If you were wondering why my usual post-race blog did not appear on
this site last week, it was because me and the family decided to
take a little vacation following the Charlotte weekend. Sorry I did
not give y’all a heads up. With that said, I have returned
rested while looking to get back on the trail.
As you may have heard, we experienced the inaugural
Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway two weeks ago and it really was
something to behold. We qualified and raced utilizing the four-wide
format. To hear 32,000 horsepower moving the earth at the same time
was incredible. Unfortunately, I did not have a pleasant result
down there in North Carolina.
I got through the first round of eliminations without issue,
but was clearly distracted at the starting line in round two and
thus was sent home early. For some reason, I ended up deep staging
the car – which I never do – and then left the starting
line excessively late. In the end, that spelled a whole lot of
trouble for me.
I felt horrible for the team since I had a car that was
quite capable of winning the race. I told my U.S. Army Top Fuel
bunch that I owed them one come this weekend.
To that end, we’re about to head for Houston Raceway
Park (HRP) for the O’Reilly Spring Nationals. It’s the
first of two stops we’ll make in the Lone Star State this
season.
Having had success at HRP, we’ll be looking to get the
job done on Sunday. In fact, one of my two career wins there came
just last year with what was at the time my new team and crew chief
(Mike Green).
That victory was special for obvious reasons. We proved
there was no quit in the Army team despite the personnel changes
that took place in the offseason. Of course, we went on to score
four more wins plus the world championship. Not too shabby, right?
Admittedly, it will be nice to get back to the normal way of
doing business at HRP. We had a good time with the four-wide deal,
but now it’s time to return to the way we’re used to
racing – in pairs.
If the weather forecast turns out to be true, we could be
dealing with one fast drag strip this weekend. Sitting just east of
Houston, HRP has been known as a site for record-setting
performances due to its close proximity to Trinity Bay, which
typically pushes in cool air.
If the conditions are there, we’ll all be hauling the
mail for sure. As usual, it’s going to be a real dogfight.
We’re going to have to be extremely focused to get the job
done. The competition in Top Fuel is fierce right now. But, like
our Army Strong Soldiers, we’ll be totally prepared.
We’ll always put the mission first.
With that, “The Sarge” salutes y’all.
We’ll be back with you next week before we make our first
trip this year to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Until then, stay well and please continue to keep our Army
Strong Soldiers in your thoughts and prayers.
