I was having a conversation with one of our sponsors the other day, and the gentleman asked me, "What is a typical day like in your life?" I thought about it just for a second and replied, "You know, there is no typical day in my life."
Let's go through the last week of last season. I went to Homestead early for some promotional work. I presented some awards, and on race day, Tony Stewart, the champion the year before, and I rode around the track and did some more promotional work.
Then once the race started, they took me up stairs to be on TV. Well, you have to wait until a caution flag to be on the set, because they don't just break into the show when somebody arrives.
After the TV appearance, we went over to be on the radio with Barney Hall, and that works pretty much the same way. You wait your turn. When Barney finished, there was a radio station in Detroit waiting on the line. We talked a bit about racing.
Then I went back down to the truck and changed clothes. By this time, our cars were pretty much out of the running.
I waited until the end of the race, and then somebody took me down to where Matt Kenseth was celebrating his 2003 Winston Cup championship. We had pictures made together as the first Winston Cup champion and the last one.
After that, there was a helicopter waiting to take me to the airport where the crew and our plane were waiting on me. From there we went home. I might add that this was not a typical Sunday.
Then, on the following Monday morning, I drove from our shop in Level Cross to Charlotte for a meeting that lasted a couple of hours. When I returned home, there was a little problem at the Victory Junction Camp, so I got on my four-wheeler, rode over there, and we resolved the problem.
When I got back to the shop, some of the guys who had been in California preparing for a movie about my life were waiting. So we had a meeting, and they filled me in on the latest happenings.
Finally, after the meeting, I settled down in my office and had a long list of telephone calls to return. About the time I finished making my calls, I had an interview with a writer from a newspaper.
By this time, I was ready to go home. So, you see, there is no typical day for me.
The next day, I arrived at the shop at about 9 a.m., and there was a big stack of mail that I had to process. I signed postcards and pictures until it was nearly lunch time. That afternoon I had three meetings, one after the other.
The next morning, we were off to Jacksonville, where we met the Blue Angels and flew with one of those guys for about 40 minutes in a fighter jet. This was a promotional deal for STP.