The Inside Line: Back in the Midwest

First, sorry for it taking so long since my last blog post. I had a hacker mess with the website a couple of times, but hopefully that situation has been resolved. We’ve also started the intense part of our schedule — now until the middle of October — so my blog has been put off.

Also, I want to thank my buddy, Jimmy Jones of Jones Sports Media, for the picture of me interviewing Sammy Swindell after he won at Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Mo., on April 20.

Let’s get caught up …

I had Easter weekend off and I did absolutely nothing. I ate a bunch of food and watched a ton of movies. It was the last weekend I have off until the third weekend in October, so I definitely soaked up the free time.

Since then I headed to Paducah, Ky., for my first visit to Paducah International Raceway. It was a cool track and is co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who happens to be my favorite NASCAR driver. The racing was intense and we avoided wet weather, which has plagued us this season. In fact, it rained out our event at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., the following night.

I had to fly out of St. Louis on that Sunday morning and the track in Farmington, Mo., was racing, so I thought I’d check out a new venue. It was my first time sitting in the grandstands at a race for as long as I can remember. It was a neat track and the sprint races were hard fought. I felt a little weird being at a race and not having anything to do.

Unfortunately, that night I got a nasty spider bite on my right hand. It started to swell up once I got back to North Carolina on Sunday afternoon. By Monday I had to see the doctor because my entire hand ballooned. I never realized how everything in my life would be affected when I couldn’t use a hand, but I learned that on Monday. From getting dressed to driving my car, it was challenging to adapt to only using my left hand. I was put on antibiotics and the hand felt a ton better by the time I had to fly to Kansas City on Thursday for a five-race swing throughout the Midwest.

I got in to Sedalia on Thursday night as Lucas Wolfe and I had some radio interviews to do early Friday morning at a local station. We did one live and one taped interview, and when we were leaving I heard a taped interview from earlier in the week playing on the radio. That was a weird feeling to hear myself on the radio as I was driving down the road.

That started an intense 40 hours. I got to the track at 1 p.m. and didn’t finish work until a little after 4 a.m. I was able to catch about two hours of sleep before I had to hit the road for the six-hour drive to Haubstadt, Ind., for Saturday’s event. I got there just in time to check into my hotel before my arrival at the track at 1 p.m. And I worked until about 3:30 a.m. Actually, I was so tired that I literally passed out at some point for a few minutes. When I woke up, I was slumped over my laptop and hadn’t finished my press release. I was able to throw together the rest of it, post it, send it and crash.

I had planned on attending the nonwing race at the Terre Haute Action Track on Sunday, but was so exhausted I crashed in my hotel. I haven’t been to Terre Haute and was really looking forward to checking out that historical facility. However, at that point, my energy level was anything but high.

I’m in Illinois for a few days as we have our first race at Farmer City Raceway in nine years on Wednesday. Then it’s off to Eagle, Neb., for a race on Friday at one of my favorite tracks. We wrap up the weekend on Saturday at the famed Knoxville Raceway. I catch a flight back to North Carolina on Sunday afternoon, then will fly to Ohio on Thursday for my first-ever appearance at Eldora Raceway that weekend.

This is an intense lifestyle, but I love it.