I realize it’s been a whole weeks since our last race but a lot of good things happened at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals that I want to highlight for you. The best part was that our KB Racing Dragster ran well in Indy. We had the most consistent Top Fuel dragster throughout qualifying. We ended up in the No. 3 spot and won the Full Throttle Pit Crew Challenge Award. That helps our team’s confidence level. We know we have a great car going into the last six races, and we definitely have a good shot at winning the championship. I’m so thankful for every single member of my KB team. I know that I speak for our whole team, crew chief Jim Oberhofer, assistant crew chief Troy Fasching, Dewey Burroughs, Colby Campbell, Jerry Cook, Tom Davis, Trucker Mike LaJoice, (Beaker) Chris Glass, and Mac Savage when I say we are looking forward to doing a lot of winning in the remaining six races of 2008.

We were really glad when our Kalitta teammates of Dave Grubnic and Doug Kalitta’s group secured a spot in the countdown at Indy. None of us made it last year and the major goal at Team Kalitta going into the first 18 races of the '08 season, was to make sure we were all in the top ten. I know the teams of Grubby and Doug are going to give our KB team some tough competition in our quest for the championship.

Indy is always a really busy race for us off the track. Since we are so thankful for the support of Mac Tools, we like to spend time with the distributors at their signature event, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. We all had a nice dinner together on Thursday night at the Marriot downtown. Also, all the Mac drivers did an autograph session on Saturday morning before qualifying at their hospitality tent. We are all proud to be associated with Mac Tools and grateful for their support.

I know our team is also thankful to have K2M on our car. Our KB Racing dragster had them as a primary sponsor for the Indy race. I’m not sure how clearly I explained this in my interviews at the track, but K2M is a company that makes innovative spine devices. Companies like CURE and FOCOS which were also on our car this weekend use K2M’s equipment to help children around the world with spinal deformities. CURE and FOCOS are non-profit organizations utilizing drag racing to raise awareness and funds for their cause. They build hospitals in countries like Afghanistan and Palestine to save the lives of children that need K2M’s devices.

I got to meets some of the surgeons that use K2M equipment in hospitals in the US. They spent time in our hospitality area at Indy. It seems like they had a great time and really love our sport. They see a lot of similarities between the way things are run in their operating rooms and our pit. Everything is very clean, carefully orchestrated, and extremely precise. I think it’s awesome that I get to meet so many interesting people. I love it when they learn about NHRA Drag Racing and get excited about it like I do. Mike Parkman and Andrew Rock of K2M cooked a great dinner for everyone on Saturday and Sunday night. We had some really good steak and chicken and it was nice hanging out with everyone at the end of the day. Our sponsors are like family on our team.

You may remember from a blog I wrote a couple of months ago that I got to meet and hang out with the country music band, Flynnville Train. Since then, they have composed and recorded a song about a female race car driver and it’s called "Where There’s a Will There’s a Way." It’s an awesome song and I will have more details soon about where you can download it. They are a really talented group. Before Indy, Brent and Bryan Flynn, two of the four members of Flynnville Train, brought the song to me. I went to lunch with them, Jim O, and the Kalitta PR rep, Todd Myers. Brent and Bryan are huge racing fans and have done a lot of racing in the past. They couldn’t make it out to the track for the Mac Tools US Nationals because they had to leave for a show in Maine. At least they got to hang out with us for a little bit. We talked a lot about drag racing, and of course got our picture taken together after lunch. Hopefully they will be able to come to one of our events soon. It would be great if they could play their new song, too.

Anyway, I’m leaving for the Charlotte race in the morning so I have to get packed now. I’m looking forward to this race more than any other event so far this year. There’s been a lot going on this week and last week so I’ll try to get you caught up with another blog in a few days. Oh and special thanks to Todd for taking the pics I used for this blog.