So I had to take a break from the Afghanistan stories to do a little racing. I was so very glad to be back at the track and back in my race car. It felt like months passed between the Phoenix race and the Gainesville race. The Friday rainout was like torture for me because I was so eager to get back in race mode.

I’m very pleased with the way our weekend went. I think it gives our team a lot of hope for the rest of the season. To be honest, it’s been a long time since I had that much fun on race day. It’s always great winning rounds, but also I approached race day with a different attitude. I think sometimes I want to win so bad that I put too much pressure on myself and I really make myself miserable. I guess it took spending time in a war zone to make me lighten up a little bit. The whole Afghanistan experience really changed the way I think about things. Some of the stuff I used to worry about doesn’t matter as much anymore. I vowed to enjoy life a lot more since people are risking their lives and fighting for my freedom and protection.

There was one day in particular in Afghanistan that really woke me up. I was actually scared for my life. It was towards the end of the trip and we had been without any major incidents. We had spent days learning about all the military equipment and intelligence, so I actually got to where I felt pretty safe over there as long as I was on the military bases. Then our day was interrupted when we got word that a dining facility on a base a few miles away from us was blown up. Apparently, a suicide bomber was able to drive a vehicle, with an improvised explosive devise (IED) attached to it, onto the base. We found out about it when two casualties and a bunch of wounded soldiers were brought to where we were. I actually saw the wounded soldiers with really serious injuries.

We all had and go in lockdown and arm ourselves with our protective army gear. As civilians, we were given very little information, so it was difficult to judge the threat of our situation. A good clue to the severity of it was that the military personnel near us were wide-eyed, pale-faced, and sweating, which didn’t give me an easy feeling. At one point, I looked outside while we were in lockdown, and I could see parades of armed Humvees rolling out ready for combat.

I had never been that close to an attack, and I have never been that close to people involved. I worried that there would be a follow-up attack and more IEDs would be planted where we were. It was a really helpless feeling. We had no idea what was really happening. We couldn’t make contact with the outside world. It was a reminder of what a war zone is actually like. I have never felt further from home.

We got them to let us out of lockdown so we could do our scheduled autograph signing and meet and greet. Instead of doing it in a tent where we were planning, we had to move it to a safer, structured building, which happened to be a cafeteria. Obviously, it was a really tense atmosphere that night. Most of the soldiers were eating in silence. No one wanted our autographs, and no one really wanted to talk about anything, not even racing. However, a lot of them came up and thanked us for being there and shook our hands. They were so respectful.

Trying to go to sleep after that was futile. I slept in my Kevlar vest. At one point I thought the whole building was shaking, but it was really just the pounding of my own heart. I heard every little noise. That was the longest night of my life. I used to think that sleeping the night before race day was tough. Fortunately, we got to get out of there as soon as morning came the next day. I know there are many people all over the world that sleep in that kind of fear all the time. It really made me realize how fortunate we are just to be able to sleep at night in peace without being fearful for ours lives. I only had to experience that for one night, and I thought it was one of the scariest times of my life. I can’t imagine having to live that day after day. I do know that it makes me even more grateful for the life that I have here.

We stayed in Gainesville and tested on Monday. It was kind of a weird and somber day because we all remember how painful of a day testing was last year. Eric was just a couple of cars ahead of us. We had all gotten to the lanes fairly early to get a head start on testing. I saw that he started getting suited up, and then I started getting suited up. I didn’t realize that’s the last time I would see him. I didn’t see his crash because I was strapped in the car, but I remember exactly how it sounded, and immediately I knew something had gone really wrong. Eric was in our thoughts all weekend. I can’t imagine how tough a time it is for his family, everyone at John Force Racing, and all of Eric’s friends. Our thoughts and prayers were and are with them.

I still have some more Afghanistan stories so I’ll continue writing about that in my next blog. Thank you for reading.