I knew I wanted to get a blog done today, since tomorrow is going to be a long travel day and then things will get kinda nuts at zMax. But... When I sat down here at my desk this morning, I had the classic "empty brain" syndrome going. I had nuthin'... To that end, I still have nuthin' when it comes to photos for today's musings, other than a webcam shot I'll include at the bottom, which comes under the heading "Wow, I've never heard of such a thing" but which also has almost nothing to do with anything.

Then, as I listened to the sounds of birds chirping and very fat squirrels chomping away on the smorgasbord of acorns our big oak tree has provided, it struck me. I don't need to come up with anything today, because it's already been provided! All I have to do is scan back through the last month's worth of emails and pick out the six or seven best questions I've gotten, and spread the answers around for everyone to read.

So let's begin...

Question No. 1 comes from Sherry B. in Santa Clara, Calif. Sherry asked "Why do teams spray that white paint on the wheelie bar wheels?"

The stuff is actually kind of like spray-on chalk, and almost all the teams use it so that they can see how long the car is actually running with the wheelie bar making contact. The spray-on stuff leaves a mark on the track wherever it's in contact with the track, and the guys will take a look at that and gauge if they've "been on the wheelie bar" too long, too short, or just right. The wheelie bar is part of the overall tune-up, and we expect to run on it for a short while right after the hit of the throttle. You probably also have noticed a crew guy adjusting the height of the wheelie bar just before the car stages, as well, and that's to get it in the right position so that we don't hit it too hard and unload the rear tires.

Question numero dos comes from Billy H., in Bowie, Md. Billy asked "You never really hear fuel crew chiefs talking about engine development all that much. Seems like that's all anyone talks about in NASCAR and in NHRA Pro Stock. Why is that?"

The short answer is "Because we have more power than we can handle right now" but it's a little more complex than that. There are some brilliant minds at work in the fuel classes, and they do continue to make improvements in areas like cylinder heads, blowers, and fuel pumps. But, unlike the circle track guys and the Pro Stock guys who are always looking for another 5 hp here or 10 hp there, when you're up in the 8,000 range, those little increments really don't mean anything. The hardest part, in our class, continues to be finding a way to transfer all of this power to the track without spinning the tires. Hence, good crew chiefs make big money.

Our third question has come in from various parts of the country, in various forms, for a few weeks now, since we're about to head into the Countdown. I've actually lost track of how many people have asked a variation of this question dating all the way back to when we started the Countdown concept a couple of years ago, but still have the notes from Carla W., Randy H., and Maureen Q., who basically all wondered this: "Does the Countdown unfairly hurt the teams that aren't in it, in terms of keeping their sponsors happy?"

Speaking from experience, as a guy who was on a team that failed to make the first two Countdowns, it's not the part about missing the Countdown that will generally disappoint your sponsor. It's the part about not being good enough, all year, to be in the top 10, that disappoints everyone, including every member of the team. Whether there was a Countdown or not, if you're finishing 11th or worse in a season, you're disappointed.

A couple of assumptions I've heard somewhat regularly, that I believe to be false, are these... A. What's the motivation for a non- Countdown team to continue race? And... B. If you're not in the Countdown, you're done for the year in terms of TV coverage.

As for the first of those two assumptions, it's the same motivation every team has had forever. Pre-Countdown, it was usually pretty common for only two or three teams to really be in contention by this point in the season, and in some cases the championship was already pretty much locked up by now. But, we all still kept racing because it's what we do, it's what our sponsors have contracted for, and we still want to win races even if we can't win the championship.

Regarding the second thought, I actually think the Countdown may increase the publicity opportunities for a lot of teams. By this time of year, whether we have playoffs or not, the key stories are going to be with the contenders, and in the past that might have only been a handful of teams. We know for a fact that 10 teams are now contenders, so that spreads the coverage out to some teams that ordinarily wouldn't get much. But, because our playoffs go on while the non-playoff teams are still racing alongside us, the odds of a non- Countdown team playing the role of spoiler and upsetting one of the contending teams are pretty high. In the past, if the 13th place team in the points beat the 8th place team at the 19th race of the season, that wouldn't mean much. Actually, it probably wouldn't mean anything. But if it happens this weekend, or if any non-playoff team beats a Countdown team, it's going to be big news.

Fourth in today's lineup is this question, from Sandy H. in Des Moines: "When is Daniel Wilkerson going to race again, and when will he begin to race full-time? Also, is he single?"

LOL, I'll answer the last part first. Daniel is not married, but he has a wonderfully charming girlfriend, and the two of them are obviously smitten with each other. The term "goo-goo eyes" gets tossed around a bit. :-)

Regarding Daniel's driving career, he is going to be racing in Memphis but that's all the plans we have in place right now. He's closing in on his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Illinois - Springfield, and that's going to need to happen before he goes racing full-time. Once he dons the mortarboard and walks across the stage to accept his diploma, it will all just be a matter of sponsorship. Dave Jacobsen and I have developed some terrific marketing materials, and have put together a wide range of very cost-effective programs for potential sponsors, and Dave works tirelessly to pitch those deals. Time will tell, of course, but we remain confident in Daniel's ability to not just drive a race car, but to drive a great sponsorship relationship, too.

Today's next question comes from Rob H. in Newton, Mass. Rob asks "Do you guys think you'll ever race in New England? We're dying for NHRA racing up here..."

Well, we'd LOVE to race in New England. The only trick is, we need a track. Epping, N.H. really would need far too much work to be brought up to NHRA national event standards. A certain Mr. Smith now owns the Loudon, N.H. circle track, and if I had to guess I'd probably assume that he has considered adding a drag strip to the property, but as far as I know nothing is in the works yet, nor do I know if anything will ever be in the works there. So... As soon as we have a track to run on, I would imagine you'll see us there. With bells on.

The final question actually came from my nephew, Ewan, who reminded me that I haven't done a "What's playing on my iPod..." segment in far too long. The reason for that is twofold. 1) Without an office at the track, I no longer have my iPod playing through speakers while I work. 2) I have simply forgotten.

I do play music non-stop on flights, and often in my hotel rooms, and lately the band Incubus has been getting the most airplay. I think I might be the last person at the Incubus Appreciation Party, but man they're good. Maybe it was their name that kept me disinterested until a series of great songs finally busted past the gate keepers in my head. When I work out, it's mostly Disturbed to keep me pumped. You don't, however, want to put Disturbed on when you're trying to wind down to go to sleep.

If those two companies named Apple (Apple Records and Apple Computers) can ever work out a deal, I'll download the entire newly remastered Beatles collection. I may still go buy the box set, but it sure would be a lot easier if I could just click on "Buy Now" and watch it all appear on my iPod...

To wrap this up, with the photo I mentioned at the top, check this out. Yes, it's another in my long list of webcam shots of the new Target Field, but if you look in the lower left-hand corner, you'll see another large building with a greenish roof. That would be Target Center, the arena where the Minnesota Timberwolves play, and I've been wondering what they're doing with the roof there, since the ongoing process has been visible on the Target Field webcam all year.

Yes, it's green and it's green in both color and in terms of being environmentally friendly. What I didn't know, until this week, is that the green on the Target Center roof is actually GRASS!!! Talk about a green roof! The whole thing is made up of growing layers and irrigation, and it will make the building more efficient in a totally natural way. Okay, maybe it's not natural to have grass growing on the roof of an arena, but you know what I mean... I have no idea if they plan to mow it or what they're going to do in terms of maintenance. Perhaps goats...

T-minus 25 hours until I take off for Charlotte...

Wilber, out!