I was in my car driving to Tallmadge, Ohio, on Friday when I heard the news that Tim Russert passed away. I couldn’t believe it. I have been watching him for a long time on NBC’s Meet the Press. In fact, I record it on my DVR because I’m never home on Sunday mornings to watch it. I also paid attention to his commentary on the Today Show. His latest book has been on my list of books I want to read. I always appreciated his political insight but I also liked how highly he spoke of his father, his son, and the rest of his family. I will miss seeing him on TV. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Other than hearing about that sad news, I generally enjoy road trips. It was a three-hour drive which is a perfect length for a leisurely drive. I love to be able to just get in my car and go. I listened to all the radio stations. I am the worst channel surfer ever. On the long road trips back from races, I used to drive my Dad and Grandpa crazy by switching the channels all the time. Unfortunately, most of my channel surfing is going to be on the TV because I’m driving less and less these days. Those gas prices are just too painful for me. I even changed my gym membership because I used to drive 30 minutes to my gym. I really liked the place, but now I go to one that’s close to our shop in Ypsilanti. I just can’t justify driving that far anymore.

I could justify my road trip on Friday because it was to attend a function for one of our sponsors. Every year, Summit Racing Equipment holds an event at their headquarters in Tallmadge called Super Summit. They have a show ‘n’ shine with a mix of muscle cars, street rods, and sports compacts. My KB Racing teammates, Greg Anderson and Jason Line, also were there and they bring their Pro Stock cars for fans to see. Also Dan Runte, who drives the Bigfoot Monster Truck, was there. We all mingled with Summit employees and customers for the day. It rained pretty hard all morning but that didn’t deter anyone. There were still a lot of cars and a great turnout of people. I always enjoy going around and seeing all the hot rods. I got to sit in Ray and Sylvia Ruminski’s 1953 Chevy Sedan Delivery. They brought their car down from Warren, Mich. At the end of the day at Super Summit, a lot awards and trophies are given out. This is the third year in a row that I have gone and always enjoy it. I’m thankful for everything that Summit does to support racers of all sorts.

I drove home Saturday night and then I had Sunday to do whatever I wanted. It’s the first free Sunday I have had in awhile. I made it my goal to sleep in. I accomplished that to the point of sleeping through the first session of church, but thankfully they have a late session so I did manage to get myself out of the house for that. I go to Keystone Community Church in Saline, Mich. I really like the people there and am thankful to have found it. After church, I called my Dad and Grandpa to wish them a happy Fathers Day. They were headed to the lake so I’m glad they got to have a day of relaxation, too. I went to the mall to walk around. I rarely go shopping unless I absolutely need something but H & M was calling my name. They are reasonably priced and have some cool things. There’s always something I “need” from there. I got a new pair of shoes, a shirt and some bracelets.

Speaking of apparel, a lot of people have been asking where one can purchase our racing merchandise. Starting at the Norwalk race in a couple of weeks, we will have a merchandise trailer at all the races. I will have more info about that soon. If you want to buy something sooner than that, you can go on eBay and purchase a nose piece that we have run on our dragster. It’s signed by our whole team and has gone down the race track at 330 mph. The money that we raise from selling the nose piece will go to the Field of Dreams Baseball Club. It is a little league club for 8-14 year olds out of Charlotte, Mich. They are trying to raise money for new equipment. Chuck Lett, the owner of Attac Race Cars, who builds all our Kalitta dragsters, has a baseball field right next to his house. His son plays in the league and he made us an extra nose piece so we could sell it and raise money for the baseball club. Our assistant crew chief, Troy, is going to have it on Ebay soon.

I fly to New York on Wednesday for our race in Englishtown this weekend. I will check back before qualifying gets started on Friday.