5:30am and we’re up after getting home at midnight and making it to bed at 1am.  Why the rise and shine at the crack of dawn? Well it’s race weekend, what else are you going to do? We made it the track by 7:30am. We were directed to our tailgating space, about 4 rows from the main gate of the track. A great spot! By 10am we had the grill fired up and breakfast was on the skillet.

It was touch and go through out the day in dealing with the weather. But we kept busy by shopping, keeping up on the Caps win over the Penguins and of course grilling bbq chicken. Finally by 5pm it was time to pack it up and head to our seats with fingers crossed that the rain would stop long enough to get the race in. Thank the rain Gods who covered the track with a giant umbrella and allowed the jet dryers clear the surface and keep it clear for the race. It pour down rain north and south of the track. But some how missed us, just long enough to get the 400 laps on the books.

And what a race it was! Watching Tony and Ryan constantly moving up into the top 10 after each pit stop was exciting. Along with everyone else in our section, we were thrilled watching Jimmy Johnson spin out in turn 2. The last 20 laps kept us on the edge of our seat as Tony moved up into 2nd and Ryan moved into 4th.  Not sure a few additional would have helped Tony catch up to the leader, but Jeff Burton sure was making a run at trying to take 2nd away from him. So I’m glad it finished the way it did.

I’m so proud of Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s great to see Tony and Ryan in the top 12 in points. For a long time we thought Ryan was a much better driver than what his stats were showing. He just needed a good crew, good engines and a chance to put his talent on the track. It also says a lot about Tony and his ability to turn a company around and make it competitive. Wow. The Munchkin and I couldn’t be happier with our boys.

I’ve been watching racing since I was 12/13 years old. I’ve been to Bristol and Richmond. EW and I hold season tickets to the Richmond races. I’d love to go to Darlington and Charlotte. And of course I’d love to go to Daytona. My family is from Tennessee and I had an uncle who worked for Goodyear. Because of him, I was able to get into the track before race day and see the place. My guy at the time was Darrell Waltrip. He was a Tennessee boy and I was up for that. On one of those Bristol visits, my uncle took me to the in field. Standing 15 feet away from us was DW. He was talking to a bunch of reporters, but he caught sight of my uncle and waved. Then he yelled, “You need something?” My uncle said, I just wanted one of your biggest fans to see you. DW waved his hands at the reporters as if he was dismissing them from his royal court and said “Heck I can talk to these guys anytime.” and walked away to meet me. Now that doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re 12 years old; that was a big deal. I’m sure he doesn’t remember doing it. But I sure remember it.

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