Since my last blog things around Jim Yates Racing have been really busy. I thought that not racing Brainerd would afford us lots of extra time to get everything ready for Reading, but I have found that there never seems to be a lot of extra anything in racing! You know, like extra days in the week, extra money, MPH, thousandths of seconds, round-wins — my list could go on forever! LOL

We had a test session planned the week of Reading in Budds Creek, Maryland, to run some new engines, break in some tires, and break in some new clutch parts. Ryan was more than ready to get back behind the wheel of the Sunglass Machine and as usual did a fantastic driving job. Of course, the two days that we chose to test just happened to be the hottest days of the year, go figure. Despite the heat we had a really good test session. Richard Maskin and the guys at Dart have been working really hard on some new engines, and we spent a lot of time making runs to find that perfect tune-up.

After two days of testing, it was on the road again to head to Maple Grove Raceway. This has always been one of my favorite tracks as I used to race our Division 1 Bracket Finals at this track every year. It is a beautiful facility nestled in the hills of Pennsylvania surrounded by acres of farmland and corn fields — very different from most of the tracks we attend. Anyway, we were all looking forward to some beautiful weather and some fast NHRA Drag Racing.

Remember what I said earlier about not having anything extra in racing… well this past weekend we certainly didn't have any extra luck when it came to Mother Nature and the racetrack. The NHRA Safety Safari and track officials spent many, many hours trying to gain control of the water seeping up through the racetrack, and as a result we were limited to just two qualifying runs for the weekend. Do you know how frustrating it is to sit at the track with the sun shining and not be able to make a qualifying pass? Despite the delays, though, NHRA did a great job assuring that we had a safe racetrack to run on and for that I am grateful for all of their hard work.

Well, Ryan did a flawless job driving our Wiley X Sunglass Machine to a #12 qualifying position and did another great job on Sunday. All he needed was a few extra thousandths of a second to claim his first round-win, but like I said, there never seems to be anything extra in Pro Stock! Our next race is Indy, and we can't wait.

Though racing is our main focus right now, we still found the time to visit some great friends of ours during our off weekend. Many years ago, while doing a Pontiac promo in Topeka, Kansas, we met Don and Jana Knapp and their two daughters, Jamie and Kristin. Since their daughters are the same ages as our kids, we instantly had a great deal to talk about. Over the years, our friendship has grown, and though we are long distance, we usually try to see each other at least once or twice a year. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Jamie Knapp got married to Bryan Bradley, and Toni and I were so happy that we were able to attend her special day. What a great time we had catching up with Don, Jana, and the girls and sharing in Jamie's happiness. Unfortunately, our stay was short, but we departed with promises of getting together again in the near future.

As Indy approaches, we are looking forward to a great weekend of racing. Jon and I have been working all week on the Sunglass Machine, and Richard and Dart have been working on the engines. I am confident that everything will come together for Ryan next weekend as he attends his first Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. I do have to say that we will be one crew guy short for the next couple of races. Al Waters, who has been with us for many years, will have to take some time off to help care for his sick mom. We are keeping Al, his mom, and his family in our prayers and are praying for a speedy recovery.

Well, before I close, I want to wish everyone a very happy Labor Day weekend. Have you ever thought about why we celebrate Labor Day? No, it is not to celebrate a win at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, though that would be nice! I actually looked up the definition of Labor Day and decided to share this with you:

Definition: Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Oregon was the first U.S. state to recognize Labor Day in 1887. It became a U.S. National holiday in 1894.

So in observance of Labor Day, we will be taking a little extra time and working a little extra hard to insure that Ryan and this entire Wiley X Sunglass team has a great showing at Indy next week.

Thanks for checking in!!