9:00 a.m. - Friday morning - Holiday Inn - Lakewood, Colo.

Good morning, everyone. That was a dumb thing to write, actually, because I'm going to dabble with this blog all day, and send it in late on Friday night. Well, come to think of it, maybe saying "Good morning" was absolutely perfect, because it's likely no one will see this before Saturday morning.

It's 9:00 in the morning when I'm starting this, in my 3rd-floor room at the very nicely appointed Holiday Inn in Lakewood, Colo. I'm quite familiar with this part of town, since we're right across Wadsworth Blvd. from the Hampton Inn, which is where Team CSK stayed for years, and I actually spent a single night here during one of those seasons when I arrived at the Hampton very late and they had given my room away. They "walked" me to the Holiday for a night, and picked up the tab.

A note about Holiday Inns... My relationship with this chain goes back to the earliest years of my childhood, when I'd go on road trips with my dad (usually scouting trips he was on, when he was the Twins top scout from 1960 to 1970) and we'd hit roadside Holiday Inns all the time. That stuck with me, and all through college and into my scouting career, Holiday Inns were the overnight spots of choice for me. Familiarity breeds contentment, to alter and paraphrase an old worn-out cliché.

Over the years, the standard old roadside Holiday Inns, with the wonderful huge green and yellow sign out front, began to disappear, although anyone with a sharp eye for Holiday Inn architecture can still spot hundreds of them, now sporting different brand names and often quite worn-out and seedy looking. The brand began to lose its luster, and the chain even inflicted some of that damage upon itself, by introducing the Holiday Inn Express line of hotels, which were all new and therefore instantly nicer than the old standard Inns. Recently, as in just this year, the management has done a complete make-over on the standard Holiday Inns, and they even came out with a new logo. End result: This place is nice, the rate is good, and the logo is (in my humble opinion, which no one asked for) terrible. It's basically just an "H" on a green background.

If it would've been my decision (and it clearly wasn't) I would have gone retro, and brought back the classic old signs. I did some research this morning (I've had plenty of time to kill) and discovered this version was known inside the company as the "Great Sign" but they were very expensive to make and install, and even more expensive to maintain, with all the yellow bulbs. Nothing looked worse than a sign with half its bulbs burned out, so they phased these out and went with the old square green Holiday Inn sign, with just the script words on it.

These old signs bring back such memories for me, and there are many of them left littered across the American landscape, altered over the years to become signs for other hotels, or other businesses completely, but man it would've been cool for them to find a way to link the past with the future... So be it. Now you'll just have to look for the nondescript "H" in front of the Inns...

Going back to yesterday, it was an uneventful travel day, although it was nice to sit right behind Rahn Tobler on the flight from MSP. We chatted for a bit on the plane, then ran into each other at baggage claim, and finally ended up on the Hertz bus together. Rahn's a nice guy, and has always been very friendly to me. As we expressed his opinion that it would be a good thing for both of us to have strong finishes this season. Considering Rahn tunes Cruz Pedregon's car, and Tim and Cruz went down to the wire last year, that was both a gracious thought and one I didn't mind agreeing with.

I went from the Hertz lot directly out to the track and got here just as the guys were about packed up and ready to leave, yesterday. Our crew guy Sam (who also goes by the alias "Jackson") immediately asked me "Where are we going for dinner?" because he knew I'd say I had plans and couldn't go. I, instead, stunned him by saying "Anywhere you want to go Jackson, and it's on me." We jointly chose a nearby Outback and I filled him up on wings, an Outback salad (with ranch, and extra ranch), and then the 7 oz. Victoria's Filet. We waddled back to my rental car feeling the sublime "filled to the gills" sensation one receives from a meal well eaten.

With the schedule being such a late one here, I knew I could sleep in but, of course, I woke up at 6:30... After a fruitless 45 minutes of trying to go back to sleep, I finally just got up, fired up the new laptop, and hit the Web for a while, checking up on all my favorite sites and checking my email. One of the notes in my in-box was from Bruce K., who needed some advice about kitty cats, since his daughter had just found an abandoned kitten and brought it home. I was more than happy to share my thoughts on new feline arrivals, and Bruce agrees that the new kitty will be an indoor cat. I'm just a softy for wanting to make sure my guys are safe, so I'll never have any other kind of cat, but many people prefer to see their fuzzy friends come and go...

Well, guess I'll head to the track... I better hurry up, we run like eight hours!!!

Noon - Friday - Pit Area - Bandimere Speedway

Welcome back... I've spent the last few hours setting up, getting my stuff organized, running down the hill to Credentials (okay, I "ran" down there in Tim and Krista's SUV, rather than actually hoof it a half-mile to the trailer) and I also unpacked and set up my new favorite gizmo. When we had the Team Braveheart kids in our pit at Norwalk, Jennifer arranged for a P.A. system to be set up for us. With that in hand, it became instantly apparent that we really needed one in here, for our LRS guests who visit at each race. We always had one in the CSK pit, and even though it ended up being kind of a lousy system because it was always squawking feedback, it allowed us to talk to our guests, keep them posted on what was going on, and even announce lunch!

Tim agreed with me, that we needed something, so he gave me the green light to buy one, keeping an eye on the quality, the cost, and the ease of transportation, since we don't really have much space or weight allowance on the rig. I got on-line and quickly found this cool little unit, which garnered rave reviews, and I was thrilled to see that it is actually made by Fender, the legendary guitar and amplifier company. Can't go wrong with a Fender, can you?

It's literally the size of a lunch box, and is completely self-contained. I just plugged it in, put a battery in the microphone, and we were up and running. It's so small, I was afraid it wouldn't be able to handle the space and ambient noise of a pit area, but the thing is awesome, with great fidelity. I've already been messing with the guys... "Kevin Wilkerson, Kevin Wilkerson. Please report to the Principal's office at once..."

I'm also pleased that we are pitted right next to Grant Downing and his team. I've been over there a couple of times, talking to Grant, his wife Lynne, and good old Chuck Worsham. They're totally old-school over there, just using Grant's old gooseneck trailer and working under a couple of pop-up tents, rather than an awning. Something tells me Chuck is probably really digging this whole thing, because it's just like the old days... As for Grant (otherwise simply known as "G"), well he's pretty smiling from ear to ear.

It's a little hot here, but the brutal forecast of a high near 100 seems to have been phased out and replaced by a much more user-friendly high in the upper 80s. I'm for that.

The way we're pitted, at the top of the staging lanes, the backdoor to our hospitality area actually opens up right into Steve Chrisman's Top Fuel pit. I can look up from the screen and see my boys Casey and Cole working over there, smiling and waving. It's great to see both of them, and really great to see Cole working, because he and I go back a couple of years now, from the day he decided to take a shot at this business by going to Wyotech. He dropped me an email out of the blue, and I then sort of "mentored" him along the way, giving him advice about how to get known, get hired, or get a shot. We even arranged to have him spend a day or two with the CSK team a while back, just to get his feet wet. The Chrisman team obviously runs on a tight budget, but he's out here as a real-live crew guy, so I'm always pleased to see him.

Well, now we run in five hours... Maybe it's time to get something to eat. I'll be back later...

1:20 p.m. - Friday - Pit Area - Bandimere Speedway

Hey, Rachel Wilkerson is here, and she's going to go on the full Western Swing with her mom and dad. They brought the motorhome here, but Tim will drive it (and them) home after the race, and they'll turn around and fly to Seattle. Then, they'll do that beautiful drive down the coast, in a rental car, between Seattle and Sonoma. That is such a stunningly beautiful trip.

Rachel is my new best friend, I think. Way to go, Rachel!

Me? I'm flying out and back for all three races. DEN, followed by SEA, followed by SFO... Just enough time to get the dry cleaning done, the PR stuff written, and give Da Boyce some rubs on the head before I have to turn around and fly across the country again. The Western Swing, baby, it's a marathon...

Hey now it's 1:30! Only four more hours to go until we make our first lap...

And I was just about to type that I'm so hungry, but Krista just arrived with the great news that the cheeseburgers are ready and in the trailer. Yummy!!!

2:00 p.m. - Friday - Pit Area - Bandimere Speedway

The Finkster finally made his way down here, from his motorhome. Our old buddy Frank Gilchrist is here, in his Prevost, and Johnny was down there helping him fix a few mechanical glitches.

And right as I typed those words, Neighbor Dave arrived, straight from the airport. I think we can officially say "The gang's all here..." now.

And another highlight... My desk is all the way in the back of our hospitality area, so to get back here you have to gain admittance to the area, but Annette long ago figured that anyone who walked up and asked if they could see me should be more than welcome to come on in and say hello. So, just right now two guys came back and introduced themselves. The one dude, Ray, just walked up, stuck out his hand, and said "Bob Wilber. Ray Bruce, longtime blog reader first time introduction. We just wanted to say hi and tell you to keep going, because we read it every day." I shall, guys. Ray had his buddy Terry Christensen with him, and they both live here in the Denver area. To make it official, we took a photo.

Ten minutes past two now... When will it be 5:30...???

3:50 p.m. - Friday - Pit Area - Bandimere Speedway

We are now successfully warmed up and ready to go. All that's left to do is wait the one hour and forty minutes between now and 5:30... And that's only if (always a big if) we're on time and right on schedule.

We have the run sheet, neatly folded and in the Ford Flex. Have you ever seen the sheet they bring around to us, that shows us what time we'll run, who will be in the other lane, and what pair we are? Well if you haven't you'll have that chance today, since I just took a picture of it and will include it in the Photo Gallery at the bottom.

I was also just on my phone and found a pic I took in the rental car yesterday. Let me say this first though: I'm a trained professional and, kids, don't try that sort of thing in your own car. No texting, no photography, and you shouldn't even be talking on your phone when you're driving. But... I was behind a delivery truck on Pena Blvd, the 10-mile road that connects I-70 to the airport, and the wording on the backdoor cracked me up. You may not be able to make it out on the little gallery photo, but the back door said "SEATTLE FISH Co. - Denver, CO." If it only would have had a third line, that said "Headquarters in Sonoma, Calif." we would've had the Western Swing completely covered.

5:15 p.m. - Friday - Pit Area - Bandimere Speedway

Finally... We're pushing back to go "down" there for Q1. Funny, despite the fact it doesn't refer to altitude or direction, at every other track we talk about "going up to the starting line" but here you say "going down."

We're a little nervous about the standard 5:00 p.m. dark clouds that are rolling over the mountain...

6:50 p.m. - Friday - Pit Area - Bandimere Speedway

Well... The track was hot, the air was bad, and those ever-present late afternoon storms did sprinkle on us a bit, but we got the session in. It was, however, not pretty. Ashley Force Hood and Tony P. made nice laps, in the high 4.20s or low 4.30s, and Del Worsham was strong, but everyone else was struggling. Tim was on a good run, or at least a solid run, but spun them at the top end. Still, his 4.728 was still good enough for 7th.

We watched the rest of the session, got the results sheet from the media room, and got back up here to the pit after the first two pairs of Top Fuelers ran. It started to drizzle again, and then it came down hard for a few minutes. I'm high and dry here, but I bet the Top Fuel guys who were still in the lanes got drenched... And since I'm showing you a shot of the run sheet they give us, I'll also take a pic of the results sheet we get after each run. All this inside information is free, included in the price of blog admission

Here's hoping it goes away and we get the second session in tonight...

Rain in Denver, late in the afternoon on a midsummer day? Really? How often does that happen? Answer: Every day for the last thousand years...

7:35 p.m. - Friday - Pit Area - Bandimere Speedway

Hmmmm... Still dark, still foreboding, but now we've added in everybody's favorite natural light show: Lightning! With big sharp cracks of thunder to punctuate the flashes. This isn't looking too good...

A few minutes ago, we looked up and saw a guy almost at the top of the hill, sitting cross-legged on a rock, almost as if he was meditating. Well, he started to work his way back down, and it's pretty obvious he's not exactly wearing hiking or climbing gear. He looks more like a guy in shorts and loafers, and he's coming down VERY carefully, which is a good thing because I don't even want to consider what would happen to the genius if he slipped. I bet those loafers are really doing him a lot of good up there, on the loose rock... Not a smart move. And now with the wind and lightning, I suspect he's in even a bigger hurry to get down here...

If it starts to pour again, we might be cooked for the night...

8:15 p.m. - Friday - Pit Area - Bandimere Speedway

The weather just needs to DO SOMETHING! A few big drops, a couple of gusts of wind, and some more lightning bolts in the distance, but here at the track it neither pours nor stops. This is really about as frustrating as it gets for us. All ready to go, with nothing to do...

Actually, I think I'll just send this in now. It's already 8:15 and if we were to miraculously be in the clear right now, it would still take a few minutes to dry the track, then they still have to finish Top Fuel, before going right back into Pro Stock Motorcycle, Pro Stock, and then back to Funny Car. This is either going to be a very long night (after a very long day) or we're finally going to get drenched. Either way, I'll be thrashing once it's over, so we'll end this here.

As boring as this blog probably was, now you know how rough it can be out here when you have a full hot day before two very late sessions, and then mix in the standard afternoon showers. I think it's going to rain again, but these mountain storms brew up out of nowhere, change directions, and sometimes even dissipate before they get here.

On the other hand, hitting "Send" on this blog will be like firing off a time machine. I don't know what's going to happen for the rest of tonight, but all of you will probably already know what happened by the time you read this... Did we run? Did we qualify way up high? Tell me, tell me, tell me...

Wilber, out!