To say the least it was a crazy week but none the less a really funny one and action packed. It all started on Tuesday in Southern Cal the Moto Mecca then ending in Nor Cal for round 4 of 2012 monster energy Supercross Championship in Oakland.

The week started out Monday flying to Orange County. During the flight I had an awesome tweet up with all of my followers. That was cool, had a lot of great questions and participation and it was great to see everyone’s outlook and opinions. I look forward to doing these a lot more and interacting with my fans. We landed in the afternoon and the weather was just starting to clear out. The plan was to head to our home base (where we normally stay) and get a quick mountain bike ride in. Next we were going meet Jeff (Emig) up in LA and head up to Buellton for the Fox ride day at Zaca Station. Fox Racing was hosting a ride day with the media to introduce the new V4 helmet and the all new Instinct boot. Fox wanted to have all the media ride in and wear the new product. I was there to give my feedback on the product and talk about my involvement with the R&D of the boot. The ride day ended up getting postponed a day because of the rain they got so it was great time to meet up with a great friend Johnny O’mara and Nicky Hayden for a couple hour bike ride. It was a great ride and we had some good talks as well during the ride. After that I headed to Monster Energy headquarters to visit all the people there, which is always fun, before meeting Jeff at Pro Circuit so we could drive together up to Zaca Station for the Fox ride day.

We made the best of our three hour drive to Zaca by playing a little joke on Chris “Beeker” Onstott and punking him. We told him that Jeff’s van had broken down and that we weren’t sure that we were going to be able to make it unless someone came and picked us up. There are many more details to the story which are too much to talk about but never less it was comical. The next morning we got up had a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed out to the track. I had never been there so I was stoked to check it out. Once getting there it was cool to see the track and all the industry media and how many of them came, along with some old faces I hadn’t seen in a while. As everything was under way it was a lot of fun being out there with everyone, the riding was ok considering all the rain that they had, it was a little deep at the beginning but got better and better throughout the day. That track was a lot of fun, a lot of up hills and down hills with some fun turns and cool jumps. The day went pretty well everyone seemed to have fun and not to many wrecks which is always good, Carey Hart tweaked his knee a bit but other than that it was good. I think that everyone was pumped on the new helmet and boots which was great to hear. I was very involved with the development of the boot so that is always nice when you hear good things about something that you had a hand in. After the ride we sat around and talked about the day and how much fun we had and told a few lies at the same time before we made our three our journey back down south.

Thursday morning came a bit early after riding all day Wednesday and driving home afterwards, it was a late night. But, I was pumped to get up and head out to the Suzuki track to do a little riding and help out Brett Metcalf. It had been a while since I been to ride the test track there. I have spent many days there when I was racing and doing most of my off season testing. It was great to go back and I will tell you that other than the track design not much has changed. The track was in pretty good shape, we did a little warm up and then worked on a few sections with some different variations of corners which is always an important key of racing at Brett’s level. I was out there riding with him and it was a lot of fun, I think that he definitely improved and it was a good time for me trying to chase him around. I really enjoy my roll at Suzuki and especially those days where you can help the rider and actually sit back and watch him improve as you give him information. While I was there the Dirt Shark came out to shoot some video, we had a good time and did some fun stuff. He showed me some shots that he got and I thought they were really cool, I can’t wait to see how it turns out I think everyone will be pretty pumped on it.

It was another jam packed day, after the morning session at the Suzuki track I had to high tail it to the house pack my bags and get to the airport to head up north for the Fox store autograph signing they have with some of their athletes. This is an annual event that they do and it’s been going on for quite some time now. It is a really cool event; it’s at a nice mall in the San Jose area close to the Fox Racing headquarters. Fox does a great job promoting the event and you would honestly not believe how many people show up, it is amazing to see and makes the trip well worth it. The fans get so stoked, they wait in lines for ever and are so dedicated, makes you feel really good and feels great to give back to them.

Friday finally! It was a day for some chill time and a little tourist action. For many years coming to the San Fran area for the SX race I have always wanted to check out Alcatraz but never had time with our racing schedule, this year I finally got the chance! We didn’t have much to do and wanted to see what life was like on “the rock” as a prisoner and for the people that worked there. We went for the full tourist experience and did the whole headset tour where some one tells you basically everything that went down in every area of the cellblock. It was a very interesting tour and I would recommend it to everyone. That night a bunch of us got together to watch the basketball game at the arena right next to the Coliseum. More good times and lots of comedy with the group we had.

Well the time was finally here, my trip was at its last stop and it was round 4 of the Supercross series at the Oakland Coliseum. As the drama continues it was another wild weekend. The Lites class had the makings for a great race, Tomac, Wilson, and Seely all up front together. I was so stoked because it was going to be a great race, and before I knew it Wilson got crossed up and flipped off the track around lap two then Seely got off about 200 hundred feet after that leaving Tomac out front pretty much all alone. I was really impressed with the speed that Tomac had once again, The guy I riding really fast and has a lot of confidence and after this weekend his title hope are looking very good. I think for him at this point if he can keep it on two wheels and bag a few more wins he has got this. Moving on to the Supercross class, where do I begin? The surprise of Stewart not winning yet would probably be the biggest to everyone, myself included, and up until the main event he just hasn’t looked like himself. Well after the main was over not too many people had that comment anymore. Reedy rode pretty well coming off his win in LA and put himself in a good points position, he’s tied now with Dungey for the Championship. Chad had a pretty uneventful night because he got a good start and rode solid but didn’t get the win but had no drama really. I think the biggest surprise for me would be what went down with Villopoto. After his heat race I thought that he had Stewies number for sure, he caught the guy and was all over him. He started to do the same thing in the main event, was all over James early on even attempting to make a pass on him but as James went by Reed fairly easy RV didn’t do the same. He got caught behind Reedy and was trying to pass him and couldn’t make it happen meanwhile Stewie was riding like he should be and was inching away. After a few attempts on Reedy, RV kind of slowed down a notch and settled in to a pace that I haven’t seem from him all year. I’m not sure really what happened but this was very out of character for him after the last three rounds. Just when I thought that he was pretty much untouchable, especially if he could eliminate the small mistakes he had at the last two races he had would have a really great chance to dominate. That’s what is so great about this sport these days, you just never know which guy is going to have a perfect night and dominate or if they will make mistakes and leave the door open for someone else to capitalize on the others mistakes. It makes it fun for everyone to watch. Never the less these cats are bad dudes and I cant wait to see who is going to be on par next weekend in Anaheim, at this point I have no idea who will win and I love that!

Thanks for the read.
RC

I don’t know what it is about Chase Field but I have always enjoyed going there and even when I was racing I always had a great time racing there. That place always produces good races and a lot of excitement and it lived up to its past this weekend. I got in on Friday afternoon in time for our Speed TV production meeting. With the racing as good as it’s been it’s our job to help put on a great show for all the fans watching at home and I really enjoy being a part of the show. After I had a great dinner with Fro and Travis (one of the guys from my video game company 2XL Games).

I really didn’t know what to expect coming in to this weekend other than just speculating off of what I had seen during round one, I just basically wanted to see what kind of reaction the guys would have for the winners of Anaheim. It’s hard for me to predict the weekend’s outcomes early in the season because I don’t feel that everyone is in their groove and are still trying to find their zone and are just too inconsistent for me to make a solid pick.

It was cool to walk in to the stadium and see how good the dirt was and what looked to be like a good track design for good racing. As practice got under way and everyone got settled it was the usual guys in both classes that were up front on the timing and scoring block. I would say that the biggest surprise during practice was that Stewart not coming out for the last session. I guess he was under the weather just a bit and wanted to save his energy.

The heat races were wild in the Supercross class. Villopoto had a mistake that set him back and so did Reed in the first heat, falling down in a turn, while chasing Stewart for the lead. It’s obvious that starts are very important and when you do not have a great heat race it doesn’t leave you with the best gate pick for the main. In the Lites class Tomac had a spectacular heat race turning one of the fastest times on the track compared to everyone which was pretty impressive that he was on a Lites bike.

I definitely think both the Lites and Supercross mains had some exciting parts and I believe the best way to describe them would be bizarre. There wasn’t really a battle for the lead in either class but there was so much drama in both races. Multiple riders had a great shot to win and just didn’t get the starts that they needed to have good track position and stay out of trouble early.

After it was all said and done, and I have had a chance to reflect, I think there were a few surprises to me. The first one being that Stewart would be 17 points out of the championship points lead after only two rounds, I never really saw that coming. I am really impressed with what I have seen form Villopoto so far. It seemed to me that when he was coming from behind that he was riding with so much aggression and you could tell that he knew that he had to pass as many guys as possible to gain as many points as he could. I think he looks much better this year. I expected a bit more from Reedy, he rode really well in practice and had great speed in his heat but really didn’t seem to carry that in to the main for some reason. And where on nights like Saturday when all the main guys were having their issues, he should have capitalized on their mistakes like he usually does. As for the race winner Dungey, I think he did a great job in the main, especially after his heat race performance. He put himself in a great position on the gate, got a good jump and off he went. I also think the track conditions suited the steel chassis really well. He rode 20 good laps with not much pressure and turned out to be a great points day. Hats off to Weimer, he was solid all night and earned his finish. Windham put in a great ride as well and I was pumped to see that.

As they move to next week I think it will be interesting to see how Stewart does, I get the feeling that everyone is waiting on that. I think Villopoto will be just as strong as he has been and wanting to prove to everyone that he is the fastest man out there. I believe it is very important for Dungey to come out strong next week to show everyone that he means business.

Can’t wait till next week at Dodgers Stadium to see how everything unfolds.

Let me know what you think about this post, your thoughts on this week’s race or anything else on the season and I will be checking back and respond to your questions.

Finally here. Opening round of the 2012 Monster Energy Supercross Championship at Anaheim.

After all the anticipation and talk about another great season ahead of us the time was here. I got out there the Wednesday before hand to visit the people at Oakley and Fox which is always worthwhile and great to see everyone. I also to attend the pre race press conference on Thursday before Saturday night’s event.

It was a great start to the weekend, weather was awesome and it was really cool to see all the faces of the sport and the great fans as well, it seems to me that every year the paddock gets more packed with big rigs, sponsors and of course fans which always refreshing to me to see the growth.

With all that said I want to get in to the good part and the part I been waiting for the most and that is race time. As practice got going it seemed that it took some time for the track to come to life, I don’t think it was best track that Anaheim has seen in years past but was still good to see the riders out there ready to race. I watched a few practices from down on the track while I was walking around and really got to see up close how guys looked and how their bikes were working so I think that really helped me on making my predictions for the race and who I thought would be race winning contenders.

Coming in to this first round I thought there was probably four guys, five max that had a legitimate shot of winning the race but in the back of my mind I really believed that only two guys could get the job done if they didn’t have a problem. And after practice it was clear that the little thought in my mind I kept having was right.

There was great racing for the most part all night in both the Lites and Supercross classes. It’s always a good time up in the booth commentating with my buddies Ralph and Jeff. Seems that we are on the same page on a lot of things and that makes for a good show especially when the racing is as good as it has been lately.

Looking back on the racing there were a few surprises and some who did just as I expected. I think if you want to win this Supercross Championship this year, and you are not Ryan Villopoto, you’re going to have to go out and get it. It’s been a while since I have seen someone put in that many solid laps and could sustain that pace all night with ease, and if he needed to have more he could do that. He looked so programmed and focused and hit his marks every single lap. If he keeps it up, which it is very possible; it’s going to be extremely hard to beat him.

I can’t wait to be back in the booth next week in Phoenix to call the race and watch these cats battle it out. I think some guys are going to work on some things for sure this week to give themselves a better shot at winning and to narrow that gap somehow on Villopoto and he is going to be doing the same to keep his advantage. Another reason I’m pumped to go to Phoenix is because I have had a lot of success at that dome, I got my first Supercross podium there back in 2000 and won my first Supercross race for Suzuki in 2005 along with a few other wins and some great battles.

Speaking of Suzuki look out for a cool promotion they are doing in trying to find Brett Metcalfe’s #1 fan. It is a fun promo and I helped out with the jumbotron spot. So if you are going to be at a race this season look for it during the show.

Thanks for the read and we will be back with you next week to give you my thoughts on how it went from my perspective.

RC

Despite the long flight and five movies later I touched down in Honolulu for Fox Racing’s annual mini-moto surf contest. It’s a really fun event that Fox puts together for all their dealers and reps on the Hawaiian Islands. The headquarters where we all stay is the Turtle Bay Resort on the North shore of the island. It’s definitely a tourist destination for sure but it always is a blast when the whole crew is staying there. Fox also brought some of their other athletes as well such as Jeff Emig, Rusty Malinoski and Parks Bonifay.

After we arrived on the Wednesday afternoon, we laid low and made it an early night to be rested and ready for the next morning for the start of the event which would be the mini moto part. It takes place at a local track called Kahuku, (on Oahu) really cool place and always fun to see different tracks and meet different people and fans. The event went really well and the racing was so competitive and fun to watch. This year was a little better for me as well because The Local Suzuki dealer (Montgomery motors) brought out a bike for me to ride before the actual race started. It was cool, that area has a ton of cool trails to ride on so Emig and I along with a bunch of the local riders set off on a expedition. The ride was amazing with some really fun elevation changes and some amazing scenery. Check out a video of the event here.

After the event was over we headed back to Turtle Bay for some dinner and to celebrate Jeff’s 41st birthday, we had a great time with all the people there during the celebration and also bench racing about the racing we all used to do and telling funny stories. Some of these stories are fun to hear, not to mention we have told the same ones for years and years.

The next day would bring us to the part that I would have to forfeit, the surf part. I am clearly not made for surfing nor would the conditions of the water that day have been good for a beginner like me to learn in. There must have been a storm brewing because the waves were huge in my opinion, guaranteed if I would have gotten in there it would have been the last time anyone would have seen ol RC. I did have a fun time watching everyone and being apart of a great event.

Later on that evening after the event was over we headed back to Waikiki and would stay there for a couple nights before my trip back to Cali. On our way back to Waikiki we took the scenic route and I have to say that the drive probably had some of the most amazing views and sights I have ever seen. It was so cool to see and I can say for sure that will be a trip that I will be making again.

Our stay in Waikiki beach was pretty fun, we just hung out in town most of the time and I did manage to get in a little surfing where the waves are manageable for a beginner like me. I definitely improved from my first time last year but clearly have no future in surfing and don’t see any sign of light coming on to where at least some day I could actually do it for fun. But never the less we all had a good time and it was definitely worth it.

On my journey back home I had one more stop to make in So Cal. It was a good stop because I got to visit everyone at Monster and Oakley while I was there before heading over to Fox on Friday. I was so pumped because our little deal there was going to be the launch to all their reps of something that myself and the design/R&D crew at Fox had been working on for a few years. It would be the launch of the all new Fox Instinct MX boot. This boot is going to revolutionize the MX boot world in my opinion. The design is second to none and the fit and functionality are far superior to anything I have ever worn as far as MX boots are concerned. I can’t wait to hear people’s response. The reps were fired up about it and loved it. They also launched the new V4 helmet as well, I’m not being biased when I say this but it is like putting on a custom fitted hat, it feels perfectly molded to your head and the ventilation is unreal. Also the weight and balance of the helmet is awesome too, to when your riding with it you can’t even feel that its on because it is balanced so well. I also am happy that Fox is going to release the latest of my replica Monster graphics on the new helmet. I got to see a pre production version and I have to say it turned out awesome. I’m really excited about these two new products coming out and glad that I could be a part of it.

I finally returned home yesterday and am ready to spend some much needed family time and recharge my batteries. I can’t wait for 2012 to get here, I’m excited about what we have going on and think its going to be a great year. Hope that everyone has a great holiday and a great time with their families.

It seemed far too quick but the time had come for the last race of the year, Homestead Motor Speedway. Even though the track is in the same state I reside it seems so much different and feels like I’m actually in a different state because of the climate and terrain or lack thereof.

With a Friday night race we rolled in a day and a half early Wednesday evening and headed straight to the Marriot resort in Ft. Lauderdale for the Anheuser Busch/Monster Energy Distributor meeting. These events are always fun and it was at a cool venue right on the water and I had a great time catching up with everyone there. Next day was busy, starting the day off with a meeting with Florida Governor Rick Scott. It was cool to talk with him and after our chat I walked him around the NASCAR exhibit that was set up on South Beach for all the fans. Shortly after that, myself and a few other NASCAR drivers did a Q and A for the fans up on the stage they had set up and did an autograph session for all the fans there.

Friday morning, HMS has never been my favorite mile and a half but I looked forward to the challenge and was optimistic on my chances of having a good race. We unloaded off the truck better than I ever have been there for sure so that was comforting, our practice was cut short due to some rain so we didn’t have much time. Luckily the time we had was enough and we were pretty close to where we thought we needed to be as far as set up goes. After practice was over we had a long time until qualifying so we just hung out in the rig and visited with friends, and watched it rain several times in between. Due to the rain showers in the area, qualifying would be canceled and we would start by practice times which put us 14th. Our mock qualifying run wasn’t the best and had planned on making big improvements on that side of things but never got to because of the rain so that where we would start which was fine.

As the race started the truck felt really good and we were right in the mix of things. Due to all the rain before the race there was a competition caution at lap 20, that’s when the saga would start for our team. I will somewhat take the blame for this, I decided to take fuel only and gain some track position and keep my other sets of tires for later in the race. Well that plan didn’t work to great, after that competition caution we had one of the longest green flag runs of the year and to cap it off I was so loose by just taking fuel only that I could hardly drive the truck and ended up losing all the spots I gained and then some. But it wasn’t over yet because we would still have one more set of sticker tires than everyone else because we didn’t take any on lap 20 like they did. After a green flag stop we made some adjustment that would help a little bit. Shortly after that, the caution came out again and we came in for more tires and another adjustment to tighten me up. That was and awesome adjustment truck was back good again like the first 20 laps of the race. As the laps were winding down we were looking for another caution so we could put that last set of stickers on that no one else had and go blowing by them all. It finally came out with about 13 laps left but it was for the wrong reason, rain. After 5 minutes of the red flag NASCAR called the race and our plan at the beginning of the race back fired and left us in 17th with at least a top 8 truck. I do want to say congrats to the boys at RCR and to Austin Dillon on the Championship.

So, with the 2011 season in our rear view I would have to say it was a disappointment. My goals at the beginning of the season was if I could be inside the top 5 in points at the end of the year that would be like a win and no worst than 10th because I truly believed that it was totally obtainable. Also I wanted to lead more laps than I did in 2010 and win a pole. Wining a race was definitely was in there but I knew that would be the hardest. So from a points standpoint it was a total disappointment, but I did win a pole and did lead more laps than the year before. It was a very big learning year for me as far as a technical stand point goes as well because thing weren’t always right and it forced me to be smarter and learn more.

Thank you everyone for reading and following along this year and hope that we can do the same next year.

As the series winds down for both truck and nationwide series, this would be my last appearance in the nationwide car this year. I was able to race this race last year in the nationwide series as well but this year would be a different story, new car and new pavement and track configuration.

The weekend started out pretty good, we were given and extra practice day basically so all of the teams could figure out the new surface which really helped me out because I haven’t been able to spend much time in the car. It was really nice to have that extra day and not have to be so rushed like normal. Thursdays test/practice day went really well in my eyes; we got used to the track pretty quick and weren’t too far all things considered. I had my same team with me that I have in the truck series so that was a plus no doubt.

As Thursdays practice came to an end we all felt pretty good about our day, we were on our own agenda compared to our other teams because I had to qualify on time to make the race while our other teams we already locked in on points. With that being said we had to run a little different set up that would give us the best shot at making the race instead of just focusing on race set up only.

We had an issue later on that night on our way to a Sponsor dinner. This was probably the scariest moment I have ever had in my life. To make a long story short we were collected in a car accident when the car in front of us had a near head on collision. As I was trying my hardest to get out of the path of this four door truck coming straight at us, in our lane, after he hit the car in front of us our car was struck by a tire from one of the 2 trucks involved in the collision that went flying through the air. Needless to say I am thankful that tire didn’t come thru our window and I was able to get far enough out of the way of this on coming truck. I’m thankful that no one was seriously hurt.

Friday would be the start of the official race routine weekend. Everything pretty much went as planned in that practice as we really didn’t have much time because the one and only session we had was only an hour and forty-five minutes. We were good on the speed charts as far as the other drivers that had to qualify on time. The next thing would be qualifying at 10 o’clock the next morning and was time to execute.

Ahh it was raceday. I was ready to go out and qualify us in to the race and that’s just what I did. It wasn’t easy because the person two people in front of me wrecked and they had to clean the track off and there was speedy dry all over the place which makes it very slippery but we got the job done and we could now focus on what I do best and that’s race.

Starting in 27th we made up a lot of ground early and were really strong early on in the runs but would lose ground on longer runs because of our set up that we had to have just to qualify in to the race. We knew this would be a problem but there was nothing we could do about it. Like always my crew chief (Doug George) made great calls on the pit box and always made the best of what we had to work with.

At the end of the race we ended up 15th and we stuck to our game plan all day which was make all the laps, capitalize on everyone else’s mistakes and let everything come to us and that’s exactly what happened so we were pretty pumped. We learned a lot and if we have the opportunity again it will be much better.

I look forward to this weekend at our last race of the year; we are bringing our best truck in my fleet there and really want to end on a good note for my sponsors, team and fans.

At the Homestead race last year I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Campbell from GM. He said he was working on a couple ideas and wanted to see if I would be interested in working with them on a project they had in mind. Of course I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to hear what that had planned. A couple months went by and we finally got on a call with the design team and they told me their plans for a concept car using the Sonic platform. I really wanted to include some of the elements that I thought fit my lifestyle. I really enjoy spending time at the beach and that was where I began my process. I laid out what I thought would be some cool ideas integrating some of my sponsors while trying to think of what other people like me would enjoy doing with the car.

With that thought process myself and the design team went to work. The Chevy guys were awesome and gave me free reign to do whatever I wanted. We had no restrictions and anything was game. I called up my good friends at Fox and Kicker and got them to contribute to the program. Fox was awesome helping with the interior and we even used their board short material on the seats. Kicker did the audio system which we got to test at the show and it was really impressive! To represent what I like to do when I’m not at the track we put a Thule rack on the car to hold my mountain bike and wakeboard. Huge thanks to Specialized and Hyperlilte for hooking us up with the custom S Works bike and wakeboard.

What a week it was. After less than 24 hours at home I was back on the road again and made my way to Vegas to attend the SEMA show for my first time ever. It was like sensory overload at that place, everything you could imagine pertaining to a car was there. For me it was an honor to be there. I was there on behalf of Chevrolet and the Ricky Carmichael Chevy Sonic All Activities Vehicle concept car. I started working on the project with them about 3 months ago and the finished product turned out great, and it seemed to me that a lot of people at the show liked it as well. It was a great experience for sure and I want to thank everyone at Chevrolet and all the people in the design group for all their hard work.

After a few days in Vegas we headed off to Texas for the truck race. I have always liked racing at TMS and is a relatively easy track for me and is really fun to race, not mention statistically is a great track for me. It was a two day schedule for us which is always nice because we are not rushing and a it also provided a little down time that for me was much needed after being home only 6 days this month.

I got to the track early to do some ride alongs for some Chevy customers. That was really cool to do because they gave us some Camaros to drive. That was alot of fun for me being able to give our guests an experience I am sure they won’t forget anytime soon!

I have to give a shout out to my guys because we unloaded pretty good this weekend. Both practices the truck had a great balance to it and we really didn’t have to change that much and that always makes it nice especially when it’s at a track I like. We weren’t that fast on the speed charts in practice but there was a lot of guys that were drafting and getting a little help with their lap time so I wasn’t really concerned about where we ended up there because I knew my truck felt really good and had good speed on old tires so I was ready to go qualify.

We qualified later that evening after practice. To all of our surprise we ended up running a really quick lap. At the end of the qualifying session we ended up 5th, only a tenth of a second of the pole time. I actually think we would have been on the pole if we had not had an issue which leads me to my next sentence. During my Q run my water pressure gauge was flashing red the whole time and climbing and I knew that couldn’t be good. So make a long story short that problem turned in to having to make an engine swap which would result in going to the rear of the field for the start of the race.

Despite our unfortunate luck with an engine problem and going to the back for the start of the race it was time to put it behind us and look ahead. The first run of the race was really good considering how many people we had to pass. The truck was really fast and we were able to gain some decent track position and get up there where we belong. During the race my crew chief made a call for just two tires to gain us some track position which worked for a little bit but after a long run against guys with fresher tires we lost a few spots. Not to worry though, for the last stop we took four fresh tires and it was go time. We had decent track position so we were in a good spot. After it all ended we rounded out in the top ten finishing 8th which with all things considered was a decent finish.

Next race is PIR and will be in the nationwide car so I am looking forward to the opportunity. Thanks for the read.

Martinsville, a track where repetition is key, not to mention holding your ground and being aggressive when you need to be, a lot like Supercross and motocross. I believe that is why I have always likes racing there and have been able to post some good results there in hold my own.

It was a busy week for me leading up to the race. I had to attend the Suzuki convention and Monster Energy regional sales meeting down in Orlando on the Monday and Tuesday, I was able to bring my wife and kids down with me on this work trip this time which was cool. It’s always a good time attending these functions for me, I get to see dealers and sales guys that I enjoy to seeing when I’m at the races and doing appearances that I don’t get to see very often so it’s always good to see them. Also, seeing the new product and seeing how the year has been is always neat to see and be a part of. The Suzuki convention was cool; I managed to find time to demo some of the new sport bikes and cruisers. The last night there Monster rented out Orlando Grand Prix indoor karting track and I got race with all the sales guys all night, it was a lot of fun and I do have to give props to some of them because they were driving pretty good!

We rolled into Martinsville area Thursday evening, myself, Ursula and JH stayed at Kevin and Delana’s which is always our Martinsville ritual and it is always entertaining to say the least because of how much we all gang up on JH. We had some great dinners while we were there and got to watch some epic World Series games both nights we were there.

On the way to the track Friday morning for practice, mother nature lived up to its tradition and proceeded to rain off and on all day causing multiple delays to get on the track and turn some laps. Finally there was a small break in the weather and we were able to get a quick 30 minutes on the track for some practice. After the spring race and leading 36 laps there I was chomping at the bit to get on the track. The truck wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great, not quite as good in the spring and since practice was shortened we didn’t have much time to make improvements on it during that time. After we were done with our quick practice, myself and the team sat down and talked about what I was feeling and where what we need to do to improve the truck so we would be fast in the race in even though we weren’t as fast as we wanted to be off the truck we weren’t that far off.

Saturday morning was qualifying and then an early afternoon was race time, and I have to say, daytime races are my favorite. We didn’t have a great qualifying effort but I wasn’t to worried about it because I did the same thing in the spring and drove right up int to the top 10 in no time. I could tell with the changes we had made to the truck during our practice that it helped with the problems I was having and I knew we would be good in the race. When the green flag dropped we started 23rd, things were going good I was coming up through the pack just as I anticipated we would and we were also running laptimes well within the top 10. Almost after 30 laps of green flag racing and picking up ten spots I went in to turn 1 and all of a sudden my brake pedal didn’t feel right so as I exited turn to radioed to my crew chief and told him I got a brake issue I think, and as I was braking going in to turn 3 the brake pedal went to the floor but managed to somewhat make the turn but at the point realized that something was wrong at that point and was going to have to come in. So one lap later as I was going into turn 1 I went to pump the break to see if there was anything there and there wasn’t, at that point I went in to save mode, and what I mean by that was saving myself from not wrecking, I had way to much speed to make the corner and no stopping power. I made it just past the center of the corner and realized that wasn’t possible so I just gassed it up to spin it around but ran out of room.

That was the end of the day right there. It was very frustrating because the truck was working good and we were making a lot of progress in just a short amount of time with many laps left still to get up front. The good news is that we were fast and moving forward and we will take that momentum to Texas Motor Speedway next Friday night at a track that I like a lot and is one of my favorites.

My crazy month continues…. Since I left for Greece on the 5th I haven’t been home but one night! And thanks to Delta for canceling my flight from Calif it was going to be a few more days before I saw home. After the Vegas races I made a trip to Cali for a goodwill tour. I always enjoy going out to So Cal and seeing all my friends. While I was out there I stopped in to see my sponsors, Fox Racing, Oakley and Monster Energy. It was a great trip and it wasn’t just a quick stop in to say hi trip. All of my sponsors have some really cool things going on and you will all see what they have been up to soon so stay tuned! So after a triple connection to Birmingham I was ready to get to the race track and get focused on racing. We unloaded really fast and was the fastest truck in single runs but as you know at the superspeedways that doesn’t mean much. In the first couple drafting runs is when I knew we had a great truck and I was even more excited to get to the race. We qualified 4th and my teammate was on the pole so we were ready to win this one!Once the race got going I had a plan and my goal was to stick with it as best I could so we could be there at the end. I really like the big tracks and I think some of my past racing experience and having patience really helps me at these type tracks. Fortunately that and my plan to stay out of trouble paid off and we were there at the end ready to make a run. After a lot of radio back and forth the plan was to push James (Buescher) to the front and give Turner Motorsports a chance at the win. Our plan almost paid off. We just missed but gave it our best shot ending up 4th. That tied for my career best and my season best also. The end was really crazy, you really can’t see what is going on in front of you and with the glare I was blind coming out of the corner but I just stuck to James’s bumper and fortunatly we got a good finish and helped keep Turner Motorsports in the running for the Championship. It really wasn’t the finish I was hoping for, and to be honest I want to win a race so bad I can’t see straight but in the big picture it was a great race for us and our team and I still have a few more chances to get a win this year. Next stop is Martinsville where we ran awesome in the spring race so hopefully we can improve on that one. But before we can go there it is off to Orlando for the Suzuki Dealer Meeting and Monster Energy’s Eastern Regional sales meeting, at least they are in the same city!