The next three guys on the team I need to introduce or re-introduce are James Holifield, Mike LaJoice, and Mac Savage.

When I caught up with James, he was in the clutch room using the Rockwell machine. He is going to be the clutch assistant this year on our team. He has to weigh each section of each clutch and spends a lot of time doing it. It usually takes him about five minutes per disc. We use five discs per run, and will probably make at least 200 runs this season. James just started working for Kalitta Motorsports full-time last July.

Although the Rockwell machine may seem tedious, James loves being part of the race team. Last year at this time, he was working at Parisians as the Office Manager. He actually has a bachelor’s degree in business communications and has always worked in management. However, he always wanted to go racing and he tried for years to land a job on a team. He got some experience working as a volunteer on Bobby Lagana’s Top Fuel team. Then one day he met Shirley Muldowney when she came to Parisians. He told her about his dream of working on a team. She gave him the right contact info, he followed up on it, came out to a couple races as a parts washer, and was hired on Dave Grubnic’s team last year. Now he’ll continue living his dream on the KB team. His wife, Rozlyn, has been very supportive through his career and lifestyle change. James said “I can’t think of anything else I would rather do.” I couldn’t agree with him more.

James is a new addition to our team and so is Mike LaJoice, or “Trucker Mike” as he called by everyone on the team. Although he is new to the KB team, he has been with Kalitta Motorsports for five seasons. He has been driving truck since 1975 and that’s how he got his nickname. He worked for Connie Kalitta in the early ‘90s delivering airplane motors. Trucker Mike always wanted to work for the race team so he kept begging Jim O for a job and he would go to races and volunteer services. Then when they were putting together the new team for Scott in 2003, Jim O asked Trucker Mike to drive a truck to Elite in Minnesota to pick up the new trailer. Trucker Mike ended up having to stay there for two weeks and because of his dedication, he was hired on the team.

This year, he will be in charge of rods, pistons, tires, and “whatever Troy can throw at him.” He’s also in charge of and making sure all five trucks at Kalitta Motorsports are maintained. Of course, he will share driving duties. He likes cruising and being on the open road. Like most truck drivers, he doesn’t like to stop much or talk much. He lives in Dearborn, Mich., with his wife, Shawn, daughter, Samantha, and son, Shane.

Both James and Trucker Mike are dedicated new additions to our KB team. Mac Savage is a returning dedicated member of our team. Like last year, he will be responsible for dismantling and assembling cylinder heads at races. As I was talking to him last week, he was putting together the pressure regulator for the air system. Mac is known for being very hard working, thorough, and meticulous in his work. He grew up around racing because his Dad his dad, Curt, owned a Blown Gas dragster in the 1970s. Mac used to watch all the time and at a young age made it his goal to work for a professional race team. Now he has been at Kalitta Motorsports for 3 and a half seasons.

Mac and his wife, Heidi, just built and moved into a new house in Michigan that is close to the Kalitta race shop. They also have a new baby girl, named Reece who was born on last Nov 3.

So now you know a little bit about every member of the KB Racing Top Fuel team. Over the course of the year, you will be seeing them and hearing a lot more about them. Our main priority is getting to the winner’s circle as soon and as often as possible. We can’t wait to get our team owner’s, Ken, Judy, and Kenny Black to the winner’s circle. We also can’t wait to get the 2007 season started. A week from tomorrow we will be in Las Vegas, testing.

Right now, I am in Boston. I’m looking for Tom Brady so I can tell him good luck on Sunday. Actually, that’s a like. I would assume he’s already in San Diego. I’m here because my best friend is getting married on Sunday and I am in the wedding. The ceremony starts at 4:30 p.m. which is the exact same time the Patriots vs Chargers game starts. Most of the people at the wedding will either be from California or New England so there is a big dilemma about how we will follow the game. The brides Dad asked if we could have a TV on during the ceremony. Game or no game, I’m sure it will be fun. I’ll have good stories and good photos next week!