Paulie's Blog: Busy week bouncing from east to west

The past seven days certainly have made for a busy week. I ended my last blog from Newark Airport, where I took a flight to Charlotte for a few days, then drove to Duke for a day before flying west. After a number of appearances, race day came at Douglas County Speedway. Unfortunately, a car in front of us lost an oil line and soaked the track, leaving all the cars behind him to try and keep it together. We ended up getting caught up in the melee and hit the wall, making for a really long night! It was a tough ending to an otherwise great week!

Arriving in Charlotte on Monday, I had a number of things to do and people to meet. I headed to Mooresville, which is where a number of Cup Series teams are based. After making a few stops there, I had dinner with Elton Sawyer (former NNS driver and director of competition at Red Bull), his wife Patty (former NNS driver), and two of Patty's close friends from the broadcasting industry. Some readers may remember the show NBS 24/7 on SPEED, which Patty was heavily involved in. We went to an awesome steakhouse for dinner and had a great time, telling all sorts of stories and laughing harder and harder!

• West: News, Results, Schedule

While in Charlotte, I stayed with Wayne and Kyle Rapachietta, two of my close friends. I headed back to their place after dinner and stayed up pretty late answering e-mails and planning a few things for the next day. I don't know what time I finally went to bed, but it was probably too late.

Tuesday was much like Monday, with meetings starting at 9 a.m. As an up-and-coming driver, I'm doing everything I can to develop relationships with sponsors and race teams. That means meetings with potential sponsors, marketing agencies, and the management at top teams. Although I don't have to do this, it definitely helps my chances at making it to the top! Additionally, it's always nice to see your friends, and I've got some great friends in the Charlotte area. One of my stops Tuesday afternoon was to the Roush-Yates engine shop, where Doug Yates gave me a tour. The building is responsible for all of the Cup engines for the Roush Fenway and Yates teams, but it's big enough to build many more than that. What a beautiful facility!

From there, I made a few more stops before ending my day at a NASCAR event. For 2009, all of the NASCAR weekly and touring banquets -- the Whelen All American Series, the Camping World East and West Series, and both Whelen Modified Tours -- have moved to Concord, N.C. NASCAR held a great event, bringing team members, NASCAR brass, and area government officials together. It is awesome to see the support that our sport gets from that area and I'm excited to have all of the banquets in one area!

Wednesday was planned as the day to film at Duke for Three Wide Life, a television series that focuses on what happens with drivers and team members away from the track. According to their site, "Three Wide Life is meant not only to entertain the race fans, but to also educate new viewers about the drivers, the business, and the people behind the teams." The show is produced by a Charlotte-based marketing agency and I was able to jump in a car with some of the show's crew to ride to Durham, which is about two hours from Charlotte.

Filming for the episode was a blast! Show host Tony Rizzuti and I filmed all across campus! We started out with the Duke FSAE team (which I discussed in my blog a few weeks back). The University was even gracious enough to allow us to drive the car (complete with burnouts and donuts) on campus, creating some awesome footage! After filming with the car and in the garage, we headed over to Cameron Indoor Stadium, which is where the Blue Devils basketball and volleyball teams play. Tony and I did an interview about my roots in racing, my recent success, and how my Duke education ties in to my life as a racecar driver. From there, we walked to the chapel, with Tony and I continuing our discussion about Duke all the way there. I felt bad for the cameramen; they were circling around Tony and me for the whole walk! (Continued)