Well this is blog number 101 for me and I feel like I have 101 things to say. These blogs get harder and harder to write the longer I procrastinate because I have more and more to say. Here we go!

The last time I wrote was before the season ended. You already know how everything played out, so there’s no need for my comments. I am already thinking about and looking forward to the 2007 season. I haven’t been in my dragster for 18 days and it feels like it has been months. Honestly, I’m ready for the new season to get started already.



I’ve had the last few weeks to spend with family and friends. I rented a car and pretty much lived out of my trunk for awhile as I traveled around to see different friends and family members throughout California. Nothing is better than having a full tank of gas and the time and freedom to go anywhere with no schedule. I started out in Huntington Beach and went wherever and whenever I wanted. I made sure I ended up in Northern California for Thanksgiving. It’s where I grew up and I still call it home. I hadn’t been there since January, which is the longest I had ever been away from home.

I stayed at my mom’s house for a couple of days and made sure to visit my Grandpa, Lonnie, and both my Grandmas. My Grandma Marge and my Grandma Helen kept a racing scrapbook for me. I’m hoping that they can come to an event next year since they have only seen me race on TV. I also stopped by Pacific Lumber Co. to visit all the people I worked with when I was a financial analyst.

On Thanksgiving Day, I went to my dad’s house to spend the day with he and my stepmom, Chris. We had a nice, relaxing day. My twin brothers, Kevin and Austin, didn’t even get out of their pajamas. I took a picture of them playing video games. In order to build up our appetites for dinner, Kevin, Austin and I jumped on the trampoline out in the backyard. I used to be able to do lots of cool flips but I’m getting old and they can do as much as I can do now. Then to further build his appetite for dinner, Kevin decided to make himself an ice cream sundae before we ate dinner. He calls it a Monday because it’s better than a sundae. My dad watched football. My sister, Jessica, showed me her Myspace.com page and all the ways I could make my page better. Thankfully for us, Chris did all the cooking. Me and kitchens don’t get along, although I did help with dishes and cleanup.

On Sunday before I left, I did an autograph signing at Big Louie’s Pizza, the local pizza parlor that really supports racing in the area. A lot of people whom I hadn’t seen in a long time came by to say hi. My kindergarten teacher, Paula McHenry, even stopped by. Some of the people from Steve Will’s Trucking & Logging stopped in as well. It’s really cool to have so much support from all the people in my hometown.

Overall, I had a fun time being in California. I’m kind of a creature of habit so I end up going to the same places no matter what city I’m in. My rental car had a GPS so I was easily able to find what I was looking for. I love to go to Whole Foods because they have good free samples and they always have fresh food. I went to one in Hollywood, Tustin, San Rafael and San Francisco. Of course I found kickboxing classes at 24 Hour Fitness in Irvine, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, San Francisco, and Santa Rosa. I went to sushi three different times in Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, and Eureka. I found a 7-Eleven everyday that I was in SoCal but couldn’t find one once I got north of L.A. It is a good thing my car got good gas mileage. I didn’t get any speeding or parking tickets this time but I did have the police called on me for napping in my car. Apparently some people thought I was dead.

I’m actually glad to be back in Michigan now. I think it’s warmer here than it was in San Francisco when I flew out. Now we are already preparing for next season. We will begin preseason testing in mid-January. Here at Kalitta Motorsports we have three dragster teams and a Funny Car team to prepare, so there’s a lot to do. I’ll keep you updated.