~Atlanta Journal~

Hey Fans! Well it is definitely a busy week here at the shop as we prepare to get ready to head to Darlington. We're taking the same car to Darlington that we raced in Atlanta so we only have a couple of days to set it up before inspection starts on Thursday. Usually we don't run the same car in back-to-back races because usually we visit really different tracks each week say like Daytona to Rockingham. But this week's race calls for the same car as last week's so that means the guys and I have a lot to do before we get on the road again. So I guess we were lucky to get the race in at Atlanta this past weekend because if we 'd had to run it on Monday we would have been behind schedule. It looked like a couple times that the rains were not going to let up but lucky for us they did and another lucky thing was that we were at a track that has lights so we could finish it up at night. That was a pretty cool thing too, to run under the lights at Atlanta. I wish we would have had a more competitive car but on a track that fast, running under the lights was a totally different deal. Needless to say it was a pretty long day on Saturday. It rained before the race even got started but they got the track dried off and we only started about half an hour late. Then the rain came again just ten laps before the midpoint of the race, which would have made it official, but it ended up being a pretty good deal for us because we picked up several positions by restarting and finishing the race. That was good for us in the points as well because every finishing spot we pick up really helps us in the points. It was pretty cold that night and really windy. I really felt for Larry (my spotter) because I'm sure those winds were really whipping up where he was standing. So thanks Larry for hanging in there, man you really had the toughest job on Saturday night. As far as the race goes, there were some positives and negatives about the whole thing. It was kind of disappointing after we ran so well there last year. We did pretty well for qualifying and I thought we were going to have a good car for the race. It just seemed like we couldn't get a hold of the racetrack like we wanted to. We did stay out of a lot of wrecks though that were right in front of us, so we were lucky not to get caught up in those and get this car back in one piece to take to Darlington. A lot of people ask what do we do while it is raining and the race has been put on hold? Well to tell you the truth, there isn't that much to do. But rainy days are about the only downtime we are ever going to have so usually I go back to my bus or my dad's bus and we'll talk (usually about racing) or sometimes I'll go back to the transporter and talk with all the guys on the team or other drivers. This weekend it gave me some time to talk to Chris about the car and what it was doing, but we couldn't do anything about it since you can't work on the cars while the race isn't going on. This weekend is Darlington which is a track I really like. It is really a driver's track and you have to drive against the track and not the other cars. This track shows the driver's ability just as much as it does the set-up on the car so that is kind of cool from a driver standpoint because we can really affect the performance of the car. We've done decent at Darlington in the past. We had one top 25 and one top 15 there last year so we're looking to improve on that and hopefully this race add a top 10 to that list. Well, I gotta get back into the shop and get back to work. If you're going to be at home on Saturday, be sure to tune in and catch the race on TV and if you're going to be at the track, I sure hope we put on a good show for you. Hey, if you haven't done so already be sure to check out my column on CBS Sportsline. Joining me are fellow Busch Series drivers, Lyndon Amick, Jason Jarrett and Hank Parker, Jr. We are taking turns talking about what it's like to come up through the Busch Series so go check out my column at www.cbssportsline.com under the Auto Racing section. It went up before the Atlanta race but it should be there for a couple more days. I'll talk to you after I get back from Darlington! God Bless, Adam