Con-way Freight Champions

Hey ya'll... Bubba here. We need to catch up on the Bristol race, but first I need to give a big congratulations to Dale Duncan for winning the National Truck Driving Championship, and also to Brandon Souder for winning the Rookie of the Year! Well done gentlemen! I know you deserve these accolades. Hopefully we will get to see you at a race sometime soon! Now, on to Bristol... Our Bristol race definitely wasn't as bad as last year...the truck came home in one piece, which can sometimes be a rare thing at Bristol. Colin's 12th-place finish was just enough to help us gain two spots in the points. Any race where you can gain points is always a good race. I also had the pleasure of pitting the No. 60 Nationwide car for Carl Edwards last weekend. He drove the car to a second-place finish while our teammate David Ragan won the race. All in all, it was a good weekend for our shop.

This week, we're off to Chicago for the first-ever truck race at this track. It's another mile and a half, so naturally we will be pulling out chassis No. 43. If I could have picked any truck to take to this track, this would be the one. I personally have only been to this track one time, so a lot of this weekend will be new for me too. NASCAR allows us a lot of extra practice time to help get all the teams dialed in to this new track. It's always good to have the resources that Roush Fenway does to help in the set up, since our Nationwide and Cup teams have been running there for a while. Our company is very good about sharing data between all three series. Another good thing is that because it is the first time we've been there, none of the drivers will have a distinct advantage. This should definitely be good for Colin.

My co-driver Mike and I will definitely be busy this next month. It is good that we have had a few weeks off to help prepare us for a lot of travel coming up. I know that I appreciate any time I get to spend at home with my family. Colin and the team are making a charge right now, and I hope we can keep this surge going in the right direction.


Stay safe...
Bubba

Gearing up for Bristol

Hey ya'll... Bubba here with another exciting addition to my race blogs. First, let’s catch up on the Nashville race. Chassis No. 43 turned out to be pretty quick in Nashville. Colin Braun sat on the pole for a long time during qualifying before being bumped towards the end by the No. 17 truck. Still, starting outside front row was definitely good for Colin and the team. Our race wasn't a pretty one... for some reason we just couldn't get Colin's truck dialed-in to his liking, but we didn't give up. After a couple of pit stops and some big-time adjustments, Colin roared to a third-place finish! We just need to find a way to slow down Ron Hornaday and that No. 33 bunch.

After a quick trip home, and a day of rest, it was off to Dover to do a tire test for Goodyear. If you remember, Colin blew a right front tire after taking the lead from Kyle Busch during the Dover race. We definitely thought that this test would be beneficial both for our team, and Goodyear. It was only a one-day test, so we were back late Tuesday night. Of course by this time, I was nearing my 70 hours, so I took a couple of days to help reset my log book. Testing after a race weekend definitely helps the week go by faster. We don't race again this weekend, so I'm spending most of my time this week catching up on some housekeeping at the shop. I have already had my tractor serviced, so now I am just going through all of our parts and pieces to make sure we're prepared for our next stretch of races. We are also preparing chassis No. 39 to go to Bristol. This track is definitely my favorite track. For anyone who has not been there, you just can't imagine what a feeling it is to see the trucks running around the track so close to you. I have had the pleasure of going to victory lane there in 2006 with Mark Martin... and last year with Colin, definitely a race both he and the team would like to forget. At a track like this, it comes down to survival, and I believe Colin is gonna be up for the challenge.

I want to give a special thanks to Sonny F. for coming to see us in Nashville. I really enjoyed meeting you, and look forward to seeing you at some future races. And I also want to say sorry to Bill... maybe next year we'll get you the guitar. I definitely feel the team is getting more confidence every week, and I'm sure this will soon bring us another win!


Stay safe...
Bubba