Daytona is always a lot of fun to participate in every year. All our kids usually attend this race, but this year my wife, Rene, and I brought Kayla, our 2 year old girl, and “Pepper”, our 18 year old Schnauzer. My father and mother-in-law and a longtime friend of the family, Rick Howard, also tagged along for moral support (and a babysitter!) Bobby, Jeffrey and Blade stayed home to avoid missing school. I was looking forward to taking Kayla to the beach, but man was it cold. Not the ideal weather you want at the beach. Instead we enjoyed the fantastic restaurants, two of which are Deck Down Under and Buca’s Italian Eatery…..I patronize those each time I visit. Enough of the fun stuff and time to get serious.
I hit the track on Wednesday in my new #13 ThorSport Chevrolet Silverado Craftsman Truck Series ride for the 2006 season. We drafted most of the practice and the truck handled great. It was very fast, but slow in qualifying trim.
On Thursday we started off with a qualifying run and broke the right rear shock mount, which took the rest of the practice to repair. We decided to be happy with wherever the truck qualified and bank on the fact we knew it would draft good in the race. My day was not finished there. I participated in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series autograph session later that night. I always enjoy this part of the business, as it’s great to see all the fans and I just appreciate them taking time out for us drivers. It means a lot!
It’s finally Friday and I’m very eager to get the race started, but have all day to sit, contemplate on the plan for the race after not practicing in the last session on Thursday. I’m not a person that likes to sit and do nothing, so while night races are a blast, it’s the wait that is nerve racking.
I finished the race with a top 20 and while the truck did not run as good as it practiced, we still had a lot of positives come our way. It was a great run for me and one of the best Daytona finishes for the ThorSport team.
Next stop, California Speedway…………..
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