It was a GREAT Race Weekend!!!!!!!

Folks, it's hard to describe how great our weekend was. Everybody had a blast. The people of Michael Waltrip Racing are amazing. Aaron's Rents, again, they are amazing. Josh Wise, David Reutimann, Jerry Baxter, Julie Song, THE WHOLE CREW!! Everyone of them went beyond what could have been wished for and made the weekend even more special than last year. The crew was so kind to Wiley. We got to sit in the pits for the race. We felt like a part of them. To us, they are OUR NASCAR family.

The chassis they raced this weekend has been named "Wiley." You can only name a chassis after it has won. And this one has. David took it to Victory Lane last year with Wiley's paint scheme. This year we got caught by a yellow flag and went two laps down. David was able to make up the 2 laps and finish second. With one more lap, he could have won, again! We felt so bad for the #99 team. They built the best car. They had the best setup. They had the best drivers. (By the way, Josh Wise did the setup and qualifying. He put third on the grid. You WILL be seeing him on Sunday in the future!)

We love David so much. But, watchin' the way he finished Saturday's race makes me respect him even more. David races everyone clean. Had the rolls been reversed, Carl would have punted him. Shoot for what it's worth, I would have punted him. But, David has the integrity to win clean. (I guess i don't cause I'd punted him.) David took a lot of time with Wiley at pre-race. I was amazed. He is the best!

The Crew - Wow! Those guys are unreal. They are at it, full tilt, from the time their plane hits the ground till the hauler doors are closed and they are heading back to the plane! And the guys at the shop are at it too. We saw them getting after it last year. If it had not been for some bad luck this year, this team would be in the title hunt. Saturday was the season in a microcosm. The got 2 laps down and finished second. They just ran out of laps. And we will just run out of season. The baddest hotrod on the track Saturday was WILEY - no doubt! and they have had BAD hotrods all year. This is the best team - period! We are thrilled to call them family.

Julie Song of Aaron's is another person that is amazing. She took her weekend to hang out with us and show us around. Not to mention, she is a hoot! we laughed all weekend. And work! let me tell you this lady was hard at it too. She was taking notes listening to the race traffic radio, and trying to keep the crew in line. **grin** She is a part of the crew! And you can watch her interact with the team and see she is a part of the family. She looked good all weekend. She was also the only one there with a pen color coordinated to the outfit.

I am so glad Ryan Kurek had the vision last year to do the special paint schemes for St. Jude. Without his vision, none of this would have happened. He and Meghan Stantan put a lot, an awful lot, of effort into making this happen. Well, Meghan put a lot of effort into it. I'm sure Ryan helped. At least, he said he helped. I'm givin' Ryan a hard time. This whole thing - Design a Dream - has been vital to Wiley's mental health. Wiley has many bad days. And for us, a bad day is very rough. Wiley has lost so much over the last three years. This is the area of his life we can point to, relive, and talk about to change the day. Ryan had the vision and the drive to make it happen.

And I want to congratulate Jackie Decker and Kevin Money of ESPN. The story on David and Wiley is (or was) up for an Emmy. The work they did was awesome. And to think how quick they pulled it together is astounding. It was wonderful seeing them again this weekend.

I'm sure i will have even more to write about this event in the days a head.