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With all the time off I had, it's nice and you have to take advantage of that because once we start going, you don't have that time. And I really want to have it like that, because that would mean I'm racing full time.
During the time off, I just really did a lot of staying home. It's been a great summer so far for my kids Tanner and Samantha with us spending so much time together. We've gone to the pool a lot and have great tans.
I also have a new look for summer as I have really short hair. A lot of the fans might not want to hear that, but I have the 'easy to do summer mom' cut.
I had an appearance in New York City we did with the Beggin Bacon Strips for Purina. We went up there with Rusty Wallace and did the deal for the day. It was a really fun.
We went by the World Trade Center site and it was really unusual to see. It was very eerie to see the buildings around there with the black tarp around them being repaired. It's just amazing when you go by there and see a large, empty space where the Twin Towers once stood. It just kind of hits home.
Now, I'm ready to get back in the car and race. As hard as it was to go through sitting out while Ron Hornaday drove the car in Charlotte, it was an extremely difficult situation that actually turned out to be more of a positive in the end.
Observing and being there made me see that everything I was going through and saying about the car were the facts. Before, I doubted myself and questioned if what I was doing was right or wrong. I've been in the seat long enough to know what I was talking about.
It confirmed that what I know I was doing was correct. I can now take the focus off of that, and go forward with driving the race car. The hardest part when you're dealing with an independent team is that you don't have a lot of notes to pull from because we're all new and putting this together, still.
Honestly, I feel we have a great team and they're all hard workers.
It was difficult not running Michigan like we originally planned because we were all pumped up for there. After Charlotte, and going through the whole sitting out part, we were all looking forward to running Michigan.
I've run well there in the past in Winston Cup and ARCA races and feel really comfortable about that track. But, after sitting down and discussing it we focused more on getting ready for the future and running races.
We've built a few new cars for Chicagoland and Indy. We tested Chicago and I tore up a darn car. That is the first time I have done something like that in a test. We were getting better and better during the test and I took it into Turn 3 a little too hard and the car broke loose.
Now, it's time to get back in the car and show what this No. 49 Dodge BAM team is all about. Daytona is a place where you pray around the track for the car to go as fast as possible for qualifying.
When we get to race time, I can work with the draft and get the car to run well. I am so ready to get back in that car.
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