What's up, guys!
When we were in Richmond a couple of weeks ago, the track did a great job in honoring the fact that we were racing on the ninth anniversary of 9/11. That tragedy will be one of the defining moments – if not THE defining moment – of my generation. As with anything, time, unfortunately, diminishes the importance of certain things as we try to get on with our lives.
However, we are still a country involved in conflict. The price that is paid to preserve our free way of life is still great. On Thursday afternoon I had a chance to see that sacrifice up close and to spend some time with those who make America great.
This is the sixth year that NASCAR has put on the Tribute to the Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. We were able to tour the hospital, visit some soldiers in their rooms and sign autographs for as many of them as we could. I was there with my teammate Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, David Gilliland, A.J. Allmendinger, Krista Voda, Mike Helton and several other NASCAR personalities. One of the things that makes our sport great is that we can race the hell out of each other on Sunday, but when it's time to rally together for a good cause, we are all right there to do our part. And what a great cause it is.
It's not the fact that these men and women were wounded that makes them such an inspiration (although, that fact alone is enough). The positive attitude and outlook that they have is just incredible. They do not feel sorry for themselves or ask "why did this happen?" This really impacted me as many of them are my age. I even have a friend at Walter Reed that I was able to spend some time with while we were signing autographs. I met him racing online and became friends with him immediately. He decided to join up to serve our country and was hit by a roadside bomb several months ago. It was really great to see him. Just to let these soldiers know that they haven't been forgotten and that we appreciate what they do is something that can carry them through the tough times they are experiencing.
Now we move on to race at Dover, which is just a 25-minute plane ride over from D.C. Dover is one of my favorite places to race. Man, it's a tough track. You basically drop two stories when you drive down into the corners and all those G forces go right through your body when your car finally lands. It's a rush -- kind of like the ultimate roller coaster.
I've been fortunate enough to win at Dover in the Nationwide Series, so I feel like I can get around the place pretty well. My No. 12 Penske Dodge team has some momentum from our pole run at New Hampshire last week. We need to continue to improve as the year comes to an end so that we can go into the off-season in the right frame of mind to come out strong at Daytona. Dover would be a great place to build on that process.
See you in Victory Lane.
