~Nazareth Journal~

Hi Y’all Hey, do y’all like apples? I mean it; do y’all like apples? Well, how’d you like them apples on Sunday! LOL Man, what an awesome weekend; although it sure didn’t look like it was going to turn out that way after the emotionally draining day I had on Saturday. Having never even seen, let alone raced, at Nazareth before, I was a little bit nervous going into Saturday. After taking a few laps around the track in practice I came to the conclusion that everything they say about this place is true: It’s a very tricky oval that drives more like a road course. It’s hard to explain, but it took me half of our practice session before I started to feel the slightest bit of confidence. After trying real hard to ‘figure’ the place out, with little success, I just decided to go out there and have fun. That mental adjustment made a big difference as we started to post times that were in the top 20. Knowing that the brand new car that my guys built for this race was totally awesome, I felt pretty confident going into qualifying. On a side note, I want to apologize to those that were hoping to see me at the driver autograph session. The problem was the way they scheduled the whole deal. I mean scheduling an autograph session in the 45 minutes between practice and qualifying is ridiculous. This being my first time racing at Nazareth, I needed that 45 minutes to prepare myself mentally for qualifying (not that it did me much good) In any case, I hope y’all understand. As for my qualifying effort, what can I say other than while the car was perfect, I was not. I knew as soon as I crossed the line that I would be starting the race from the back. I was pretty upset about the whole deal. So much so that I began to seriously doubt my ability to race at this track. Luckily I was able to catch myself by remembering that there is always a world of difference between qualifying and actual racing. Sure it would be tough, but I was determined not to let this difficult track psyche me out. After all, I still had Happy Hour to get my confidence back. After talking the situation over with Lance, we decided on a few minor adjustments; including a gear change. When I went back out onto the track for Happy Hour, it all clicked. Best of all, I noticed that the car was just jumping off turn four. As was the case in Fontana, I knew that this was going to be the area of the track where I could gain some serious track position. After running 12th quick at the end of Happy Hour, I managed to regain my enthusiasm and confidence going into Sunday’s big race. As I woke up Sunday morning to the sound of rain I knew we were in for YET another rain delay. Is it just me, or does it seem like it only rains on race day. The 5 hour rain delay seemed like an eternity. The worse part is trying to keep that race day intensity when you are not sure whether or not the race is even going to happen. Watching the final round of Indy 500 qualifying certainly helped pass the time. Speaking of which, I know y’all are curious to know the inside scoop on my dad racing at Indy. Yes, the rumors were true. About a week ago my dad got an offer to run a car at Indy. While the offer was very tempting, he turned it down. Not because he didn’t want to run at Indy but because there just wasn’t enough time to do the deal right, you know? As for the future, I can only say that, knowing my dad like I do, the question is not if my dad will run at Indy, but when. So, where was I; oh yeah, my race.LOL By 4:00PM the rain finally stopped. Less than an hour later I was inside my Spree Prepaid Foncard Chevy racing to the green flag. With dark storm clouds overhead, I knew that this race would probably not go the full 200 laps. For that reason, I knew that I could not afford to waste any time if I had any hope of a decent finish. As I mentioned before, my strategy was to gain position using that awesome move off turn 4. While I knew the strategy would work well, I didn’t realize it would work THAT well! It got to the point where it seemed like I was picking off one car per lap! Remember that ‘zone’ I was telling y’all during my race in Fontana, well I was back in that same zone. I mean, I felt unstoppable out there. Man, I was bummed when I started to see rain drops on my windshield. I hoped that it would go away so I could maintain my momentum, but it didn’t. While I was pleased that we had managed to work our way up to 23rd position just 23 laps into the race, I just hated the fact that I was going to have to get out of that racecar when NASCAR called us in for the second rain delay. Fortunately the rain delay was not the LONG one that we all have grown accustomed too. By 6:00 the race was back on again. I made sure during the few laps we ran under caution that my dynamite line was nice and dry; especially coming off turn four. When we finally went back to green around lap 40, I picked up right where I left off by picking off cars one at a time with that strong move off turn 4. By lap 65 I had managed to break into the top 20. It was around that time that Lance informed me that my lap times were 4th quick overall. That was a huge shot of confidence for me. Perhaps too much as I got into the back of the 36 car through turns 3 and 4. Judging by the way my hood was flapping around, my first thought was that this beautiful racecar, along with my chance for a decent finish, were destroyed. You can imagine how relieved I was when Lance informed me that while the car might have looked bad from where I was sitting, it was only cosmetic damage. With the assurance that my racecar was still functioning well, I set my sights back on the race. By lap 76 I was running in 16th position knowing full well that, with the storm clouds overhead, this race could easily be over at 100 laps. With that in mind, I went back to work determined to work my way into the top 10. By lap 100 I was running strong in 12 place and knew that this racecar more than capable of finishing the race with a top 10. The problem was that no one knew when the race would be over due to the rain or darkness, take your pick. Making matters worse was the fact that we had not yet pitted. As much as we needed to pit, we just couldn’t take the chance. With my tires starting to show serious signs of wear, I was extremely relieved to see the leaders pit when the caution came out on lap 107. I’ve got to give credit to my pit crew here; they did an awesome job getting me back out onto the track. Thanks to their lightning quick work, I was able to pick up 3 positions and move into the top 10 for the first time in the race! As we drove around the track under caution, there I was right between the 17 and the 3 car. Looking back, there was a part of me that wanted throw caution to the wind and race agressively to prove that I could in fact compete with two of the best drivers in the Busch Series. I think Uncle Ron sensed what I was thinking when he told me what an incredible accomplishment it had been to break into the top 10 from all the way back in 34th at such a difficult race track. After thinking more about what a top 10 finish would do for our team in terms of points and moral, I decided that my top priority was not to race the 17 and 3 car but to bring home a top ten finish. At 7:30 PM NASCAR made the decision to shorten the race due to darkness. So there I was in 9th position with 25 laps to go. In the process of running the first 5 of those laps under caution, due to a nasty wreck on the backstretch, all I could think about was “Be patient Adam, Be patient. Just take what the track will give you. Don’t force anything. Bring home a top 10” When we finally got the green flag on lap 148 that’s exactly how I was running. To those that saw the race on TV, you know what happened 5 laps later; a huge pile up among the leaders right smack in front of me. I would be lying if I said that I was able to avoid the wreck based purely on my skillful driving. As far as I am concerned, the good Lord himself just made an opening and guided me through. It’s that simple. With several of the leaders now out of the race, I moved into 6th position. Shortly afterwards, they black-flagged the 66 car and that enabled me to move into the top 5 with 10 laps to go. Needless to say, I drove those last 10 laps very conservatively. I can’t tell you what an incredible feeling it was to take the checkered flag in 5th place knowing that I had started all the way back in 34th position on a very difficult race track that I had never even seen before Saturday. To be honest, that top 5 felt almost as good as a win! Needless to say, our performance in Nazareth is a huge confidence builder for the entire Spree Prepaid Foncard team! Ok, enough talk about racing, I want to answer some questions from your discussion page. Before I do though, I want to thank y’all once again for your many words of support, love and encouragement. It occurred to me after the race that unlike many of the well wishers that seem to be there only when the times are good, y’all have been there with me through the ups AND the downs. For that I offer you each my heartfelt thanks. Thanks as well to all those who have purchased my merchandise; I’m glad y’all have something to brag about this week!LOL Alright, so why do I drive a Chevy when everyone else at PE drives a Pontiac? The answer is because Chevy has a much stronger program in the Busch Series than Pontiac does. This being my rookie season, I need every advantage I can get. Can you explain provisionals? Yes, provisionals can definitely be confusing. The easiest way to understand provisionals is that every week a certain number of drivers (usually 36) make the field based on their qualifying times. That leaves a certain number of provisionals(usually 7) to make up a field of 43 drivers. Of all the drivers that did not make the field on their qualifying time, the provisionals go to the 7 drivers that have the most points. So if a driver who is say 35th in the points standings fails to qualify on time, he will get one of those 7 provisionals as long as there is not 7 drivers (who also did not make the field on time) who are ahead of him in the points standings. There are some exceptions, but for the most part that’s how provisionals work. Are NASCAR video games like the real thing? While nothing could ever compare to actually being behind the wheel driving 200mph, NASCAR video games are very realistic; especially with regard to the track itself. I mean how you drive around the virtual version of a track like Daytona is pretty much the same as how you would drive around the real thing. Like you, there are definitely tracks I like to race at better than others. Hey, thanks for all the cool charity event suggestions. Y’all gave my marketing guys some really good ideas. Thanks! My goal is to have something together for next season. Fan Club? Man, y’all are going to hate me but the club is still not ready. Part of the problem is that the designs for my Fan Club T-shirt, hat and polo shirt were terrible! Actually they weren’t that bad, but they weren’t very cool either. I won’t settle for anything less than the very best for y’all. Sensing my frustration, Sprint was kind enough to offer to let one of their ad agencies take a crack at designing the shirts and hats. Wait until y’all see the special edition Fan Club Prepaid Foncard that Spree donated. In addition to 45(cool number!) prepaid long distance minutes, there will be a 1800 number that you can call after every race to hear a race report from yours truly. While Sprint has been by far the most generous supporter of the fan club, I’m trying to get all of my other sponsors, Coca-Cola, Advocare, EA Sports and MBNA to make some kind of contribution as well. As far as appearances at my merchandise trailer after Happy Hour, I meant after our Happy Hour in the Busch Series. Unfortunately, I cannot meet y’all at my merchandise trailer at every track following Happy Hour. I will however definitely be at my merchandise trailer following Busch Series Happy Hour in Dover. For those that would like to meet me in Charlotte, make sure you check out my appearance schedule on the main menu of this Internet site. Well, that’s about it for now. Don’t forget to set those VCR’s this weekend because something special is going to happen Charlotte! God Bless, ADAM