Con-way Freight
Hey ya'll, Bubba here... buckling down for our last push of the season. First things first... for everyone who missed it, Con-way Freight did announce they will be going to Nationwide racing with Roush Fenway and Colin next season for 18 races. The company was part of the unveiling ceremony with the new Ford Mustang. This definitely put a little extra pep in everyone's step. I am very grateful that they will be coming back next season, as are my teammates, I'm sure.
With five races to go, the first track we needed to conquer was Martinsville. Remembering what had happened in the spring race, I was more than a little scared to go back to this short track. After qualifying 12th and then sitting in the rain most of Saturday, Colin showed us he is definitely maturing by driving to a third-place finish. To have survived Martinsville and finish in the top three almost feels like a win to me. If you remember the spring race, this is one of the tracks where we have to unload everything we'll need for the weekend. So once again, we built tent city and worked with no trailer. Although this is one of the harder things to do, all of my crew stepped up and made things a little easier this time around. But in the end, I'm glad this race is over.
This week we are preparing chassis No. 23 for Talladega. If you'll remember this is the same truck that sat on the pole at Daytona in the spring. This is a specially built, superspeedway truck that only runs at Daytona and Talladega. For me, this means remembering all of the special parts and pieces because most of the parts on this truck are designed especially for superspeedways. I have real high hopes going into this weekend that Colin will do very well at Talladega. It is very important that we keep finishing in the top five or top 10 so that we can get Colin a secure spot in the top-five driver points standings.
Thanks for the continued support from everyone who is a fan of Colin or part of the Con-way Freight family. It’s very exciting for us to be moving to the Nationwide Series next year, and knowing that Con-way Freight will be supporting us again makes it that much more special. Now it’s time to focus on the last four races of our truck season.
Stay safe...
Bubba
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Looking Forward to a Strong Finish
Hey ya'll, Bubba here...trying to catch everyone up on some much needed blogging. I guess first we need to start with the Loudon, NH race. Honestly, there wasn't much too exciting about Loudon. We qualified in the top 10, and finished in the top 10, but we were never really in contention for the win. For some reason this track has always been tough for us. Who knows...it could have been a different story if we could have salvaged our St. Louis truck for this race.
After a quick trip home, and a 34-hour reset, it was already time for us to leave for Las Vegas. This is one of the roughest stretches of driving that we do during the year. We are almost going from corner to corner of the United States. It’s very important that Mike and I, and our equipment, are ready for these long hours. Thankfully our trips to Loudon and Vegas both went flawlessly. As far as the Vegas race goes, I really had high expectations because we were bringing truck No. 43. We qualified well, and if the beginning of the race was any indicator, it was gonna be a good night for us. We quickly moved to the lead before our first pit stop. After changing tires and taking on fuel, the truck was never the same. It’s almost like a mystery for us that will never be solved. By the time we had a chance to change tires again we were already a lap down. This was very disappointing for a team and a driver who had hopes as high as we did. But, we still have to move on.
During the last couple of weeks off, I've had a chance to go testing with the No. 99 Sprint Cup car as well as time to get my truck and trailer serviced. I know in a few weeks we will be doing a five-race push so it’s very important that everything is working well. We are also preparing to do our first Nationwide test next week. This test is not only to benefit us for the following year, but it’s also to help our current Nationwide teams in their last few races. I can honestly say the end is in sight, and now it’s time to dig deep to finish strong.
Stay safe...
Bubba
After a quick trip home, and a 34-hour reset, it was already time for us to leave for Las Vegas. This is one of the roughest stretches of driving that we do during the year. We are almost going from corner to corner of the United States. It’s very important that Mike and I, and our equipment, are ready for these long hours. Thankfully our trips to Loudon and Vegas both went flawlessly. As far as the Vegas race goes, I really had high expectations because we were bringing truck No. 43. We qualified well, and if the beginning of the race was any indicator, it was gonna be a good night for us. We quickly moved to the lead before our first pit stop. After changing tires and taking on fuel, the truck was never the same. It’s almost like a mystery for us that will never be solved. By the time we had a chance to change tires again we were already a lap down. This was very disappointing for a team and a driver who had hopes as high as we did. But, we still have to move on.
During the last couple of weeks off, I've had a chance to go testing with the No. 99 Sprint Cup car as well as time to get my truck and trailer serviced. I know in a few weeks we will be doing a five-race push so it’s very important that everything is working well. We are also preparing to do our first Nationwide test next week. This test is not only to benefit us for the following year, but it’s also to help our current Nationwide teams in their last few races. I can honestly say the end is in sight, and now it’s time to dig deep to finish strong.
Stay safe...
Bubba
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
