My KB Racing Top Fuel team and I finally had something to smile about. On Monday in testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, we ran our fastest time ever, 331 mph. That is the first time we have broken the 330-mph mark. Over the last two seasons, we have come very close but have been just shy. We ran a 4.53 and then we came back and ran a 4.52 in testing.

The 331 milestone was bittersweet because it came on Monday after the race. We hit an unfortunate milestone on Saturday when we didn’t qualify for the race. Our 44-race qualifying streak was broken. There’s a long list of good teams that failed to qualify for at least one race this season. I guess we weren’t exempt from that list.

Now we are in Pomona preparing for our final race of the season. Although we had a frustrating race last weekend, it helps our confidence to have run well on Monday in testing. We want to end the season on a high note and carry that momentum with us into 2008.

I have a new decal on my dragster that a lot of people have been asking me about. It’s to honor my cousin, Matt Will, who passed away Oct. 9. He was battling the Colorado Fire in Monterey County when his bulldozer rolled and he sustained severe injuries to his head.

I got the call on Monday after our race in Richmond. We had tested that day, I went out to dinner with my team, and then I was in my hotel room feeling down about another tough weekend at the races. My cousin Michelle called to tell me that our cousin, Matt, passed away after being airlifted to San Jose Regional Medical Center in California. It definitely put a lot of things in perspective for me. What I thought was a bad weekend at the races wasn’t really that bad.



I could relate to Matt in a lot of ways because like me he had a dangerous job, but he loved what he did. Matt had a big heart. My family doesn’t always agree on everything but one thing we all can agree on is that he was one of the most loving members of our family. He didn’t really fit the mold of typical fire fighter. They say that most of the people who had his job are real gruff and tough. He was always giving hugs. He was known for his bear hugs. Some of the people he worked with even commented about it.

He worked for Cal Fire and they treated all of our family very well. I know our family really appreciated everything that they did. We all came together in Hollister, Calif.,. where Matt lived with his wife, DeeDee, son Trysten, and daughter Elsie. They shuttled us to and from the airports and were there for us. They orchestrated a very touching ceremony in honor of Matt. There were hundreds of firefighters from all over the state there. He is loved and will be missed by a lot of people.

Matt always wanted to come to one of our races but he never made it. Dee Dee, Trysten who is 10 and Elsie, who is 8, will be at the Finals this weekend. I know they will love being here. I’m going to do the best I can to win for them. It would be so awesome to have them in the winner’s circle with us.