Pre-Daytona

Hello everybody... Bubba here with my pre-Daytona blog. The 2009 season starts next week and we've been spending the last two months just getting ready for this year. You'd be really surprised how much time and work go into a truck that you only race twice a year. The Daytona/Talladega truck is different from any other truck that we run. It is specially built for superspeedway tracks. We will be running chassis #23, the same truck we raced at Talladega last October.

I've spent the last two months prepping all of our equipment for the season. We've painted all the tool boxes and pit boxes, and just last week, I decaled all of them. We typically paint everything in the off-season every year because we like to start Daytona with fresh, new equipment. I've also spent a lot of time re-stocking the trailer, and getting it ready to go this year. It’s my job to get with all of the shop mechanics to see what parts and pieces of the truck have changed from 2008 to 2009. I've also had to deal with some crew changes, which is pretty typical in this business. Firesuits and uniforms have shown up for all of the guys about two weeks ago, so they all needed to be handed out. On top of all of that, we've had to go through all of our tractor and trailer paperwork to make sure all our permits and such are up to date for the year. We are also trying to get as much California race stuff ready because we only have a two-day turnaround before leaving for the west coast. Doing a coast-to-coast trip takes a lot of planning to keep your logs straight. Thankfully this year, I have a full-time co-driver, whose name is Mike Goins. This is a first for me. This is just one step that Roush Fenway is taking to keep all of its truck drivers 100 percent compliant.

I've been lucky enough to win at Daytona in 2006, and it’s one race I will never forget winning. Colin should have a really good chance at winning the Daytona race this year. It seems like just yesterday we were coming back from Homestead, and now Daytona is already knocking on our backdoor. I hope to see all of you from Victory Lane soon.

Stay safe...
Bubba