That last seven days have been a little bit of a whirlwind. I was in Southboro, Mass., Newport, R.I., Detroit, Mich., Nashville, Tenn., and now I’m in Las Vegas, Nev. I only spent one night at my house in Ypsilanti, Mich., and I won’t be back there for another month. I have enjoyed the last week a lot, but I love being here in Vegas because I’m back in my dragster. I have been out of it for over two months and trust me when I tell you my team isn’t easing me back into it, which is a good thing. We have only made two attempts down the track so far, but our KB Racing dragster is running great.

Just last Wednesday, our dragster was on the showroom floor of the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. This is the show that brings in more revenue than any other event, including Olympics and Super Bowls. We were fortunate enough to be able to display our KB Racing Dragster. A lot of people were there and I signed autographs all day and talked with people who stopped. It was really cool that my team took the dragster all the way over to downtown Detroit because I know how busy they were trying to get it ready for testing. Not only did they have it there, they had it sparkling clean, as always. Special thanks to Trucker Mike, Mac, James, and the whole team.

Every year at the NAIAS, the Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA) organizes and sponsors Automotive Education day with the sponsor dollars from State Farm. They were expecting 7,500 kids from Michigan, Canada, Ohio, and North Carolina. On Wednesday morning, I delivered my speech to them in Cobo Arena. I mentioned a couple of times over the last couple of weeks that I had been practicing my speech and that I was a little nervous. I was even more nervous when I say how big the arena is. Cobo Arena seats about 10,000 people. I think the speech went well though; I had a positive response. Some other schools and teachers asked me if I would speak at their schools so that’s a good thing. Also, a lot of the students told me that what I said inspired them, which was what I was aiming to do. Even if I just reached one kid, then I feel I succeeded. I am very thankful that Sandy Herp and Ken Schewe of DADA gave me the opportunity to be a part of the show.

The next day, DADA hosted Race Day at Cobo Hall. Other drivers such as Sarah Fisher, Dan Wheldon, Sam Hornish Jr., Frank Kimmel, and Helio Castroneves were also there signing autographs with me. It was neat to meet some of them. I wanted to stand in line for their autograph so it was weird for me to be on the same side of the table as them.

My Grandpa and my Dad were there for the whole thing. They came all the way to freezing cold Michigan from California. It was a real busy couple of days and we spent most of our time at the Auto show. I didn’t get to take them sight seeing, but we made some time for a speedy tour through our shop and they got to see where I live for the first time. We got to relax for all of about 15 minutes. I caught a picture of them in my living room.

Then I left them in Michigan to go to the Mac Tools Fair in Nashville. Mac Tools does a lot for us racers so we thought it was important to be there. We flew in late Thursday night. We went to the kick-off speech for all the Mac Tools distributors. John Aden, the President of Mac Tools, talks with the hundreds of distributors about their accomplishments over the year and how they can all work to improve the company. They show a video and it’s pretty inspiring. The whole Mac Tools Top Fuel team was there. All the John Force Racing drivers were there, and the many drivers that Mac Tools supports.

Last year, I stayed for the whole show, but this year I left Friday afternoon for Vegas. Our team will be here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway until Wednesday making lots of laps down the track. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be back in the seat. I’ll keep you updated.