I'm home again, back in Woodbury after a travel day on Monday, but the memories of the 4-wide exhibition runs are still fresh in my mind, and I swear I can still smell the nitro.

Yes, we were in the deal because we lost in the first round (to my buddy Jeff Arend, who I always say "scares me" because he and his team are so much better than their record indicates) and frankly we were not expecting to be in the 4-wide thing at all. The first round was so full of surprises and upsets that a long list of top-flight teams were available for the special exhibition, so we went back to the pit area and everyone got on with the work of wrapping things up and tearing down the circus. Tim and I talked, at length, about what went wrong on our lap, and we both figured that as cool as the 4-wide thing was going to be it was pretty obvious that we weren't going to be asked.

And then the NHRA officials came by and asked us! Tim said yes, the guys got to work, we put off tearing down the hospitality area, and it was time to get ready for another round. With such a lousy e.t. in the first round, we knew we'd be planted over there in the two right- side lanes, which had been prepped earlier in the week but hadn't been run on and were, therefore, certainly going to be the bigger challenge. We went up to the line after the semifinals and watched them drag those lanes numerous times, then spray them with enough glue to trap an elephant, but there was no getting around the fact they simply had to be inferior to the left-side lanes. That's where it comes in handy to either be Tim Wilkerson or Del Worsham...

Del was in lane 4 and we were in lane 3, and between the two of those guys they have about as much match-racing experience as anyone out there short of John Force. They both approached this lap as just that, figuring the conditions wouldn't be a lot better than some of the match-race tracks we've all visited and I think that was a very smart way to approach it.

We were all a little out of our element when it came to knowing what to expect in terms of the sound and the fumes and, frankly, by the time we got up to the line and started getting ready for this deal, there was a lot of excitement in the air. I turned to Buck Hujabre and said "Man, I'm actually pretty nervous right now." He thought that was really interesting, considering the lap was purely an exhibition, but I said "It's just because it's going to be such a spectacle, and everyone is watching us. The whole thing is giving me butterflies, but the good kind. It's exciting!"

I went the extra step and put ear plugs in first, then put my ear muffs on like usual. They brought us all out, the huge zMax crowd came to its feet, and there was a pure buzz in the air as our four cars lined up and then we, as the crews, stood next to our cars for a momentous photo op of four nitro Funny Cars, all lined up in a row.

I gotta tell you, the NHRA and the teams all banded together to take on what was really not an easy deal and then make it look like we do this all the time. Everyone started together, the four drivers did their burn-outs together, then backed up at about the same speed, and pulled forward like they'd practiced this. They hadn't, of course, but all the teams looked out for each other and the four drivers did an unbelievable job of getting staged within a couple of seconds of each other. Then... The amber lights flashed and everything you've ever experienced at the starting line was forever relegated to 2nd place in your memory bank.

Loud? That was obvious, but my ears were so protected it was very muffled. The most noticeable thing was the concussion. I don't know how to explain it other than to say I've never felt anything like it, and I stand a couple of feet behind a nitro Funny Car up to eight times a weekend, all year long. It shook the Earth, the air, and all of us. You could literally feel it in your chest, but also coming up through your feet, as if we'd just created our own little mini- earthquake in Concord, N.C.

As for the fumes; most of us hadn't thought of that. It was a tough weekend in Charlotte anyway, with not much wind and a lot of humidity making it difficult to see and breathe even when only one car was running in the pit area, but the nitro aroma created by four Funny Cars all running at once was really something. It's not easy shooting video tape when you can't see...

We did come in fourth out of four cars in the race, but Tim did an amazing job getting the car down what was clearly shown to be the worst lane. Basically, at the hit of the throttle the driveshaft shot up to the moon as the tires spun, and if this was any other lap he would have simply lifted, but he grabbed a handful of brake, feathered the throttle a little, and drove it all the way down there one-handed, with the car sashaying back and forth while it spun the tires but never fully smoked them. Between Tim and Del, you saw a pretty great exhibition of how to handle a couple of sketchy lanes.

Once it was over, everyone was mostly just laughing, smiling, and hollering down behind the starting line. We were all just blown away by it, and you saw a lot of normally stoic crew guys and crew chiefs giggling like little kids. And, I'm sure you saw the eyes and the smiles of the drivers, on TV, when they got out of their cars. Everyone thought it was a pretty cool and historic deal. We were proud to be part of it!

After that, it was back to work in the pit area. I finished up my post-event report, fired it off to the world, and then put on a t- shirt and got to it with Dave, Annette, Rich, and others as we tore down the hospitality area. I think it was about 8:30 when I finally was on the road back to the hotel, so all I could manage was a swing through the drive-thru at McDonald's to grab one of their salads with grilled chicken, and take it back to my room. Then, after a shower, it was time to relax, watch a little football, and sleep. I needed the sleep.

I got up in the morning and met Rich and Annette in the lobby at 8:30, since they were on the same flight home with me and I was giving them a ride to the airport. My Hertz car for the weekend was a small hybrid, and it was a ton of fun to drive after I got used to feeling the engine shut off and turn back on at every stoplight. I kept telling Dave and Buck that even on Sunday, the gas gauge was still on "Full" but when I stopped on Sunday night to make sure it was filled- up it took exactly 2 gallons of gas. TWO GALLONS OF GAS for the whole weekend! Amazing...

I had printed Rich and Annette's boarding passes when I did mine on Sunday, and as we headed to the airport they were still shown in Coach, but I had also looked at the seat map for our flight and could see three open seats in First Class, so I boldly predicted they'd be bumped up to join me in the front cabin. Not more than a few minutes after we got to the gate, we heard those wonderful words "Would
passenger Schendel please approach the podium ..."  They couldn't sit
together, but both of them were up front. And, as Annette said "We spend every minute of every day together, so I think we can survive being two rows apart if it means we get to sit in the big seats..."

While we were waiting at the gate, I looked outside and saw something that made me smile. US Airways is doing a thing where they paint individual airplanes in the colors and "look" of old airlines that US Air bought, merged with, or otherwise acquired over the years.  A
couple of months ago I was waiting for Barb at MSP when I saw a plane come in all dressed up in the old Piedmont Airlines motif, so I immediately checked with Chris Cunningham at the next race, since he spent many moons working maintenance at US Air. Chris told me all about the various planes they've dressed up, so I was aware of it but was still excited to see one of their jets painted to look like an old PSA jet, outside our gate in Charlotte. I used to fly PSA (Pacific Southwest Airlines) a lot when I lived in So Cal, back in the 80s, and all of their planes had a "smile" painted just behind the nose of the jet, and the nose cone would always be black, which combined with the cockpit windows to give all the PSA jets an instantly recognizable "happy face". It was great to see that old design, even if it was just a "dressed up" version of a new US Airways plane...

As for the flight home, I'll say this... I am always hot on airplanes. Not sure why, but I'm always the person who gets up after the flight with his shirt stuck to his back, and I'm constantly adjusting the vents to get as much cool air on me as possible. Maybe this standard internal warmth is what helps me get through the winters up here. Annette, on the other hand, probably has zero body fat. She may actually owe body fat. So, she's always cold and even goes so far as to bring her own blanket to use on top of the thin cheapo ones the airlines provide.

As we were enjoying (and I don't toss that word around lightly in terms of airline food) our Thai Chicken Salads, I turned to look back at Annette and she was wrapped up in blankets from her chin to her feet. This plane was COLD, daddy-o, but I was loving it. I kept my vents going full force and then finally, about 90 minutes into the flight, I did something I almost never do. I closed the vents. Believe me, if I'm feeling chilled, the plane must be colder than a meat locker...

We landed 30 minutes early, worked our way to baggage claim at MSP, and were stunned to see our bags come down the chute just as we arrived there. I wished the Schendel's well, as they headed back home to southern Minnesota, and then I headed home to Woodbury. As tired as I was, I still was fully aware that Charlotte was simply the first of these four races in a row, so I'm trying to pace myself and keep up the energy.

Part of the process of pacing myself is the ongoing effort to minimize the pain I have in my ankles. I've had chronic issues with the inside part of my left ankle for many years, thanks to a slide into 3rd base as a member of the Danville Roosters in 1977. It hurt like hell back then, but if you wanted to stay in the lineup you just taped it up and went back out there. If no bone was sticking out, you kept playing...  Now, I'll be paying for that for the rest of my life.

Today, I had an appointment with a new foot specialist, and he was really great. Mostly, we just talked and I gave him the whole history of all the baseball, and now my current career which keeps me on my feet so much of the time, whether it's at the track or to and from airports. It's all made worse by the air travel (are you ever really comfortable in an airplane seat?) and the different rental cars, which all have different places for you to put your left foot. He analyzed some MRI reports I have, and concurred with the diagnosis: "Mild to moderate tendinopathy and mild tenosynovitis of the posterior tibial tendon. An area of intrasubstance longitudinal splitting/scarring of the posterior tibial tendon is noted occurring at and extending below the level of the medial malleolus. Also, mild peroneal brevis and peroneal longus tendinosis."

All that means I have a partially torn tendon right under the ankle bone on the inside of my left ankle, as well as a lot of surrounding tendonitis, and it's not going to magically fix itself. So, we're working on some new custom orthotics, which I'll get fitted for tomorrow, and the most important thing is simply mapping out a strategy to keep the problems from occurring as best we can (when it's really bad, it's REALLY bad and I can hardly walk or sleep), and to make the process of "getting better" happen as rapidly as we can whenever it does flare up. Sounds good to me...

Now, I gotta get back to work getting ready for Dallas. As disappointed as we were to mess up and get our butts spanked in round one at Charlotte, the good news is we are basically exactly where we were prior to the race, in terms of how many points we are out of the lead. We can thank all of those other first round upsets for that situation, and basically only Robert Hight made a really big move at the first playoff race. We just have to get back after it in Dallas, and make up some ground, because we're all still bunched tightly enough together that any team can leapfrog well up the standings with a good weekend or two.

Off to DFW on Thursday, so if I don't have time to do anything tomorrow I'll make a point of writing something at the track on Friday. See ya then...

Wilber, out!