race as a group, cheering on the LRS team from the grandstands and all around the pit area.

Dozer was asking me, a few months back, if I thought he should make the group more of an official fan club, and as much as I thought that was a neat idea I knew that creating and running a real fan club is real work. As in LOTS of real work. My suggestion, to him, was for him to simply create some new Wilk's Warriors t-shirts and sell them to anyone who wants to be part of the "group" (as nebulous as that term is).

So here you have it!!!  The little image, at the top, is the front of  the shirt, and the larger image is the back. Dozer has invested his own money to get them printed up, so you can buy them directly from him. Just email Dan "Dozer" Hough at: dozer1966@consolidated.net

The shirts are $25 up to the size XL, or $29 if you need XXL or XXXL.  That price includes shipping, so it's a pretty good deal, and if you actually live in or around Springfield you can save a few more bucks by contacting Dozer and getting the shirt straight from him, with no shipping involved.

Dozer is a good man, and he was the one who put together an almost spur-of-the-moment reception for Tim and the team last year, right after the Pomona race. Lo and behold, the banquet room was packed... 

You would expect nothing less from the dedicated group we know as Wilk's Warriors, and now you can be part of that group too!!! Wear your shirt with pride!

Here at the ranch, I think the general rule of thumb (or in this case, the rule of nose) is that you spend three days getting a cold, three days having it, and three days getting rid of it. Considering I've been sucking on Zicam lozenges since the start, I'm thinking I've got at least a couple of days lopped off that theory, and maybe today is my last day having it. Then, I'll spend the weekend making massive and rapid improvements. I've been sticking to my regimen, eating right, drinking lots of liquids, and using the Neti Pot two or three times a day, and at least I'm functioning at something close to my normal level (therein lies the benefit of underachieving, so that your "normal" level isn't that hard to match). Still, it's not much fun to feel like you have a cement block for a head while you're using a whole box of Kleenex a day...

On a completely different subject, a whole bunch of people have been sending me notes about the large amount of air time I've been getting on the ESPN shows lately, and I've kind of wondered why that is, compared to the previous 12 years. I think I figured out the answer... It's because of where I now stand, to shoot the video.

For a decade, with Team CSK, I knelt down a little behind and beside the car, right next to the guard wall. Basically, that kept me almost hidden from the TV and still photographers. Now, Tim likes the video to be shot from directly behind the car, so this year I'm right in the middle of the scene, and since the camera guys like to get Krista's reaction after a run, I end up in the shot a lot, when I hand the video camera to her. Hence, my ugly mug ends up on TV more than it used to... For that, I apologize and I hope it hasn't been too scary. Hope I haven't frightened the children.

Speaking of all that, I was trading notes with a regular reader, also named Bob, throughout the day yesterday, discussing all the rituals and superstitions we share prior to or between runs. That even extends to how Krista and I hand off the camera, although we never once spoke about it. All year, up until the Seattle race, I just carried the video camera with me, up to the lanes and then to the line, and then would hand it to her to take back to the pit (since I generally am the one team member who stays up there to see the rest of each session or round). In Seattle, after we lost a crew guy, we all picked up a few new duties and one of mine was to help push the car forward, for the burnout. I couldn't do that with the camera in my hand, so Krista offered to hold it while I helped push.

Within a couple of laps, we had a whole new system down, and we do it exactly the same way before every lap. When we're one pair away from running and are pulling forward to the water box, Krista approaches me and puts both hands together, palms up. I gently drop the camera into her hands, and she takes care of it until after we push the car. As soon as the car starts the burnout, I turn to her and she "presents"
the camera back to me, in the same palms-up way.  Once the lap is
over, I hand it back to her and she takes it back to the pit, so that Tim can download the video onto the race computer. Simple as that.

Oh, and yes I still hand the camera to Krista even if we're the last pair to run and I'm heading back to the pit anyway. We always do it the same way, even if we walk back to the pit side-by-side.

Hey, the sun is trying to peek out, for the first time since I got home on Monday. That's got to be sign that things are getting better, and I'll be back to 100 percent in no time. Until then, more Zicam!

Wilber, out!