Well, it’s been a tough couple of weeks on the track for our KB Racing team. I’m going to stay positive though. I believe we are just working out some kinks so we can really come on strong in the remaining races. The good news is that we secured a spot in the Countdown. Actually, that’s great news. I can’t tell you what a relief that is. We missed the Countdown last year, and that was a huge disappointment. I was determined not to let that happen again. I have said from the beginning that I have a championship-caliber team, so I look forward to showing that as the season winds down. It should be fun.

Last week was really fun because my 14-year-old brother, Austin, spent the week with me. He had never been to my place before. Monday, we left Brainerd at 2:30 a.m., drove to Minneapolis, and caught a 6 a.m. flight. We were pretty tired the rest of the day, so we just went to my house, sat around, and watched TV. I got Austin hooked on watching the Olympics. We watched all of the swimming and gymnastics over the week. I’m a big fan of Michael Phelps. Even before these Olympics, I was a fan of his. He lived and trained in Ann Arbor, which is near where I live. I would always keep an eye out for him when I went to Ann Arbor, but unfortunately, our paths never crossed. It was great to see him accomplish everything he set out to do. I was also glad that Shawn Johnson finally won a gold medal last night.

I have been doing a lot of TV watching. When Austin was here, we stayed up really late every night glued to the TV. I did make sure we did others things besides watch the Olympics. We ventured into Detroit for two of the nights. We went to a Tigers baseball game on Tuesday. We had bleacher seats in right-center field, which we really liked. Austin was determined to catch a home run ball, but none even came close.

The next night, we went to the Motor Sports Hall of Fame induction at the Filmore in Detroit. It was a last-minute decision to go after I read about the event on NHRA.com. Ron Watson was kind enough to save two seats for us. Renting a suit for Austin at the last minute was a bit of a challenge, but we found one and had time to get him a haircut. I’m really glad we went. It was cool being in the same room with so many legends of motorsports. There were a lot of returning inductees at the event. John Force was one of seven inducted that night. That meant that Ashley Force was there, so Austin was glad about that.

We flew to Pennsylvania the next day for the race. Unfortunately, our softball game that Austin helped me prepare for got rained out. I was really looking forward to it. I felt bad for all the fans who came out to see us play, but at least we still raised money for DRAW. I’m glad that Lachelle Seymour and Zak Elcock organized the event. They did a great job, and I hope we get to play at a later date.

After we left the rain-soaked stadium, we went to Hooters with Greg and Kim Anderson. Austin had never been there before, and he wanted to go. He got to hang out with Greg and Kim’s son, Cody. Austin had also never been to Wawa before, so the next day, I introduced him to my favorite place to get coffee. We went there multiple times over the weekend. Austin helped the team out by washing parts. He rode in our team van for every run, and it was really cool having him there. I would get suited up, and then we would do a special hand shake before I got strapped in the car.

Austin flew back to California after the race, and I flew back to Michigan. I was sad to see him go. He is a really cool kid. I probably won’t see him for awhile. He starts high school next week. We wished our sisters, Kim and Jessica, and our brother, Kevin, had been with us for the week, too. I think Austin has the “racing bug,” so I know he will be at a lot more races.