The forecast for Memphis, all week long, has been stellar. The weather here, both Friday and Saturday, was near perfect (for any place, not just Memphis). Then... Late in the day yesterday we began to hear about a shift in the forecast, and as I went to bed last night they were calling for overcast with a chance of rain by tonight.

Now, I'm sitting here in our hospitality area at 10:00 a.m., on Sunday morning, watching the same rain that has been falling since sunrise. Where in the world did this come from? Perhaps it's just payback for how incredibly nice it was yesterday. The worst part is the radar screen, which isn't giving us much cause for hope. Grrrrrrrr....

Who knows what the eventual situation will be, whether we'll get this in today (doubtful) or tomorrow (hopeful) or some other weekend (geez, I hope not) but we'll just sit it out here, wait to see what will happen, and deal with it. You can't control Mother Nature, but she can sure be a royal pain in the butt sometimes... And expensive, too, since we'll all be changing our travel plans.

I'm also a tad on the chilly side. I looked at my LRS sweatshirt in the closet, when I was packing for this race, but had the foolish thought "Nah, the forecast is great! I don't need that..." and left it at home. It's in the 50s right now, and with this rain it feels far colder and pretty miserable, so I just went and donated $25 to the NHRA coffers by purchasing a long-sleeved heavy t-shirt from the big white Nitro Mall tent. Very spiffy flames on the sleeves, too..

Anyway, the key thing so far this weekend has been "the kid" Daniel. They got their car put together on Thursday, and with the other part- time teams not playing in the first qualifying session, Daniel was the first FC driver on the track on Friday afternoon. It was a bit warm, and no fuel cars had been on the racing surface, so we weren't sure what to expect... How 'bout a 4.149 right out of the box! When we saw that, we knew it was a good lap and it probably was enough to get him solidly in the show, but once we saw some of the big hitters running 4.19s and 4.16s, Daniel's lap looked better and better, and it even held on for the top spot until the final three pairs ran in Q1. By the end of the session, Bob Tasca had run a 4.145, Daniel had his 4.149, and Tim posted a 4.169. I took a pic of the dry-erase board to show the three red names in the top half... Pretty cool.

And (hopefully he won't read this and let it go to his head) we're all just as impressed as we can be by Daniel, both in the car and in the pit. He's a great guy, and one would have to think his parents had something to do with that...

Dan then ran an even better 4.118 on the second Friday lap, while Tim put a 4.130 on the scoreboard, and at that point everyone knew the kid was safely in the deal. So, they spent yesterday just making sure the car was ready to go for today, or tomorrow, or whenever... Qualifying 8th, Dan will face some guy named Capps in round one, whenever that may be...

In that second session on Friday, we got the coincidental thrill of having Dan and Tim running side-by-side. Needless to say, that was pretty cool and lots of people have been sending me pics. Dave took my camera to the line and got some great shots, too, so I've included a few in the photo gallery... And thanks to Brandon Mudd, who does the PR here and for Gateway International, for sending me a cool shot he took from the tower.

Mark Dowdy is here, and I've written about him on the blog before. Mark's a dirt track racer, but was paralyzed from the waist down a few years ago. He was justifiably proud to show me a big feature story on him, from his local paper, that tells how he has gotten back in the race car recently, with a new steering wheel that allows him to work the throttle, brakes, and gears with his hands, and he just beams when he talks about it. Cool deal, for a great guy!

Yesterday, I was up at the line when Rachel Brunner, who works for the Kalitta team, walked toward me wearing a green ball cap with a Michigan State "S" on the front. I was only a little puzzled by that, knowing Rachel is a big University of Michigan fan, until she pointed out the sign she had made and taped on her shirt. It said "I'm wearing this hat because I lost a bet. Go Blue!" Typically hilarious, for Rachel. She's one of the funniest people I know, and between her and Todd Myers I'm not sure how anyone keeps a straight face on that team...

Speaking of Todd, though... He's a big Detroit Tigers fan and boy, the last few days have been pretty amazing. The Twins keep winning, the Tigers keep losing, and now here we are on the final day of the regular season and they're tied for first place. Lots of people were keeping track of the Twins/Royals game and then the Tigers/White Sox game, and I could barely stand the tension last night. The Twins managed to beat the Royals and Zack Greinke, who really should win the Cy Young Award in the American League, and lo and behold those crazy White Sox beat the Tigers. Depending on how things go today, one of them can win the division, or they could finish in a dead heat and play one-game playoff on Tuesday. They can't play it on Monday, because it would be in Minnesota and there's a previous commitment at the Metrodome. Something called "Monday Night Football" I think... Vikings vs. Packers. That ought to be interesting...

So, even with the rain here we're going to have some baseball to keep track of this afternoon. I almost wish I could fast-forward to tonight just to see how it all comes out. I'm still thinking the Tigers will win this thing...

Hey guess what... It's still raining... This really stinks...

Wish us luck here. We need a break.

Wilber, out!