I talked to my Grandpa on the phone the other day; he's on the west side of the country and me on the east. We couldn’t get through the conversation without him questioning my lack of blog writing.

Sorry Grandpa but there has been so much good TV lately, I can’t get up from the couch. There’s all these great new shows that I really like so I watch them, record them with my DVR and then watch them over and over. I have become a couch potato.

Actually I’m lying. The truth is that I have just had a severe case of writer’s block which is really sad because the things I have to write are easy compared to the writing I used to do in college. I used to be able to knock out a 10-page essay in a couple of hours, at the last minute, of course, and get an A. Last week, I had to write a one-page blog, which I do for Clevite’s motorheadheaven.com on a monthly basis. It was due Monday and I didn’t get it done until Wednesday. I also had to write an On the Run column for National DRAGSTER. It only has to be 800 words so it should be so easy. My PR rep, Mickey Schultz, gave me a Wednesday deadline. Well that day came and went. Then he said I had till noon Friday. I didn’t send it until 8 p.m. Friday. And now my NHRA blog has been neglected for a month. If blog writing were a class, I would be getting an F.

I have a lot to get you caught up on since I last wrote. I don’t have to tell you about our last couple of races because I’m sure you have gotten results off the Internet and watched the show on ESPN2. For Kalitta Motorsports, it was the best race of the year when Doug Kalitta and the Mac Tools team won the Richmond race. We were proud and happy to see them win. For my KB Racing team, the last few races haven’t gone as well as we hoped. Richmond was definitely a forgettable race. Well, I shouldn’t say that because they are never forgettable to me no matter how bad I want to erase them. I’m getting better but these races still cause me a lot of lost sleep. I have to believe that all this struggling and difficulty is for a reason. It is making us a better and stronger team and we have to just keep pressing forward with determination and the will to win.

What has been more memorable over the last couple of weeks is some of the time I’ve spent with others. In Dallas before the race, I went downtown for an autograph session at the American Airlines Center. Among a lot of other drivers, my teammates, Greg Anderson and David Grubnic, were there. Some of us got there early so we went to a pub nearby. John Force was kind enough to buy us all a round of drinks. Then we signed autographs and talked with a number of fans.

After that, Grubnic and I went to Dicks Last Resort where Suzie Oberhofer and her band had a gig. She is the sister to our team crew chiefs Jim and Jon Oberhofer and a great supporter of Team Kalitta. Her voice is amazing and I’m glad we were finally able to hear her sing. All of the Oberhofer family was there since they live near Dallas. I got them to pose for a picture.

I also got to meet Claire Hinkle who let me be a part of her school project this year. She sent me Flat Stan to take with me on my travels. We named him Fast Stan after he took a ride in my dragster. Earlier in the year, he went everywhere with me and I would write to Claire’s class and tell them all the cool places and things he got to do. They kept track of his mileage. Unfortunately, I’m not a very good caretaker and he lost some arms and legs along the way. I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have pets or kids. Claire had to make a new Fast Stan which she brought to me in Dallas.

After the Dallas race, I stayed for a couple of days to spend time with my “Texas family.” I met them last year when I helped with an on-track promotion for POWERade. Steve and Risa Douglas live in Midlothian, which is not far from the track. They are great supporters of my team. Back in April, they came to the Houston race and brought me a birthday cake. It was nice to stay at their house for a couple of days. They treated me to a couple of great dinners. Risa is good at motivating me to do some of the marketing things I used to do. For example, I just placed an order for apparel that I’m going to sell with my logo on it. She has a lot of good ideas to help me out and she called the other day to remind me to do my blog to take care of my fans. Sometimes I need a little kick to get me motivated.

After Dallas, I flew home to Eureka, Calif., to attend the fourth wedding in a year. My cousin Michelle got married to Josh Parker. I was honored when they asked me to be the matron of honor. I don’t have any older siblings so Michelle has always been like the older sister I never had. Our other cousins, Kylee and Kenzie, were the bridesmaids and Michelle’s niece Tresyn was the flower girl. We threw the bridal shower the day before the wedding. Thankfully the bride’s sister-in-law, Trina, was kind enough to host the party. The wedding was really beautiful and it was great having all the family together. I gave the toast at the reception which I have never done before. I could have gone on forever because Michelle and I have had a lot of adventures together and we have had a lot of fun times together. She even had the racing bug for awhile. She used to be like our volunteer team manager when we had our family-owned Top Alcohol Dragster. She would cook the meals for my team and Bucky Austin’s Funny Car team, she backed me up after burnouts, helped with my Girl Power apparel sales and promotions, and was a very supportive teammate. It was great having her around. One time she went with me in uniform to the SEMA Show where we put miles and miles on our feet trying to make contacts and establish marketing partnerships for our team. Life has changed a lot since then for both of us. I’m so happy for her and Josh and I know they will have a happy life together.

Maybe some things haven’t changed as I am still working on marketing partnerships for racing. Last weekend, Kalitta Motorsports team manager Rachel Brunner and I flew to Charlotte, N.C., for the NASCAR race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. I spent most of race day at the track meeting and talking with a lot of people. I was able to experience the race from a variety of different perspectives. I watched from the pits, the roof, a suite, and they have headsets you wear and watch the race on a little handheld screens. It seemed like all the buzz there was about the dragstrip that Bruton Smith is trying to build next door to his circle track. I really hope that happens and we have an event there in the near future. I found NASCAR fans camping in the infield showing support for NHRA with a sign that says “Build and they will come NHRA."

The next event on our minds will be Las Vegas. The whole team has the weekend off and then we will Western bound for the last two races of the year. I can’t tell you how awesome it would be to finish our season on a good note.

I wrote this earlier this week but just found out I need to go to California to be with my family. My cousin, Matt Will, passed away in a work-related accident. I willtell you about him in my next blog so I’ll write again soon.