Hello from Indy! Wow, I can't believe it's almost October.  I took some time out of my schedule today to give you all some updates and thoughts.  Like I said, it has been awhile since the last time I sat down to work on this update. It's just been full throttle everyday this summer.

The USAC Sprint and Midget Weeks in Indiana consumed a month of my life by itself.  It is an amazing tour of races that brings together not just the regular USAC teams and drivers, but also the best teams and drivers from the east and west coast.  It is a test for everybody on the team to survive both of these multi-event tours.  In addition, it is a mental and physical test as a driver to get ready every night to stay focused, patient, and attack when the time is right.  I have to say for me, working with Keith Kunz and his team has been a huge benefit for these type of logistic and energy sapping affairs.  Keith and his team have many years of experience in getting through this type of schedule.  What I learned was that the point of the this type of tour is to have the car ready, unload fast, and drive smart until the last 10 laps of the feature race.  We were fortunate in that we hit these goals on most nights in both tours.  This allowed us to score victories on the tours and to place in the top three in points on both tours.

The highlight of both tours for me was the Gas City USAC Sprint Car victory that we achieved.  It was very cool for me to win a race such as this for many reasons.  The track is seen by many drivers and teams as one of the tougher tracks to get the car dialed-in for up front.  In addition, the track has the potential to be fast on both the top and bottom lines.  So, that race was cool because we were just so dialed in that night.  It was such a cool feeling to drive such a dominating car and feel so in control of the event.  So many of the races we run are so tight and there are so many factors such as lapped traffic, overly aggressive competitors, changing track condition, etc. that when you are able to drive to the front and pull away it is a great feeling. I also experienced my first USAC National Midget win at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin leading every lap of the feature.

 

 

 

Overall it has been pretty crazy to think about everything we have accomplished in the 67k / 71 cars with Keith Kunz and also with my 29w car.  I guess I am a little crazy, but I don't like to just sit around.  So, on top of everything that goes on with the massive USAC schedule, I fill the few open days left racing the 29w sprint car at various tracks in Indiana.  It is a cool deal to work on a car with a good friend like Chuck Gurney Jr.  We literally take the car apart ourselves, rebuild it ourselves, and race by ourselves often (although I do have a great cheering section with my parents and friends attending a lot of the events we race!)  For Chuck and me, it is cool to figure out the puzzle of what we think it will take to be fast at a given track.  When we unload and our theories work, it such a cool feeling.  It also gives us a lot of respect for what Keith and the team go through to get us fast at the big national, USAC races.  We are for sure not the biggest or best funded team in USAC, but I think if you look at what we have accomplished, sitting in the top three in points in both series, it is a pretty big deal.

One of the coolest aspects of having such a great company like Red Bull behind me supporting my efforts is that is such a cool brand.  All of my family, friends, fans, and competitors all recognize the bull and sun as a cool brand to be associated with as a driver.  I am lucky to get to go to so many events that Red Bull supports or sponsors and really see the awesome sports and events that they put on.   My parents and I were guests of Red Bull at the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis US Moto GP (say that five times!).  It is unreal to see an event like this in person.  For me it is especially cool because as a driver living in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is such an amazing place by itself.  Throughout the race season, I go to the "Speedway" to get racing fuel for my sprint car in Gasoline Alley in the pit area.  Over the summer, I have been lucky enough to become friends with a number of people who work at the track.  And I was fortunate to be able to spend a couple of hours watching the Moto GP teams test in private while I buy fuel.  They are amazingly fast and so cool to watch.  The effort that the track, the teams, the series, and Red Bull put in to the event was huge.  I have to thank everyone from Red Bull and from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for allowing my family and I to be apart of such a cool event.

After being at this cool event, I was very fortunate to get another great opportunity thanks to Motorsports Management International and Red Bull.  Once again, a lot of people worked really hard in Indy, Charlotte, California, and Austria to include me in a one-day combine test at Caraway Speedway, NC.  Basically, MMI contacted ten of the top prospects from the nation.  Some from stock cars and some from open wheel sprint cars.  We had a fifteen minute shake down period to get comfortable in the car and then ran a 40 lap consistent run in a Camping World East Series car supplied by Eddie Sharp Racing.  Representatives from some of the top NASCAR teams were there to watch and evaluate.  And just like the NFL Combine, everyone involved worked super hard to make it as equal as possible.  It was a great learning experience and for me gives me great confidence when the time comes to move to stock cars on a more full time basis.  I found that I adapted quickly to driving one of these cars and I was near the top of the list for overall times.  But for me what made me feel even more confident was that my lap times were very consistent as I drove my 40 continuous lap test.  As I watch stock car racing, the guys that look to be the race winners are the guys who can keep on pace and run consistently fast.  This is because the cars change so much throughout the 40, 60, 100, lap stints that they go.  Therefore, I was pleased and thankful for the opportunity.

Well, it's time to leave for another local race in Gas City for Chuck and me in the 29w.  Thanks to everyone for all of the support, and I will hope to have time to write another OTB real soon with updates on my 2008 season as we head home to California.  That's racin', always moving forward!