Yep, the blessed day finally arrived and I am so thankful that I was home to be a part of this awesome event. Ryan James Yates made his entrance into this world on Monday afternoon, Oct. 27, 2008 weighing in at 7 pounds and 6 ½ ounces. I know that many of you have already experienced the birth of a grandchild, but I can tell you that when Jamie laid little Ryan in my arms, the feeling was as awesome as when I held my own kids for the first time many years ago. Thankfully, everyone is doing well and Jamie and Cynthy are well on their way to becoming the perfect parents.

I am sitting on a plane westbound for Vegas right now and believe me; I think that this was the first time that I really didn’t want to leave for a race.  As much as I would love to sit and hold Ryan all day, I think that Jamie and Cynthy are looking forward to getting their newly adjusted lives back in order. Besides, this race marks my 400th consecutive NHRA start in a Pontiac Pro Stock racecar and according to my friends at Pontiac, that is a record. I started racing with Pontiac in 1990 and I am so proud to have been involved with such a winning organization for the past 18 years. My race cars have evolved from the Trans Am, to the Firebird, to the Grand AM, to the GTO and finally to this awesome GXP.  Each time I debuted a new body style I swore that there could never be a better racecar, that was, until the next one came out. Funny how those GM engineers just keep getting smarter and smarter. Should I dare say that I can’t wait to see what kind of racecar will be next?

So as you can probably tell, I am looking forward to dropping the clutch on Q1 on Friday afternoon. However, it will be a little unusual for me this race. For the first time since becoming my crew chief, Jamie will not be at a race. It will be different not hearing Jamie’s voice on the other end of my radio, always confident and always believing in me; but I am lucky that I will have Tom Martino and my son Jon to call the shots this weekend at the AC Delco Nationals.

So, on that note, I think that I will close this blog. I really just wanted to share with everyone our exciting news on our new Grandson, and I hope to have lots of pictures to share with you on the next blog. Jamie promises that he and Ryan will be listening to Bob Frey all weekend long as he announces our runs.  Hopefully, Bob will have reason to give us an “Oh Baby…” this weekend!