I think it was Lee Beard who once said racing in Seattle was like "drag racing at a KOA" and even though they've made lots of improvements since then, the basis of the thought is still applicable. We are out in the woods, in a very "rustic" setting, though after the major paving job they did in the pro pits in the last year or two, at least we don't have dirt, grass, and actual trees in our pit area. It was not that long ago, with Team CSK, when all three of those options were in place in our hospitality area.

I'm typing this from my temporary office in Bob Tasca's hospitality transporter, because we're not setting up our hospitality here (nor in Sonoma) so we're confined to an old-school single pit spot, just like back in the day. The edge of our awning is probably less than a foot from the side of the Tasca transporter, so there's not even enough room to set up a folding table over there. Fortunately, the Tasca guys have offered me an open invitation to use this lounge whenever we're at a race and the Ford executives are not attending. This would be one of those, so I'm up here on the leather sofa, with the plasma- screen TV on, and the air conditioning set at a comfortable 69 degrees. Mike Cunningham was just in here ribbing me about how nice I have it here, and he said he was going to find a couple of stuffed kitty cats so I could feel even more at home. Mother Mike is always thinking...

Heading back to Thursday, since I last blogged, I have to say that one of the loudest, most opinionated, bombastic, and (let's face it) rude individuals you could ever travel with was one row behind me on the long flight out here. From the time he sat down and introduced himself to the poor soul who was sitting next to him, he began to talk. Loudly. About every topic he was sure he knew more about than any other idiot (he used more colorful terms) on the planet. From politics, to religion, to the economy, and entertainment, it was a string of verbose statements that mostly started with the words "Now let me tell you the real truth about that..." Oh my. The poor guy in the seat next to him was trapped for more than three hours, and all of us in the First Class cabin were verbally assaulted by Mr. Genius from take-off to touchdown. I had my Bose headphones on, with the iPod cranked to Max volume playing the loudest hard rock I had, and I could still hear him. The more he talked (ranted) the more animated (worked up) he got. I was ever so tempted to turn around and tell him to "Shut the #@&* up!" but somehow I don't think that would've had any effect on him. It must be nice to go to bed at night and know, deep in your heart, that you know better, and know more, about everything than anyone else in the world because. let's face it, they're all idiots. Count me as an idiot, because I think it's safe to say I'm about 180 degrees from this guy on every subject he was spouting off about. Sheesh... I don't know how the guy had a voice after that three-hour monologue of a continuous rant.

After we landed, getting off the plane felt like being released from prison, so I sprinted to the subway tram and got to baggage claim as fast as I could, and I had to take a pic of the "impaled suitcases" deal that rotates over one of the carousels. You can see that in the photo gallery below, and I think they put it together just to give you a hint as to what nefarious and damaging things they can do to your bags, if they really want to.

I went straight to the hotel, and it really is a nice place. As an extended-stay sort of place, all the rooms are full apartments, and the whole place is set up like an apartment complex, right down to the full kitchen, living room, fire place, and dining area in the room, and the dedicated water heaters and AC units for each place. I'm thrilled to say my air conditioner cranks well into the "meat locker" zone. It's wonderful for sleeping, but it's so cold I actually have to turn it off as soon as I get up, because it's freezing in there.

Here at the track, it's a sort of odd weekend. We have the small pit area, but we're also short a crew person and everyone is pitching in to pick up the slack. My boy Sam had some things at home he really needed to take care of, so we wish him well and thank him for all the hard work. Tim has plans to add a new crew guy, but that won't start until Sonoma, so everyone is picking up parts of what Sam did around here and we're hoping to keep everything covered.

Dave and Annette are helping with the oil, keeping the jugs full, Finkster is all over the fuel, and even at the starting line Dave and I are helping to push the car forward for the burnout. We miss you Sammy, but we understand.

Yesterday, Kelly Bustos from Impact Racing Products, came by the pit with a special new item for Tim. He's worn a two-piece fire suit since I've known him (actually, I knew him when he was racing Top Alcohol FC, and he says he wore a one-piece back then) but Kelly brought a shiny new one-piece version for him here, and it looks GREAT. I told him he looks like Larry Dixon.

As for our commute from the hotel to the track, this has always been one venue where almost everyone comes in the same way, and the traffic can back-up on Route 18 for miles. It can, and I'm not kidding, take you an hour to go the last mile... Well, Dave and I both scoured Google Maps to find a suitably fun and effective back route, and it works like a charm. The crew left the hotel ahead of us, but went the standard way. We went cross-country and beat them here by 15 minutes, and basically never slowed down the whole way. They really should listen to us about shortcuts...

One of the last turns we make, coming in our way, faces directly toward Mount Rainier. In Reading, the back roads route includes the instructions "Turn left at the big rock" so this Seattle version might include "Turn left at the huge volcano."

On the track, we had a good day yesterday and plan to have another good one today. The first session was sketchy for everyone, with a hot sun beating down on the track, but we got A-to-B okay, and then came back in the late run and vaulted up to the No. 3 spot on a very pretty lap. It was pretty for us to watch, but I don't think it was too pretty from Tim's perspective, as the drivers have to race almost directly into the setting sun during Q2 in Seattle. The left lane is worse than the right, in that regard, and we were in the left so it was no surprise for Tim to come over the radio as he backed up from the burnout, saying "I know there's a groove out here somewhere, but I can't see it. Basically I can't see anything..."

So, it is our lovely little KOA of a race track, and the traffic can be bad, but at least we make the drivers run into the sunset on Friday! LOL... I don't know if he drove by the seat of his pants or just gutted it out, but Tim did a great job and we're way up on the sheet. It's a little cooler today, so even though we're running a pair of afternoon sessions, there will still be every chance to go out there and improve.

We're getting ready to run now, and I just was over in our pit (weird to be next door) only to find Annette pitching in by turning the motor over for her husband, who was running the valves. How about those muscles! You go girl...

That's about it. It's gorgeous here in Seattle, and the racing is good. Wish us luck, and maybe we can have some really good fun here.

Wilber, out!