A good Memorial Day Weekend

Welcome back to my latest blog. It is Monday May 25th and I'm back in Concord, NC at BulterBuilt Seats, I know I should be in Canadaigua, NY, but I have a flight out of Charlotte Tuesday morning to fly home to Pensacola, FL for my oldest daughter Alisha's, high school graduation on June 1st. I knew at the start of the season that I would be taking this week off to spend with my family during Alisha's biggest day of her young life. I'm also pretty sure that Donna is going to have a few honeydew list items for me to work on. So, I will be missing Canadaigua, Attica, and I-96. I will be back at Lawrenceburg with my youngest daughter Selena joining me.

Right now I'm watching the Coke 600, so far a typical NASCAR race, kinda boring until the last 100 miles. Lets catch you up with my past week. I made it to Charlotte last Monday in the afternoon and I parked at ButlerBuilt Seats. Jeannie & Brian Butler are the greatest people involved in racing, there passion to make this sport safer for all drivers is unmatched. During the week I was able to get my satellite working again (damn coax cable came undone in the back of the box) and I performed my prevenative maintenance on the motorhome (MH) & Woody. I changed the oil filter on the MH (Yes only the filter not the oil, since I use Red Line Oil, I only change the oil once a year, but I change the filter every 5-8,000 miles) and greased the drive line, brakes & chassis. While inspecting the brakes, I noticed the left rear brake caliper was metal to metal and had worn the disc down to less than a 16th of an inch thick. So, thanks to Darrel who works at ButlerBuilt, he knew of a good mobile mechanic and called him for me. Dan came out the next day replaced the disc and pads after writing him a $650 check, he got me ready to go for my trip to Virginia. I can't complain, those original brakes lasted 286,000 miles.

Thursday I drove the long 1.5 mile trip from ButlerBuilt to "The Dirt track" at Lowe's Motor Speedway. I was able to score a couple tickets to Pole Night at the big track so I invited Vince to walk over with me. Vince had a good time, it was his first time seeing NASCAR cars live in person. I had a good time, I have always enjoyed qualifying whenever I go to a race.

Friday was race day for us at the Dirt Track, with it being a Live TV show and in the same town as the WoO Headquarters, all the big wigs with WoO were there making sure everything was ready for TV. We were done setting everything up by 5:00pm and the drivers meeting went off as scheduled around 5:45pm. All week long, the sun beat down on the track as they worked on it, come Friday night I was hoping the track would be OK. Well, as soon as the first group of hotlaps went green, the track was smooth, but it also was as hard as concrete. I knew right then that the track was gonna be a slick one and the fans wouldn't get to see the awesome speed these sprint cars can go on that track. But, the track is the same for everybody and the drivers did there best and put on a good show for the night. The night went pretty smooth and the A-main actually was a good race for TV with Joey passing Donnie for the lead and holding on to win. If you watched the race on SPEED, I heard that Woody made the broadcast a couple of times, that was Jeannie Butler riding with me during the A-Main and Brian Butler road with me during the heats and B-Main. I like coming to Charlotte, because I get to see and visit with friends of Woody that I don't get to see during the year. I got to talk with Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne for about a couple minutes each. I need to apologize to Sid Waterman, I drove by him once and didn't get a chance to stop and talk with him, and I didn't see him the rest of the night, Sid I wanted to thank you for your support of Woody.

Saturday started early, up at 6:00am and on the road at 7:00am. I had 335 miles to drive to Virginia Motor Speedway near Saluda, VA. Nothing like a 6 1/2 hour drive after getting 5 hours of sleep. Actually it was a really nice drive, no problems and I didn't even get tired. It must be the VERVE Energy Drink that I have been drinking for the past 2 1/2 months. Since I started drinking VERVE, I have felt better physically, more focused mentally, and I sleep a ton better than I used too. I arrived at the track around 2:30pm and went to work helping set up the scales, sponsor inflatables and making sure all the drivers souvenior trailers are in place. Around 3:30pm, three of my buddies from my Navy days drove up on their Harley's from Norfolk, VA. I got to spend about an hour with them telling some old sea stories. Justin, Darin, & Ken all worked for me as Navy Aviation Rescue Swimmer School Instructors back in 2001-2003, all of them are still on active duty and doing good things in the Navy. As far as the track goes, what a great facility, the Sawyers have a first class dirt track facility. Compared to the night before's track condition, we went from one extreme to the next. Charlotte was dry and hard and Virginia was soft and heavy. It took 8 sets of hotlaps to get the track ready for qualifying, the track keep getting faster as the night went on and I think the fastest laps were turned during the opening laps of the A-Main. It was a good race and Joey was able to stay ahead of Sam Hefertepe Jr anf get the win. It was a great night for Sam, he was fast all night. Hopefully he can keep up the momentum.

It was great to see Craig Folmer at Virginia racing with us. Craig came over to me when I was hanging out with my Navy buds and asked if I remembered him. I recognized him but I couldn't remember his name. He reminded me that I helped him out at Charlotte last year during the World Finals event in October. I then remembered it was him that caught fire on the backstretch during his heat race and after he climbed out of the car I got to him while he was still on fire, I got him to get to the ground and I sprayed him with my Cold Fire spray can (small fire extinguisher) that I carry on my belt. I was able to get the fire out quickly and saved him from more severe burns. It was really gratifying when he came over to thank me for my quick actions. Craig had a good night, he won his heat, made the dash, and finished 13th. A good night for someone who runs with us less than 5 times a year.

After the races, I was invited for a burger at a fans campsite, I got over there around 11:30pm and spent about an hour hanging out with Mike and his daughters, drinking his beer and eating hotdogs and burgers. I really enjoy hanging out with fans when I get the chance. They are what keep this sport that I love going, without the fans, I would have to go get a real job.

I received an email from an fan in Austrailia asking me how do I connect to the internet and how much does it cost. Well, I connect to the internet from my laptop using a Verizon wireless card and it cost me $60 a month for unlimited internet usage. I hope that helps everyone out. Verizon seems to be the best wireless service for connecting to the internet where all of our race tracks are located.

Tomorrow I will be headed home for a week, I'm excited to see and spend some quality time with my family. It is hard being out here by myself and I miss not being with my family. I will miss working with the great road crew that put on a WoO show (Carlton, Don, Jim & Lucy, Bill & Linda, Tom, Tony, Johnny, Eloy, Vince and Justin) for the next three races. I hope everything goes smoothly for them and I will see them at Lawrenceburg.

Again, I want to thank all the fans for supporting me and Work 'N Woody and the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. So, until my next blog, stay safe and keep all four wheels on the ground.

Work 'N Woody,
"Just Push'n Off"