This photograph is basically all you need to know about how Sunday went. We all felt confident that we'd run well enough to win, because the car had been such a good hot rod all weekend. I'm not saying we felt confident that we would win, mind you, just confident that we'd run well enough to win. Sometimes (like in Norwalk) you run well enough to be victorious, but you still lose.

So, when the long morning's build-up finally came to a climax with us being the first pair of Funny Cars on the track, I was stunned when the car smoked the tires. A noon start makes things drag out like crazy (no pun intended) and it seemed like the first round would never get there, but finally we were in the lanes, then we were all gasping as the crazy parachute guy established what might be a new standard by swooping in NEXT TO the tower on the right side, crossing over the starting line, then making a hard right just a few feet off the ground to touch down on the return road. Trust me, there were dozens of professional crew guys cringing, and then shaking their heads, when we saw that.

Next, we watched Top Fuel, and we got more and more nervous as our turn approached... Eventually, what felt like hours later, the LRS Shelby came out from under the tower and then it all just went into hyper-speed. We fired the motor, watched the burnout, got in position, and BAM... Weekend over. To then see the Safety Safari hit the track to clean up a big mess we made was just as stunning. As the photo shows, we blew it up big time...

Losing happens. It stinks, but it happens to half the cars in the race every round, so you have to file it away and move on. Knocking about half of the rods out of the motor RARELY happens when Tim Wilkerson is in charge of the tune-up. The guy might be the best in the business when it comes to not hurting parts but still running fast. I'm still amazed that happened.

We had a small crowd in the hospitality area on Sunday, so about two hours after the loss we began to tear the circus down. We're getting used to it, and the whole process now happens with a minimum of hand- holding or specific directions from Rich and Annette, who plotted out the whole procedure at the beginning of the year. Chairs and tables get folded and put away. The big mural on the side of Tasca's trailer comes down. Side walls get disassembled and folded up. The big awning comes down, and then the poles. Finally, the floor gets rolled up, and everything gets stowed in the support trailer. This time, the process was way easier, because the support trailer was actually parked right next to our pit, rather than out in the boonies, so we had access to it from the get-go. Normally, all we'd be able to do is tear everything down, then wait an hour after the final round to move the trailer...

Dave and I were back at the hotel by 6:00, and at Macaroni Grill by 6:45, enjoying what really was a spectacular meal. I had the Chicken Cannelloni and it was truly terrific. Then, exhausted from the long weekend and the long day, we were back in our rooms before it was dark, and my biggest challenge was staying awake until a reasonable hour. I failed, and was asleep at 9:00. That may sound good, but it caused me to wake up at 6:00, and with a 2:45 flight today, I once again had too much time to kill...

Right now, I'm at gate C-36 at the monstrous Denver airport, and as you'll see in the photo gallery I took a few iPhone pics of things I see far too often. Things like security lines, airports, and rental car buses... I'm sure they're thrilling photos...

I did make one short, and fun, detour on the way out to the edge of Kansas, which is where it feels like the Denver airport is. The old Denver airport, Stapleton International, is long gone and the ground upon which it stood is now almost fully redeveloped with homes, stores, and schools. It's pretty stunning, really, to think that a huge airport and tons of runways were once there. But what's more stunning is the fact the old Stapleton control tower, and much of one of the big parking garages, ARE still there!!! Right in the middle of a housing and commercial development stands the old tower, and a fenced-off old garage. Weird, and almost kinda spooky, but it was worth driving over there just to see it...

You'll also see a couple of pics from Saturday, when we had an enormous crowd in our hospitality area, as Dick Levi and his wife hosted a huge family reunion. I believe we had more than 190 people check-in with Annette for the day, so that's a great crowd and they were fantastic folks. We did our best to keep them entertained and well fed, and they all seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. Truly, it was one of the most rewarding days I've ever spent at the track, in terms of how we interact with our sponsors and make the whole thing an enjoyable thing for them...

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Things I see too often. The inside of a rental car bus!

 

Well, I have to get a burger or something, because there's no meal on this flight even though I'm in 1-C... And hey, in other good news I'm already in First Class for the flight out to Seattle, which is a very good thing because it's a 3-hour flight... Time to get this sent it, grab a Quarter Pounder, and fly home... Tonight, I'll watch the Home Run Derby from St. Louis and we'll see if the Twins' Joe Mauer can hit any out. He's hitting .370 so far this year, and is a gifted hitter, but he's never been much of a power hitter. As Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire put it "Joe thought it was a ground ball up the middle contest, so he entered..."

Lots to do on Tuesday and Wednesday, then back on a plane on Thursday to fly over to Sea-Tac. Hope we get a nice view of Mount Rainier when we're coming in...

Wilber, out!