Feb. 18, 2008
Hi Everyone,
 Daytona 500 Speedweeks has finally come to a close. What a difference a year makes.
I truly have a friend and sponsor in NAPA -- I missed 10 races in a row last year and without their support, I wouldn't be in business. I don't think I'll ever be the same after how NAPA and my fans treated me through the hard times. It certainly has been humbling and it makes me very thankful.
I am also thankful for what we were able to accomplish while we were down here. Winning the outside pole for the 50th running of the Daytona 500 was pretty emotional and to cap it all off, all three of my Cup cars were in today’s race. I hope you had the chance to see my cars. You all know how much I love my chrome wheels, but in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500, we sported specially-designed gold wheels on the NAPA, UPS and Aaron’s Camrys at the start of the race. We are going to auction the wheels off to raise money for some of Mr. France’s favorite charities. Once we have the auction up and running, I’ll pass on the details on how you can get involved.
When looking back at today’s race, I can still leave with a smile despite our disappointing 29th-place finish. My car did not handle as well as I would have liked during most of the race, but Paul Andrews and the crew worked on my car all day. With about 30 laps to go, my NAPA Camry was finally moving up through the field the way I needed it to. We were on our way to a good finish when I got into the back of another car trying to avoid the wreck. There wasn’t anything I could do. My NAPA team did a good job to try and fix it, but the car just did not want to go after that. I’m sad, but at the same time, I am happy.
Fortunately, the best thing about the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is … regardless of what happened today, we still have 35 more races to get it right.
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