First and foremost I owe an apology to Team 43 and everyone who went with us last weekend. I got a little (no, a lot) carried away celebrating Grady’s good run, my anniversary and I might as well throw in my birthday on Sunday night when we got to Dubuque. I am usually pretty good about pacing myself and quitting early but I evidently threw all good thinking out the window and had a good old time with several other racers and crew members. The consequences were not good. I spent all day in bed Monday, the crew had to do my usual chores and just the thought of Bubba and Grady making fun of this for the next year was enough for me to keep the curtains closed on the bunk. So, I am truly sorry to everyone that had to put up with me on Monday, it was not a pretty site.

As for racing, I got my first look at Deer Creek Speedway and I sure hope it’s not my last. What a nice track, wide, with high banking and good racing. Jeremy started the feature ninth and was making his way forward, looking excellent according to me, when his rear end gave way. We were all very disappointed. Jeremy had a great car and was definitely going to finish up there. Chris Simpson and crew were very nice to invite us to stay at their shop so we could get the cars switched and ready for East Moline. Thanks very much to Travis and Mindy for the use of their shower and to all of Team 32 for their hospitality.

Sunday night we were in East Moline. Jeremy had a pretty good run in his heat race and passed a couple of cars which is difficult to do on the little bowl track. Grady started tenth for the feature and worked his way up to a sixth place finish. Once again, Grady and I disagree about racing on this track. He says it wears him out. I say it is exciting racing to watch. All the battling for position, scraping the wall, and avoiding wrecks is definitely a good time for the fans of racing. The car in one piece and the 6th place finish didn’t hurt my attitude either.

After arriving in Dubuque on Sunday night we all, except Sydney and Grady, headed for the band and party that was going on. This is where I should have stayed in the motor home. The night was good, the next morning was really, really bad. From here on out I can only give the account of the night as it was presented to me. Jeremy started by drawing a 178 out of 200, or something really bad like that. (I guess I’m not the only one who’s used up their good draws for the summer.) Jeremy started in the back of the heat race with only one lane of racing so he didn’t move much. The B Feature came around way too fast and the guys were rushed trying to make decisions on the car. Jeremy started the B and had moved into position to qualify when he stomped on the brakes to avoid piling another car up. While this was happening Gary Webb got around him and Jeremy was never able to get his position back. Once again, the black cloud was back. The only silver lining came when Ronnie Stuckey showed up in time for the feature and the guys got a chance to talk about car set up. So, the night wasn’t all bad after all.

This Friday we are off to Freeport, IL for a two day show. I have a lot of kissing up to do this week and I better plan some good meals so the guys will overlook a few of my other flaws. I better get some more steaks at the rate I’m going. I just don’t think mac and cheese will get me out of the dog house.

If you ask me (and no one ever does) I have learned a lot about our new racing program this summer. I’ve learned about tires. There are 20’s, 40’s, 55’s and many more. I’ve learned about the different series we are racing. The WDRL, MLRA, World of Outlaws, and NCRA which are all very confusing. I’ve even learned a little bit about tail percentage and wedge. (Although I admit it’s not much.) The thing I thought I had really gotten the hang of was when the car looks good on the track. Last Saturday night in Wheatland I thought Jeremy looked great in the B Feature he had to run. (Yes, I drew very poorly for the heat race.) Grady started on the front row of the B, beat the other front row car to the corner and pulled away on the front stretch to a three car length lead. Jeremy never looked back, leading the whole feature even lapping the back of the field. I thought Wilma looked good. She was jacked up and smooth all the way around the track, and honestly it looked easy. When Jeremy got out of the car I shared my opinion that the car looked good. All I got was “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” He gave me a ten minute tutorial about how the car was tight and how he had fought it the whole race. Well excuse me! I know what looks good, and Wilma had done a fine job. I guess that’s why my official duties don’t include car analysis and set up. After that, I scraped mud and let the boys set the car up for the feature.

Jeremy went out for the 35 lap feature starting 17th. In the first ten laps Grady was as high as 12th, passing cars on the outside and moving forward with little effort. OK, I admit he has some driving skills. But after lap ten Wilma started to turn to the dark side. The more laps Jeremy ran the worse the car looked. It was obvious he was fighting her the whole way. Jeremy tried everything to get the car around the track, including driving off the track and coming back on with about two feet to spare from hitting the concrete wall. (You know, the wall just looks like something I would want to stay away from.) So Jeremy went back to around 20th three different times and drove forward, passing cars each time, to finish in 14th for the night. By the time he got out of the car he looked exhausted. He did express his frustration with the changes he had made to the car, not keeping up with the track and already knowing what he should have done differently. His only comment to me was, “I suppose you thought that looked good?” No, as a matter of fact, I thought Wilma looked like crap and I thought he had given it everything he had just to get the 14th place finish. I know I have a lot to learn about this sport and my only hope is that the guys can continue to put up with me so that I can keep going along.

I do want the send a special thank you to friend’s of Adam Larson who live in Kansas City. Brent and Liz joined us in the pits and were a great help and fun to have. We hope they will join us again when we are at Lakeside in a couple of weeks.

This weekend we are off on a three day run staring with Deer Creek. It is another one of those tracks that I have always wanted to go to, so I’m looking forward to the new adventure. After that we are off to East Moline and Dubuque, which I’m sure will also be exciting.

It wouldn’t be a trip to Batesville without mud to our knees, four wheeler drag races and a two hour marathon hand of UNO. (OK I could have done without the last one.) We arrived in Batesville Friday morning to cloudy skies and the hope that the rain would pass by so we could get the nights races in. Not only did the rain not just pass over but it rained all day Friday leaving me stuck in the motor home with Jason and Jeremy. (If you’ve met them you know they can be a little crabby when it’s raining.) So, we spent the day watching it rain, napping, eating, playing card games and trying not to get on each others nerves. By Saturday morning the sun was shinning but the three feet of mud in the pits was not encouraging. It took all day but the mud was finally packed in and the races were on. There were seventy cars on hand and we had high hopes that Jeremy would be able to qualify. Jeremy went out for hot laps and came back in a little concerned about how much power the motor had. That should have been our first clue. But, the guys made a few changes and Jeremy headed out for qualifying. He timed in fifth out of twelve and I could even hear that the motor didn’t sound right. By the time Jason got the motor apart I had already started cleaning up. I could tell by the looks on their faces that we had a Broke Back Motor and that we were done for the night. We did stay and watch the 100 laps and it was a real site to see the cars without their roofs on. (It’s a whole new view of the top of Jeremy’s head with no roof.)

We loaded up and headed for Sedalia, Missouri for the State Fair race on Sunday. We arrived in the blazing sun, having to switch cars and listening to Grady bark out orders at me like I was some kind of low paid worker. (OK so I’m not paid at all.) The only thing more humorous than our crew was listening to John Anderson and his crew bicker back and forth. Not only was it entertaining but it was nice to get to know another crew and driver that we see at a lot of the races.

Jeremy had me draw and I was fortunate enough to get a nine to put us on the front row of the heat race. Jeremy went out and destroyed the field by a straight away in his heat. Things were looking up and starting the feature fourth row out was encouraging. Jeremy got off to a good start and passed a couple of cars right away as well as avoid an early wreck. (I still don’t know how he does it.) Jason and I were biting our nails as we watched the 35 laps go by from the top of the trailer. Grady split two cars at one point and sparks flew as the tail of the car hit the wall on another lap. (Jeremy said he never felt it. Right, like I believe that one.) Anyway, Jeremy kept battling back and forth with Al Purkey for the fourth spot but just couldn’t keep a hold of it. The fifth place finish was Jeremy’s first top five in open motor racing and wow was he excited. He babbled for the first two hundred miles which Jason glad for the company as we bounced along. We pulled in the driveway at 5:00 a.m. Monday morning, about the time I should have been getting ready for work.

All we need is a couple of days to recover and we’ll be off to Wheatland, MO on Saturday. It sounds like Danielle and Ammi will be going so Jeremy can count on us girls for a quick tires change if he needs one.