Hi Everyone!

Both Martin and I started this month at Michael Waltrip Racing so we are working together as much as we can to prepare for this season. The first chance we got to test was at the Goodyear tire test at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It went well. Today we are at New Smyrna Speedway with all three of our drivers and Max Papis. The track is not too far from Daytona International Speedway. We struggled a little bit this morning, but the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota is now good and with a few small tweaks, it will be very good.

We chose to test at New Smyrna because it resembles a track like Richmond International Raceway. The information we gather can also work for New Hampshire and Phoenix. It’s a good place to look for some things that can benefit our short-track program. We are trying some different geometries to see which one Martin likes. We’ve been playing around with some other things to find a feel for what he likes and doesn’t like for a short track. It is also giving me a better idea of what to fix and what makes him tick.

In working with a new driver, it’s all about communication. That’s why we have been testing the last several weeks. At New Smyrna, the goal is to make changes for the sake of making changes because it gives me a chance to hear what he says about them. I’ll put it all in my memory bank for when I am at another track. If he complains about something, I’ll have a reference and an idea of what to fix and how to do it.

I think when it comes to personalities; Martin and I are pretty similar. He’s just younger than I am. We both grew up north. He’s relaxed and maybe a little calmer than I am. He’s a lot of fun. We joke around with each other, but he also knows when it is time to get down to business and get serious. Our experience so far has been really good.

It is really important for this NAPA AUTO PARTS team to get off to a good start especially the first five races of the season. It is great to get off to a good start because it puts us in a good position and get everyone’s confidence up. It can snowball from there. It is important to me to get some top-10s right out of the box and maybe even a win.

It was announced last week that we are moving to a rear spoiler and I think it will look better. I think all spoilers look better than what the wing does on our car. From what I heard from the guys who tested with them at Texas, it is just a small change. It’s not really a big deal. As for how they should effect the car, the spoiler should make more downforce and drag. It will probably handle a little better, but go a little slower down the straightaway. It will be a little shift in balance and help the car turn better. I hope it makes for better side-by-side racing. That’s the biggest thing I’m looking for.

Daytona is just around the corner and I am looking forward to going with Martin to Daytona. We are not going to put any added pressure on ourselves. We are just going to do everything we can to get the best finish we can and that’s a win.

Until Next Time,

Pat Tryson

Hi Everyone!

First I want to say that I’m really excited that I get to drive the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota this season! The first thing I ever raced had a “56” on it. I can remember my dad running that number when I was a little kid. It’s awesome that now I can show it off to the fans and tell them about the meaning behind it.

The start to my year has been pretty busy. Since everything is new, the preseason has been packed with things to do: photo shoots, commercials, test sessions, meetings, and the like. I have been spending a lot of time over at the shop and I’m so impressed with the people at Michael Waltrip Racing. I believe the organization is going about this big change in the right way, so that we can have success this season.

I’m excited about the way things are going so far. I’m getting to know my new crew chief Pat Tryson, and I think we are going to have a great year. I feel really lucky to be teamed up with someone who has so much incredible experience in the sport. He’s put together an amazing group of people and it’s resulted in a good two-day test.

We went down for the Goodyear Tire Test at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the second week of January. It turned out great for us. I was so ready to get back into a race car. A lot of my NAPA guys haven’t worked together before so it was a good jump start to the season for us to go there. We didn’t have any outside pressure, so we could focus on working together and getting to know one another. We also got the chance to figure out what to expect from each other during the weekends and on race day.

We’re starting to get on the same page and find some things that we like to do that make the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota fast.

I’m really impressed with our equipment. Our TRD engine felt strong during the test and I was pleasantly surprised by that. There aren’t as many differences going from a Chevy to a Toyota as I thought there might be. I’m happy that we have a chance to do some more testing before Daytona, but really I just want to get down there for qualifying and the 500 as soon as possible.

NASCAR has been kicking around some ideas regarding the yellow-line rule at restrictor-plate races, as well as the rear spoiler addition to our car versus having the wing. I think all of their ideas are for the better and that’s why they are exploring options. I still believe in the yellow-line rule. I think it’s something we still need at the restrictor-plate tracks, otherwise the racing would get too wild. The spoiler I think is exciting for all of us. It’s a little bit of a change. I think if they do it, it could be good for a lot of reasons. I think we just need to wait and see what NASCAR comes up with. They are trying to make changes to benefit the drivers and teams - but more importantly, the fans.

Next week I get to film my first NAPA TV commercial. I had a chance to see the idea for one of them so I’m excited about being a part of it – especially since all of NAPA’s past commercials are hilarious. You’ll get to see the first one during the Daytona 500.

With everything coming together like it has, I’ve got some big goals for 2010. The main one is to be competitive week in and week out. Of course, like every driver, the end goal is to get back into victory lane. I had some strong top-ten runs at the end of last season, and I think I can built on that momentum, especially with the strong relationships that I am building with Michael Waltrip Racing and NAPA Auto Parts.

I’m excited to be a new part of the NAPA Auto Parts and NAPA Racing families. I think we are going to have a lot of success this season and I can’t wait to get started!

Thanks for reading – until next time…

Hi Everyone – Phoenix was a good weekend for the NAPA AUTO PARTS team and how our Toyota performed. During practice on Friday, I felt really good about my car. We have been doing a lot of work with our setups and trying to develop them. We have been working on getting the front end to stick. It has been something we have been struggling with because the front end doesn’t seem to feel right. But, as soon as I went on the track at Phoenix, I felt like we got that accomplished. I qualified 11^th and ran in the top 20. The only real problem I had was I lost my power steering after our first pit stop. On a flat track with the front end setting like we need to get front grip, it is nearly impossible to run without power steering. It was a handful and we really didn’t lose very many spots. We stabilized in the teens and I was proud of that. When the first caution came out, we pitted twice to work on the power steering. It put me back in the pack and on the restart; they crashed in front of me. I thought I was last, but two people passed me to end up in the crash which was kind of strange and it hurt my situation. My car wouldn’t turn because I still didn’t have power steering. We think the pump went out on it. Regardless, I don’t think I could have missed it. The 96 car backed up the track and in front of me. I had nowhere to go. It was unfortunate for us. I was really proud of how my car performed. Hopefully, we can learn something out of all this and be good at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  Michael Waltrip Racing had a lot of good news to announce at Phoenix. NAPA was certainly instrumental in what happened since they are the cornerstone sponsor of my organization. Best Western announced its extension with us through 2010. Toyota also signed an extension with MWR to continue the support of our cars for multiple years. I want to thank NAPA for signing the extension earlier this season and getting Martin Truex Jr. It was really big for our young company. It helped us grow with the addition of TUMS and extend our partnerships. I am really thankful to NAPA and I look forward to more great things to come. Looking back at Phoenix, all of our guys looked really impressive. Martin had a great run and earned a top-five finish. Pat Tryson’s car that Kurt Busch drove ran up front and fought for a chance to win the race. David Reutimann got 10^th and Marcos Ambrose finished 11^th. That’s a lot of positive momentum moving forward with just one more race to go.  Also, congratulations to Jimmie Johnson and that entire 48 team. They bounced back from adversity at Texas to win the race. What they were able to do was amazing and a sign of true champions.  

 Hi Everyone –

I am so proud of Michael Waltrip Racing and our run at Texas Motor Speedway. The engineers and all of our employees are working so hard especially building our new race cars. Both Marcos and David had two of the fastest cars in Texas. What a great statement that is for our young organization and to be able to go to a track like that and perform at that level is impressive. My NAPA hat is off to them.

MWR announced a new sponsor at Texas. Tums is going to sponsor David’s car in 2010 and beyond. We are gaining a little bit of momentum and I am just proud of our people. We also have more news to announce this weekend in Phoenix so stay tuned.

For those of you who watched TWIN last week, Chad Knaus was right. The Chase is far from over. His team couldn’t have any problems. If they did, it would open the door for more teams to be back in the mix. Heading into Phoenix, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon are back in contention.

I talked to David Reutimann and he said he didn’t know whether or not he hit Sam Hornish Jr. that started the crash. He assumed he did. When they were ready to come off the corner, Sam didn’t go as fast as David thought he would. David said if he made a mistake, he hated it. It was really close. He was disappointed that he may have wrecked Sam causing the points leader to be involved. Obviously, it is a big blow to Jimmie’s team. No one wants to be a part of that.

In my opinion, I think Jimmie Johnson is one of the most underrated drivers in the history of NASCAR. He does more with a race car than I think anyone has ever done.

What we saw on Sunday was the classic fuel mileage race and I loved it as a fan. As a driver and owner, I had two cars running in the top five that ran out of gas. It didn’t work out so well for us. But as a fan of the sport, fuel mileage races happen so you can appreciate the strategy and the knowledge that these teams have about how to conquer one of these races. They are so hard to win. To go and win one the way Pat Tryson and Kurt Busch did was awarding and fun to watch.

Congratulations to Pat Tryson. We are looking forward to him joining the NAPA Racing team. He made a great call by taking a gamble and giving up track position. It would have been easy to follow all the leaders to pit road. Instead, he gave up a second or two a lap by pitting a few laps later which is what it basically amounted to. Pat chose to give up the position so that he could make it to the finish if the race were to go green all the way. Very rarely do we see a race at Texas go green that long, but darn, to me, that’s an exciting part of racing. The crew chiefs were all on the box trying to figure out who was going to make it and who was not. It came down to a lot of teams wishing they would have sacrificed a lap or two on the other end to get where they needed to go on the big end.

Tryson’s team won by over 25 seconds and I think it is the largest margin of victory since NASCAR went to electronic scoring back in the 1990s. It was a big victory. Kurt Busch was fast. He was chasing his little brother down and running right there with him. He didn’t back into the win because of fuel mileage. One of the fastest cars won because they got good fuel mileage.

There you have it. We only have two more races to go and it’s going to be fun to watch what happens in Phoenix.

Till Next Time,
 

Hi Everyone –

We really had a good car this weekend. I want to thank all my NAPA guys for putting together such a solid car on Friday. We were probably as fast as I have ever remembered being as of late. The NAPA Toyota drafted well and we made changes that were positive. That’s really difficult to do these days with these cars because they are really technical. It is really hard to find anything additional that we can make improvements with once we get a superspeedway car to the track, but my crew chief Gene Nead and the NAPA team did a really good job of working some changes that made me a lot faster.

On Sunday, I felt really confident when the race started. We had some issues on pit road. I had a vibration one time and it shook so bad that I couldn’t see. When we finally got the vibration issue squared away, I was all set to go to the finish on gas. I knew that it was going to be really close so we had to save. I lost the draft, but I really wasn’t too concerned because I couldn’t imagine the race going all the way to the checkered flag without a lot of people running out of gas and mainly, people wrecking. Both of those things happened. I ended up pitting during the final caution. We got gas and made some small adjustments that would make the car run fast for a green-white-checkered-flag finish. When the race went green for the final time, I restarted in 17th and made it all the way to seventh. That was a really good run for the NAPA AUTO PARTS team and a solid finish for the NAPA Toyota.

Personally, I knew I was due to finish one of these restrictor-plate races because lately at Talladega, I have been running up front, but have had problems. Last year in the spring race, I was leading and blew up. Unfortunate things like that happen so I’m just glad everything worked out on Sunday. It was a great effort by the NAPA team and we’ll be working hard to improve our performance on pit road. My spotter Ty Norris did a great job for me. The car was set up right so we were able to make a final push at the end. I appreciate everyone’s hard work.

All and all, the racing in general at Talladega was typical. I don’t think Mr. Helton’s comments prior to the race hurt a thing. I believe it might have made us a little bit saner for 300 to 400 miles. At the end of the event, it was the same old Talladega. Drivers pushed the envelope as far as they could. I was asked last night on my TV show if there is a way to avoid the wrecks and in my opinion, there are two things. You can live with it and race or we don’t race at Talladega.

I’ll Talk to You Next Week!
 
 

Hi Everyone –

It was another tough weekend for the NAPA AUTO PARTS team. We had NAPA Adaptive One Brakes on the car and they sure came in handy on Sunday. We saw quite a few teams lose tires and we were the first team to experience the problem. I think what we saw was typical contact at Martinsville that caused the tire issues. In my situation, I just got hit in the left rear. It flattened my tire. I was trying to get back to the pits to keep from spinning out. I just got in a little hurry and around went my NAPA Adaptive One Brakes Toyota. I appreciated having the NAPA brand on my car. You could see on the replay that my car came to a smooth stop. It also was a blessing in disguise. It I hadn’t spun out to cause the caution, we may have lost two laps versus just one. Regardless, we got behind and we could never really rally back because our car just did not handle well. It was so disappointing.

I want to give a shout out to Jimmy Spencer. If you watched Monday night’s This Week in NASCAR show, Jimmie was kind enough to stop by one of our stores. He gave NAPA a nice plug after having to pick up a brand new set of rotors and a set of Adaptive One Brakes. He said our parts are worth the money! I appreciate those kind words!

It was Denny Hamlin’s day on Sunday. The Virginia native was able to win another race in his backyard. It was his seventh-straight finish of sixth or better at Martinsville. Jimmie Johnson scored his 15th straight top-10 finish. They ended Sunday’s race first and second. That’s pretty impressive.

The one thing I noticed about Denny’s car was it had a tremendous amount of front grip. Denny’s car looked even better than Jimmie Johnson’s car. I was amazed at the way that thing would come up off the turn. When I came off the corner and he passed us, I would follow him. I could see how his car was hooked up. I only wished I could have had that same feeling. I couldn’t help but be envious.

There was definitely some tension out on the track. Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya were not happy with each other. The same could be said about Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. What I saw was nothing that was out of bounds. It was just competitors who were on the edge and were racing with their emotions. Emotions are a part of the equation. I thought everyone did a decent job of holding it together.

At the end of the race, we saw John Andretti spin with just a lap to go at the start-finish line. NASCAR did not immediately throw the yellow flag. I think what NASCAR did was fine since they threw the caution flag with the checkered flag when Denny crossed the line. That meant everybody’s position after that point was frozen. There was no sense in coming back to the line two or three wide. The drivers and the spotters know that where we were scored at that very point is where we finished. John Andretti was not put in any additional danger in my opinion. John Andretti and his race team did a good job on Sunday. They are a part-time team. They had a solid lead-lap run for most of the day. They lost some spots in the end, but they did a good job. They are doing what they need to do to keep their car in the top 35. They are racing Scott Speed for that 35th spot and it’s been a good battle to watch.

This weekend is Talladega. I can’t wait to race there. It is probably my best chance to win a race with what’s left of my career. I am going to be on it!

Bye for Now,
 

Hi Everyone –

We went pink on Saturday and I want to thank everyone who supported NAPA’s “All Out for the Cure” campaign to benefit the Susan G. Foundation. I attended the Komen for the Cure press conference with Bobby Labonte, Bill Elliott, Kyle Busch and Elliott Sadler. Bobby said he hopes to see 43 pink cars compete at Charlotte someday and that would be great to bring awareness to the cause, but from a competition standpoint, I don’t think I’d want to be a spotter for that one! It was really neat to see everyone come out and show their support for finding a cure for breast cancer.

Saturday night I had a fast car. The NAPA team gave me something I could work with and I passed a lot of cars. I had a lot of fun and I like to go fast. I went faster than a lot of cars out there, but we had a problem on pit road. We had a plan to come in on a particular lap, but did not anticipate Brian Vickers having a long pit stop. What happened was when I was pitting he was leaving his stall behind us. It caused him and me to have a minor scrape. It then triggered a very chaotic moment. The crew guys didn’t know what was going to happen and in reaction, my jack man went down. Tony Cardamone is OK, but he is out for the season with a hair-line fracture to his ankle and some torn ligaments. The whole ordeal cost us a crew member and three laps. It was a bad situation that we could not afford. We had to live with our circumstances and make the best of it. We took chances with the wave around when those opportunities occurred. We did everything we could, but it never got us back on the lead lap. It’s a shame because we had a fast car.

The race weekend was pretty amazing. We saw something that I don’t believe I have ever witnessed during my NASCAR career. Jimmy Johnson won the first, second and third practices. He won qualifying and then the race. He currently has the biggest lead that anyone has ever had at this point in the Chase which is 90 points. I Twittered during the drivers meeting and took a picture of Jimmie. He was so intense. No one really pays a ton of attention in the meeting. But, he does. He was on it. I Twittered, “Fourth championship coming up!” With that said, I do not think he is guaranteed the championship – at least not yet. Martinsville and Talladega have the potential to throw a wrench into things if something bad happens to him and his team. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

I really enjoyed watching Jimmie and his teammate Jeff Gordon go door-to-door on those final restarts. I don’t think anyone realizes how difficult restarts are. After our pit stop problem, I spent most of the night lining up 32nd. I watched 30 guys try and work their way down the front straightaway at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. First of all, it is flat so getting 850 horsepower hooked up in 35 degree weather was a little difficult. Secondly, drivers have to make two turns and everyone has to do it together. To me, it is surprising that wrecks don’t occur more often. I think sometimes the folks watching at home take what we do for granted. That’s how good the drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series are. It’s a difficult job to just get a restart going on, but we all manage and it’s impressive.

This weekend, we are off to Martinsville. It’s a track that’s tough on brakes which is why I am proud to be back in the NAPA Adaptive One Brake Pads Toyota. We’ll need them for sure this weekend!

Bye for Now,

Hi Everyone –

It’s a busy week here at Michael Waltrip Racing as we are home this week for the race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Today I have a bunch of media interviews this morning and then we host our second Fan Appreciation Day. The weather isn’t all that good but that hasn’t discouraged the fans. They are lining up out front so it’s going to be a great day no matter what.

Last weekend at the Auto Club Speedway was a mixed bag for us. The NAPA AUTO PARTS team did a good job on pit road. I’m really proud of them. Gene Nead (crew chief) used strategy and got us a couple laps back. Then at the end, there was a huge crash. I got through it which was refreshing considering we’ve gotten caught up in our share of wrecks that weren’t of our own doing. I made a good move and got through it unscathed. 

This season we’ve seen the NAPA team run OK at times. But every time there’s a bumpy track like the Auto Club Speedway, our NAPA car is evil. It just bounces too much. I report it and we work on it but we were never really are able to improve on it. I’m disappointed in the way we performed, but I’m equally as enthusiastic about our work ethic. Sunday we worked hard and we didn’t give up. We knew there were options and opportunities. We took advantage of those and I couldn’t be happier about that for my team. Our top-20 finish was well deserved.

Before I go, I want to say how proud I am to be associated with the partnership NAPA has forged with the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I’ve been wearing the pink NAPA All Out For The Cure hat and it is amazing how many fans have come up to me and thanked me for supporting the cause. This weekend we’ll be going all out as I will be driving the No. 55 NAPA/Susan G. Komen Foundation Toyota. My car has a lot of pink on it and I really want to have a good run so that we can get the guys up in the broadcast booth talking about NAPA and Susan G. Komen. It’s a big weekend for us and I hope to have a lot to talk about next week.

Talk to you next week!

Hi Everyone –
 
The NAPA team has had bad luck two weeks in a row. I didn’t even get to break a sweat yesterday. Paul Menard spun. I slowed down and missed him. Then I got crashed. Not a whole lot to report about except I really believe we had a competitive car yesterday. I was fast from the start and that was very encouraging. I have to say we haven’t been running as well as I hoped this year, but we’ll keep at it and hope to get a win for you guys before the season is over.

On Saturday night, I went over to Lincoln, Neb., for a dirt race at Eagle Raceway. I got to meet a lot of fans. I signed a bunch of autographs and then raced a dirt car. I won my second heat race driving a pink NAPA/Susan G. Komen dirt car. I am really proud of what NAPA is doing with the Susan G. Komen Foundation this year. They really are all out for the cure and so am I. I have even started wearing a pink NAPA/Susan G. Komen hat at the track to help spread the world and I cannot wait to drive my NAPA/Susan G. Komen Foundation Toyota in the race at Charlotte. My car will be blue and pink.  

Tomorrow I will be on “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” It will be on at 8 p.m. Eastern on MyNetworkTV . I was asked that very question at the NAPA Race Day Experience. My answer was no, but I watched a couple of the other drivers who were playing and I am definitely smarter than them. Since we’ve had two bad races in a row, I’ve decided to do something a little different with the rest of this blog. I’d like to share with you some of the answers to the most asked questions I get at NAPA hospitality as most of those folks and maybe you would want to know. Did I recruit Martin Truex Jr. to come to MWR or did he come to us? It was 50-50. We have done some good things with our team. People started noticing. Not only guys like Martin, but guys like Pat Tryson, who is currently Kurt Busch’s crew chief. They are racing in the Chase. Kurt is currently fifth in the championship point standings. Pat is coming over to MWR to be Martin’s crew chief. A lot of good things have happened at MWR and we have made so much progress in our cars and they are running really well. So, some high-profile people have taken notice and have shown interest in joining our efforts. Are any of your children interested in being a driver? Do you see women drivers in the future of NASCAR?

I have seen women drivers in the past. They have been around forever, but none of them have accomplished everything that they had hoped. It is kind of confusing as to why since there is no physical reason why a woman couldn’t do our job. Mentally, they are obviously capable of doing the job as we are. I think maybe more so. I hope in the future that changes and a woman is able to accomplish a lot in the world of NASCAR.

My daughters Caitlin and Macy are not into racing so far. I think that is perfectly fine. If they wanted to drive I would try and help them. However, I am not going to volunteer it because I think there are more fun things that a little girl like Macy would rather do. Macy loves riding horses and running track. She’s just enjoying being a kid. That is right up there with me.

I did take Macy to the Richard Petty Driving School to get her a ride around Darlington Raceway. She thought it was pretty neat.

When will there be two NAPA Toyotas on the track?

NAPA is signed up to sponsor me at Daytona so there will definitely be two cars during the 2010 Daytona 500. My car and Martin’s car will be racing for the win. I hope to run a total of seven or eight races next season if MWR can get sponsorship to do so.

I’m off to tape This Week in NASCAR.

Take care,

Hi Everyone –

Before I start this week’s blog I would like to wish my beautiful daughter Macy a Happy Birthday! She turns 12 today.

I also want to congratulate Ryan Truex and his No. 00 NAPA AUTO PARTS team for winning the 2009 NASCAR Camping World East Series championship at Dover on Friday. It was nerve wracking watching him race. I am proud of the kid as he did exactly what he needed to do to win MWR its first NASCAR championship. Big brother Martin was there as well and we had a nice celebration on Friday night. Now it’s Martin’s turn to win NAPA and MWR another championship!

Speaking of Martin, Ty Norris and I flew to New Jersey last Tuesday to play in Martin’s golf tournament. We had a great time and I enjoyed being an auctioneer at his auction. Larry McReynolds, Hermie Sadler and Bob Dilner also joined me at the podium to help Martin out. It was all to benefit his Foundation. It’s a great cause that helps kids so I appreciate him allowing us to join him.

Right now, I am currently testing with the No. 55 team at the Little Rock in Rockingham, N.C. We went there earlier this season and decided to come back. We are running some laps to prepare for Martinsville. It’s a nice fall day so we are all enjoying ourselves.

As for the Dover race weekend with the NAPA AUTO PARTS team, I have mixed feelings. I didn’t like the way my car handled on Friday and when it came to qualifying, it didn’t resemble the car we had in practice. It was so loose. It never seemed like we could make significant progress in getting it to handle right. Saturday was more of the same. Sunday, we were fast, but it was still a handful to drive. We avoided the big wreck with Joey Logano, but it wasn’t long until our day was done. I blew a right front tire when I drove off into Turn 1. If I had done that 15 years ago, it could have been career ending. A man by the name of Larry Pollard crashed at Dover and it ended his career. Joe Nemechek broke his shoulder and was out for a couple of weeks. I want to thank Dr. Melvin, Dean Sickling, NASCAR, Tony George – all those men went in and worked together to develop and make the safer barrier a reality. I appreciate it!

We saw a pretty spectacular crash on Sunday. Joey Logano barrel rolled over seven times. It shook the kid up a bit. Tony Stewart was genuinely sorry for what happened, but as we looked at it, Bobby Labonte pulled down and that sort of started the chain-reaction crash. Bobby did have a lane to himself, but he chose to go to the bottom. His move did result in a crash, but it is hard to blame a guy for just taking a lane that was there. It was just circumstances that led to the terrible looking crash. Joey said he had been on roller coasters and none of them were as crazy as the ride he took at Dover. Ty came over the radio when I was setting on the backstretch during the red flag to say that Joey’s crash would definitely make the highlight reel. Home Depot was in for some serious TV time. Ty was right. It’s been played a lot on ESPN Sportscenter.

In case you didn’t see the Truck race, you missed a good one. I didn’t go to Las Vegas for SPEED, but I followed what was going on. As soon as the green flag flew in the first practice, you could tell Johnny Sauter was going to be tough to beat. Phil Parsons and Rick Allen, who called the shots out there for SPEED, called me and said that Sauter was ‘the man.’ They were right. He drove straight to the front. It was good to see him get his first win and it was the team’s first one-two finish. That was a good accomplishment for the ThorSport Racing organization.

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for his win at Dover. He won there in the old-style car as well as the new car so that’s impressive. His accomplishment there can be attributed to a true team effort. Hendrick Motorsports is the pinnacle of race teams. They are the team that everyone has to beat. Three of their four cars are up front every week. At Loudon, all four cars were up front. As a team owner, I strive to get my cars to look like Mr. Hendrick’s cars. The way Jimmie’s car looked at Dover is exactly the way we strive to get our cars. I thought it was a fun show to watch. I just wish I would have been able to run the whole deal.

I’ve got to go now as it is time to climb back into my NAPA Toyota. We’ve got Kansas Speedway this weekend and I sure hope we can get the ball rolling in the right direction. It’s been a tough couple of weeks, but we are not giving up. It’s all about getting Martin as many points as possible for next season and it sure would be awesome to get a win for NAPA before I turn the wheel over to him.

As always, I greatly appreciate your support.

Bye for Now,