Monday: This week we are going to Bristol, a track I have never been to but have heard a lot about. Everyone says that you either love Bristol or you will hate it, read the rest of this story and you will find out what I thought of Bristol.
Today the team is getting the Bristol car ready, we have not run this car yet this year since it is a car that is built just for concrete tracks like Bristol and Dover. Casey won at Dover two years ago in this same car, we call it Machine Gun #3627. I don't really know where the name came from, they always leave it up to the team members to name the cars but I am sure there is a funny story to go with the name of the car. I got to work early again today so I could read my mail, pay bills, do driver debrief , write this story and hopefully find some time to go look at my new house. Kevin, my team mate, is in town this week so I don't know how much work I am going to get done I am sure he will keep me busy with things to do. Today was a pretty normal Monday after I did all of my Monday things like mail etc. I went out in the shop in the afternoon to get the seat finished up in the Bristol car.
Tuesday: Jason and Stew are setting up the car for Bristol which usually takes about six hours to do. Jason is very picky when it come to this but I know that when we get to the track and I get in the car that everything is done perfectly, From there it is up to me to tell Jason and Jay what the car is doing so we can try to fix it. Sometimes it works out well and other times we never find the right combination. While they are getting that car ready I am getting everything ready to got to Bristol like going over shock notes with Jay for this weekend. Later that night Kevin and I go to Bowling Green to Best Buy so I can pick out a TV and some other things for my new house. Actually I really didn't do much of anything this week I am sitting here typing trying to come up with things to say and I can't so lets forget about Monday and Tuesday because other than paying my bill I really didn't do anything.
Wednesday: Kevin and I leave from Central City in my Tahoe at 12.30. On our way out of town we stop at Wendy's for some lunch (with Grubb he never lets you miss a meal) and head out to the interstate. It takes about six hours to get to Bristol, but that is good because it gives Kevin and me a chance to talk. Even though we are team mates and we are together every weekend we never really get a chance to talk by ourselves because there is usually some else around. We arrive in Bristol at about 7:00 and hookup with some of the other team members to go out to eat, (Kevin's idea) we end up at some sports bar in Johnsonville . It was a pretty good time the guys played pool while Kevin and I played Golden Tee 2000. Both Kevin and I are very competitive so anything we do we both have to win, I think everyone in the bar heard us screaming at the game I won.
Thursday: Tech Day. This was my first time to Bristol, if you have never been there it will take your breath away when you first walk into the infield.
Friday: Today started off well, I didn't feel I was having a hard time adapting to the track and our times really were not all that bad. We tried a lot of different things on the car and felt like after practice that we were going to be OK. We ended up 29th after practice but felt like with a few changes we could end up in the top ten. We tried a new set of brakes on the car and for the first time in my racing career I actually had brakes that were too good. I know that is hard to understand if you are not a racer so you will have to take my word on it.
We qualified terribly (30th) which is the worst all this year. The team, however, never got down they told me not to worry about it, that we could not be in the top ten every week and that we would be OK in the race. That made me feel a lot better, I felt like these guys had worked so hard all week and that I had let them down in just two laps. Happy Hour was that same day I we tried four different sets of shocks. Once we found a set that I liked the car was great. On a long run we were as good as any other car so we were all very happy leaving the track that night.
Saturday: Should of stayed in bed, I don't know that I have ever been as nervous and uptight as I was today. I new we were starting 30th and I was so nervous that we were going to get caught up in an early wreck. It is weird how you kind of know how your day is going to turn out before it ever starts. We only made it six laps and a car spun out in front of me, which was not a problem but I got slowed down and just barley hit him. The bad part, though, was that the cars behind me (all 10 of them ) didn't get slowed and one of them ran into me and not only tore up the back but it shoved me into the car ahead of me, which tore up the front of my car as well. I really was not mad at anyone but myself, if I had qualified better I never would have been in that mess. We did get the car fixed and finished the race 33 laps down in 25th place.
Kevin went home with a friend of his so Jay drove me home, we really didn't talk much because I fell a sleep about two miles down the road and didn't wake up for three hours. Once I did wake up, however, Jay and I started talking about the race he told me not to get down that Bristol can be very mean at times and you just have to go on to the next race. DUHHH! Tell me something I don't know (I was a little bit grumpy). When we got home we headed down to the Eagles to play some pool and drink a couple of cocktails.
Sunday: Jason, Jay and I played golf at the country club. Jay and I have played before and we have comparable games, as for Jason it is a good thing he is a crew chief because he sucks at golf. He said "I haven't played in a while," yeah, that was kind of clear when it took you 15 strokes on the first hole. I am just joking, though, without Jason I would be up the creek with out a paddle, He is a great crew chief and also a great friend. After golf I went to Jason's to watch the Cup race and eat pizza. Nothing much else to say other than I have made a promise to myself that the next time I go to Bristol I am going to make sure I qualify up front.