Photo by Bob Johnson

My younger sister, Kim, lives in California and although we haven’t seen one another very much over the last several years, we talk on the phone a lot. Lately, our conversations have taken on a whole new sound. She has converted. She has caught the disease of which there is no cure called racing. Unlike me, she has been able to resist it for the first 24 years of life. Now she has started racing Super Gas and she’s hooked. She talks like a racer now. She says things like, “I won first round and I thought I would be able to relax a little because I was just happy to win my first round for the first time. But I realized it just made me want to win more. I didn’t think I could want it more, but I wanted to win second round more badly than the first.” Welcome to racing, Kim.

It’s fun to be able to talk about racing with her and what it’s like to be behind the wheel. I love how she describes what it’s like to stage and have the tree comes down. She talks about the feeling she gets when the car launches. Then she described the exhilaration and excitement after she won that first round. I can so relate. I really enjoy listening to her talk about it. She will often call or text me before during and after her races. She has had three or four so far. I’ll admit I’m sort of living vicariously through her. She reminds me how much I can’t wait to get back in the driver’s seat.

It is with that in mind that I realize I have to stay motivated to secure funding so that I can get back out there. To be honest with you though, I sometimes get frustrated when it comes to finding a sponsor. Rejection can be discouraging. I wonder if I’m doing something wrong, and I become unmotivated at times. Finding a sponsor is so much like being a salesperson. I’m selling myself, my team, and our sport. I’m selling a commodity to a company and trying to assure them what they will get in return. This doesn’t “seem” that difficult because it’s something I believe in SO much. I’m by nature, not a salesperson. I think it’s a great skill to have in life but it’s not something I excel at, especially when it comes to selling myself. I do think I’m getting better get though. Thankfully, I have great support around me, and I’m not giving up.

Last week I got reminded that I’m not just finding a sponsor so I can fulfill my need to be back on the track driving, competing, and winning. There are plenty more people who will benefit from it.

Definitely the people whose livelihoods depend on selling race car parts. I was reminded of this when I went up to Charlotte, Mich.,last week, where our chassis builder, Chuck Lett, builds our race cars. Now is a tough time for his company, Attac Race Cars, because people aren’t ordering as many race cars. He’s eager get back to the way things were when we had four race cars at Kalitta Motorsports.

I’m sure a lot of our vendors can share those sentiments. Obviously we rely on a lot of companies for our parts and pieces to make the cars run. Some of these companies really took a hit because there are fewer full time teams on the race track. Obviously the amount purchased from here is down significantly and I’m sure that’s tough on some of them. Helping out these companies and Chuck’s is a good motivator for me to keep pounding the pavement, and bring in some revenue.

I definitely got another motivator from the visit up North. I went with Chuck and his wife, Ann, to visit a couple elementary schools. Chuck explained to students the process of building a top fuel dragster and I talked about what I do. It’s always great to see how excited kids get about racing. First, we went to Springport Elementary School in Springport, MI where they were having a career day. Many of the students dressed up for the occasion. We gave presentations to four different classes. He brought a lot of the parts and pieces for the kids to touch. They liked it when Chuck let them try and pull a strand of carbon fiber, which is major component in top fuel dragster body, in two pieces and they could not. Chuck emphasized the importance of math skills and showed them blue prints of the chassis before it’s built. Then we showed some racing footage so they could see his creation on TV. I spoke to them about driving and answered any of their questions.

We did a similar presentation that same day at Potterville Elementary where Chuck and Ann’s son, Nicholas attends. We spoke to two classes of third graders. They were so attentive and well-mannered. At the end, we asked trivia questions about what we had talked about. The kids definitely paid attention because they answered all the questions correctly and the winners got KB Racing team uniforms. Then I got to have my picture taken with my newly recruited teammates. I was told they all wore the uniforms to school the next day which made me happy.

I had a really great day visiting the schools. All the kids were so excited and full of life. It’s fun for me to go into schools and be in that atmosphere. I love that my job allows me to do things like that. So I think that talking to my sister about her newly acquired “hobby,” the trip to Charlotte, and the school visits have come at just the right time for me and have given me just the inspiration and motivation I need to work hard to get us back out racing. I am hopeful good things will happen.

Speaking of motivation, Alan Reinhart sent me a text message urging me to get a blog done since I’ve been procrastinating so long. Thanks for the encouragement Alan ;-) Sometimes everybody needs a little kick in the butt.

I’ll be rooting for my teammates this weekend racing in Bristol. I think it’s g to be a great weekend for them. I’m excited for the season finales of American Idol and Dancing with the Stars next week. I think that Kris Allen is going to pull off the upset win in AI even though Adam is my favorite. I’m hoping fellow, former gymnast Shawn Johnson gets the win in the dancing show next week. OK, enough of my rambling. Have a great weekend!