Monday, March 17, 2008
By: Lisa Powers
Testing, testing …
Hey, hey, blog readers! LP coming at you from Monday’s test session here at Gainesville Raceway. It’s early in the morning as I type, and the track is slowly starting to come to life. From the looks of things, several teams plan to stay and test today, each one hoping to gather information that will push them closer to their goal: winning. The Snap-on teams goal is the same, of course, and we hope to make the best of what we learn here today.
First and foremost, we want to say congratulations to our friends Gary Densham and everybody on the Racebricks team. They made quite a showing yesterday, making it to the final round against Tony Pedregon. They have been busting their butts, and it was great to see them make it to the final.
As usual, the weekend was a busy one. Doug, Marty and I flew in Thursday afternoon on “Herbert Air.” Doug got to work early on Friday morning, working with some of the other drivers for the U.S. Army’s Youth in Education Services (YES) program. The program is all about helping young people make the right choices in life, and Doug spoke to them not only about how to become successful business people, but told them the story of Jon and James, too. He encouraged them to think about the consequences of their actions when they are driving and when they make decisions in general. He did a great job, and hopefully those kids will think long and hard the next time they get behind the wheel or are faced with a tough decision.
On Saturday, our pit area practically overflowed with cool people and cool stuff. Every year here at the Gatornationals, Doug hosts a few local Marines. This year was no different, with motorsports journalist and friend Norm Froscher and Sgt. Eric Kidwell coordinating the event. They presented the colors in front of our pit area, set up a chin up bar and before we knew it fans and crew members were stepping up to see how many they could muster. I saw one guy crank out twenty like it was nobody’s business, and few other ones could hardly reach up to grab the thing in the first place. They also presented Doug with a special plaque they had made, thanking him for everything he has done over the years, and saluting his “For My Boys” Tour. Thank you to Norm, Sgt. Kidwell, and everyone who had a hand in Saturday’s event. It meant a lot to Doug, and meant a lot to the rest of us, too. Semper Fi!
By the time for the second session on Saturday, our other special guests had arrived. Jimmie Van Zant, yes, from the musical Van Zant family of Lynyrd Skynyrd fame, heard about Jon and James and wanted to express his condolences and show his support for Doug. He and his beautiful wife, Zee, Big Jim and several other folks came out to present Doug with two autographed guitars, one for him to keep and one to auction off to raise money for BRAKES. They headed out to the starting line for their first nitro-burning, earth shaking, ear drum bursting Top Fuel experience, and I think they were quite excited and awed….like most of us are! They were really fabulous people, and I can’t say enough about how much fun we had. Jimmie has been kind enough to offer to do a charity concert for BRAKES, too. Make sure you check out his website: www.jimmievanzantmusic.net, and next time you are at a race, come by the T-shirt trailer, check out the guitar, and check for details on how to place your bid.
I know we don’t update this blog as often as we should…trust me, I hear about it from everyone from my own teammates to my own family! I won’t go as far as my fellow blogger El Toddo and show you a calendar with scheduled blog entry dates, but I promise we will do a better job. I am going to stay on Doug to write more often, and get some of the team guys and girls to jump in as well. Thanks for reading, and you will hear more from the Snap-on team soon!
Until then, be good!
