Old Man Winter has certainly been on a rampage throughout our area lately. Over the past seven days he has been responsible for providing us with two (not one, but two!) blizzards that have almost crippled the mid-Atlantic region. With frigid temperatures, 50-mph winds, blinding snow, massive drifts, numerous power outages, and, oh yeah, four feet of snow, it has been a week that I will remember for quite a while. If I never see another snow shovel I will be a happy camper.

The federal government has finally opened for the first time in five days, schools have been closed since last Thursday, today is the first day that the airports are running on a regular schedule, and snow plows are just now getting to the residential areas. What a week it has been.

Oh, by the way, did you notice that there has been no mention of Jim in this story so far? No tales of Jim shoveling for hours on end, no talk of him digging his way to the boat to fix a broken electrical cord so that the boat had power, and no mention of him climbing on the roof at the shop to check the depth of the snow. Oh, did anyone say that he had to dig his way in and out of the race shop and warehouse? Nope, I didn't hear any those stories around here. I will say though, he did fill the bird feeders up before he left town and for that my little flying friends and a few squirrels are vey appreciative. What a guy! LOL

OK, enough of my ragging on poor Jim. I'm just jealous because I'm not at the racetrack with him. Did someone say racetrack? Yes I did, but I better rewind and fill you in on the latest events from the very beginning — you know, from the time that the first snowflake fell from the sky!

If you have been reading our blogs you know that Jim, Jon, and I have been very busy working on our warehouse project. It has been a bit overwhelming, but we have been working very hard and thankfully we are starting to see some progress being made. In the meantime, Jim had finally exhausted every effort to put together a sponsorship package in time to race Pomona and Phoenix. He had finally resigned himself to the fact that for the first time in his racing career, he would not be racing at the Winternationals and only be attending as a spectator for a couple of days. That is when his phone rang.

It was last Friday evening at 4:30 p.m., our first blizzard was quietly lurking in the distance and the first snowflakes were starting to fall. Jon and Alli were loading up their truck to get home before the roads got bad and Jim and I were finishing up at the warehouse so that we, too, could get home. Jim was feeling a little down because all of the Pro Stock guys were in Vegas testing at the Pro Stock Showdown event in preparation for the upcoming Pomona race and here he was cleaning out a warehouse.

Well, that was going to soon change. Jim's phone rang and it was Johnny Gray on the other line. Johnny Gray and his son Shane (who has never raced a Pro Stock car!) had, during the off-season, started their own engine R&D program with engine guru Joe Hornick and had also switched their race cars from Dodges to brand new Jerry Haas GXPs. The weather in Vegas was marginal to say the least and it sounded like everyone was having issues with the cold track and unfavorable conditions. It is hard enough to test in those conditions when you arrive with the same race car combination that you ended the year with, but when you have to start from scratch with two brand new combinations it can be a huge undertaking — especially when you only have a couple of days to test.

Johnny and his team knew that Jim had a lot of success with his Jerry Haas GXP and thought that Jim might be willing to be an extra set of eyes and ears to assist them in fine-tuning their new racing program. You know Jim…"put me in coach!" Of course, by this time, all of our airports were closed so there were no flights in or out of the D.C. area. While Jim hurriedly packed up his things, I started calling airlines to find out how far south he had to go to find an open airport. By the time we got to the house, the roads were pretty well covered. I had him drop me at the house so that I could throw together a suitcase for him while he ran up the street to fill up with gas.

Jon, Alli, and I had his bag packed, the Blazer loaded, and him on his way to Raleigh/Durham airport in no less than 15 minutes. Yep, that is right, Raleigh, N.C.! That is how far he had to go to catch a 6:00 a.m. flight to Vegas on Saturday morning. He drove in the snow and then rain for four hours, found a room for a few hours sleep, left the Blazer parked at the hotel, caught an early flight. and arrived in Vegas at 9:30 Saturday morning. By the time he got to Vegas I had already shoveled half of the driveway!

Well, the test session in Vegas was not perfect by any means. The weather was tough, the track was challenging, and the test runs were limited. Luckily, Johnny and Shane have two very talented teams headed up by veteran crew chief Craig Hankinson, and though they didn't get many full passes down the track, everyone was excited to get to Pomona. As for Jim, he was having a blast.

As they say, the rest is history. Yesterday was the start of what will prove to be another great NHRA racing season, and I know that Jim is excited about what the future will bring for the rookie Shane Gray and his dad, Johnny. In just his 11th time in a Pro Stock car, on his 4th full pass down the track, Shane qualified No. 9. (It reminded me of Ryan when he qualified for his first race in Chicago.) Jim was so happy for all of them because it just shows that all of their hard work paid off and he was so excited that he got to be a part of all of it.

Well, I am going to close this blog as I have a flight to Pomona in just a few hours. I was so relieved when I found out that all of the airports were up and running today, and so far, my flight is on time. I can't wait to see everyone at Pomona. I'm not really sure what I will do with myself without a trailer to load, an awning to take down, or a transmission to build, but I am sure I will have a great time. Anywhere without snow is fine with me! I have to admit, I did pack my pink Mechanix wear gloves just in case I need them! Well, take care, and I will have Jim write when he gets home!