Have any of you ever visited the Taj Mahal? Well, we feel like we have been racing in the Taj Mahal of drag racing this weekend in Concord, N.C. Right now Toni and I are sitting in the rig, still parked at the track, having a day of “catch up” after a great weekend of drag racing. I am still in awe at the unbelievable facility that Bruton Smith and his team have created in such a short period of time; not to mention the record number of die-hard drag racing fans who came to enjoy our inaugural event this weekend.

When we drove down here on Wednesday morning in a torrential downpour, I was really worried about the weekend. But, by Friday afternoon, the skies had cleared, the sun had come out and the stands were packed to capacity. I was told that there was standing room only by Saturday afternoon and I would believe it by the looks of the stands and the crowds of people lined up along the fence. What a perfect location for a brand new NHRA racetrack. With Bruton’s vision coming alive before our very eyes, there was no doubt that the fans in attendance were truly guests of a first class facility.

Speaking of fans, it was amazing to me the number of fans that came this weekend. Young and old, lots of families, first time drag race fans and loyal die-hard fans. It was awesome! I was so excited that I was able to see old friends and family that I haven’t had a chance to visit with in quite a while. We were able to visit with a lot of our old NASCAR friends, friends from our McDonald’s/Joe Gibbs Racing days, old crewmembers and their families, friends from home and even Toni’s cousin and his family whom she had not visited with in many years.

Toni’s cousin, Terry, his son Jonathan and girlfriend Mandae (I hope I spelled that right) came to the track on Saturday morning. They have lived in the Charlotte area for years but with our crazy travel schedule, we never seem to have the time to get together. Well, now there was no excuse. They have been watching the development of the racetrack since the beginning and finally they were able to attend their very first drag race. I don’t think that they had much to be disappointed about other than the 95-degree heat and 90 percent humidity! Whew was it hot here, but no worries, there was no rain and that made for a perfect racing weekend in my book. It was even more perfect that our Wiley X Sunglass Machine made some awesome runs and they were here to celebrate our qualifying efforts.

Sunday’s eliminations brought even more friends our way. Though it is a little hard to visit on race day I think everyone understood; besides, they were all having a great time watching world class drag racing at it’s finest. Speaking of fine drag racing, we gave them an extra thrill first round when I beat the No. 3 qualifier (W.J.) on a holeshot despite his amazing low E.T. of first round. Between W.J. and I there are a lot of NHRA Championship rings – 8 to be exact. So you know that when we pull up to the starting line, there is no fiercer competition and the fans are always going to be treated to a great race. Unfortunately, we lost a close race second round to the eventual Pro Stock winner, Justin Humphreys. There is nothing better than winning your first race at the inaugural event at the zMax Dragway. Congratulations to Justin and his entire team for a job well done!

Well, like I said, Toni and I are taking a day to catch up before leaving for Dallas. It looks like the weather in Dallas will be awesome this weekend so we are looking forward to a great race at the Motorplex. Toni and I will leave early in the morning and take our time getting there – Un huh! Toni doesn’t really believe that is going to happen, but since I can’t park the rig until Wednesday afternoon anyway, I guess there is really no reason to set the land speed record from here to there. I will just have to be content to count my mile markers in a moderate fashion this time. Yeah right!

Anyway, it looks like it may rain here in a little while and I have to climb under my tractor-trailer to check some things out before heading out tomorrow. I would much rather lie on a dry ground than lie on a wet ground any day so I will get this blog to Phil Burgess and start getting my maintenance items checked off of my list. After that, Toni and I are going to go and visit her Uncle Ed and Aunt Mary for a little while. They only live about 15 minutes from here and didn’t have the chance to come to the race, so we are going to bring the racer to them! Such a deal, huh?

So, it is off to the races again tomorrow and I will be sure to check in with everyone after we get to Dallas and get things set up. Thanks so much for sharing this weekend with us and I hope you enjoy the pictures I have attached of this great facility.