Planes, Lennys and Automobiles (Part 2) - TKP

"So why Charlotte, North Carolina?", you might ask.

The answer is simple - race shops! Almost every team is located in the greater Charlotte area.

"So what?", you might ask.

Well - these things are not your average garages. Have a look....

This is Hendrick Motorsports - the shop that builds cars for Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Casey Mears (who won the race we went to) and Kyle Busch.
This is the outside of the shop - it is 600 000 sq feet (think 6 times the size of your local Wal-Mart).... by the way - note the "pond" out front - and "yes" it does stretch from where "Lenny" is standing to that other part way down there - and that is one of 5 buildings.
They also had a museum. Here is a row of Daytona 500 winning cars - in the exact same shape they left victory lane in (notice that they are covered in Coke - confetti - rubber - etc)
One of the most impressive viewing areas was at Penske racing - the home of Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch's cars. They had a walkway that went from one end of the shop to the other so that you could watch the guys working.
Here is the view at Richard Childress Racing.....
Most of the shops had viewing windows or catwalks, but the best place was a place that we almost did not go to - a smaller team named "Bill Davis Racing" located approximately 70 miles from Charlotte. They had no tour - but they allowed us to walk around in the shop anywhere we wanted to go - as long as we stayed in between the black lines on the floor. That was cool because the mechanics just kept working away and you got to be right in it, seeing what they were doing etc ....
Then we went to their Truck shop across the street and the rules there were - none! Just walk around like you own the place. Look at anything you want. Just watch out for the guys who are working while you wander. Here is a picture of Johnny Benson's truck being worked on....
And, of course, Joe Gibbs racing - home of Tony Stewart....

Most of the shops have tours, museums, trophy rooms and gift shops. They are very impressive and it was fun to see how things are done. One car is worth more than $120 000 and it takes more that $20 million to sponsor one car for a season - now you can see part of why that is.

In four days we visited more than 25 shops and put over 700 miles on our rental car - And that is why you go to Charlotte! :)

Planes, Lennys and Automobiles (Part 1) - TKP

Most of you know that for the last 10 days Lenny (aka my brother Kurt) and I have been on an adventure.... we flew to Charlotte, North Carolina, rented a car, drove more than 700 miles all over the Charlotte area in basically 4 days, looked at and toured more than twenty-five race shops, took in a "World of Outlaws" Sprint car race with 14 000 people at the dirt track in Charlotte, watched NASCAR Nextel Cup practice and qualifying, went to the Busch series race, walked through miles and miles of vendors trailers and tents that sold anything and everything NASCAR, took in the longest night of racing on the NASCAR schedule - the "Coca-Cola 600" with 160 000 of our closest friends (though the 5 1/2 hour race seemed to be over in 10 minutes), and just generally had a great time. (How do you like that for an opening sentence?) :)

I have lots of stories to tell like how we spent most of our first full day lost because we were trying to navigate an area that has several million people using a map that had literally 5 roads marked on it (Lenny refused to spend the $7 to buy a map the night before - so after a day of looking for race shops and being lost - he relented and we bought a map!) :)

Or about how we could not understand 93% of the people 97% of the time (it was fun imitating their accent - for example - did you know that "Charlotte" is pronounced "SHA-lat" - well now you do!) The best was when we went to a sub place where the owner was an East Indian man - he spoke fairly good English but with an accent of course - it was entertaining to watch the "Good old Boy" in front of us trying to communicate with him - they were both speaking English but nothing was going through! :) (Interestingly enough, within 3.76 seconds of me saying "hi" to the lady next to me at the Busch race on Saturday, she asked "Where y'all from anyhow?" - so maybe they weren't the only ones with accents!)

Or how about Tony Stewart was "the show" for the whole race - even if he did not win (more on that another day)

Or just about how much fun I had with Lenny! It was great! I really enjoyed hanging out with my brother - doing something fun and memorable together. We laughed lots - talked lots - took tons of pictures and have tons of memories. So over the next few days, I will share some of them with you.

But for now - below are some pictures - mostly from the first day we were at the track (Thursday). In order they are: The front straightaway at Lowes Motor Speedway, Cup cars lined up to go out on the track for practice, Jeff Gordon's #24 Dupont Chevy and (of course) Tony Stewart's #20 Home Depot Chevy.

Below that is a short video I took just to give you an idea of the speed that these cars are traveling. This is taken from up by the catch fence as the cars go into corner 1. They are slowing down and some have turned off their engines because it was a practice session (When they were going flat out, they would hit close to 200 mph where I was standing - they averaged 185 or so around the entire track - the ones with their engines off they are coasting by at approx. 170 mph). Notice how quickly they go by.

The word that kept coming to mind as I first watched these cars was "violent" - they are so loud that you had to plug your ears when you were down at the catch fence - they rumble your chest - they look as though they have no hope of turning and are going to go right into the end wall - they are big, scary, loud - and more fun than I have had in a long time! :) So - over the next few days I will try to give you a taste of that.

One last thing - I have to say "thanks" to Sara and Tracy who not only let us go on this trip, but encouraged it all the way (I think that they have big insurance policies on us that they were hoping to cash in!) Not many wives would let their husbands - especially a couple of boneheads that have the track record of doing stupid things together that Lenny and I have - go off and have fun while they held down the fort - but ours did. They are why going was fun - but coming home was better!

Enjoy! :)

A few quiet moments....

Well those of you who know us know that Tim is living his dreams and is off to the races this week. Don't worry the car you see here in no way involves Tim. Sorry maybe I should have said that sooner. He made it through all the hoops to get there and had lots to report as of last night. He will, I am sure fill the blog with many stories and such when he returns. I hate to say it out loud but it is just a little too quiet without him around. Hoping he is having the time of his life.

From Death to Life - TKP

[Editor's note: I know that some of you read this blog for its seriousness, reverence and intellectualism (well ok - lets just pretend that some do anyway) - if that is the case - boy are you going to be disappointed with this posting! I apologize in advance!]


I had a life changing experience yesterday. I ...... faith-healed my water cooler!

Yep - I know! Sounds stupid, doesn't it? But consider the source and hang with me for a moment.

It all started when I was just a gleam in my mother's eye... but we don't have to go back that far, so.....

Last week our water cooler died, so I did the only logical thing that any sane, Canadian male would do - I pouted! After that, I did the second thing that any sane, Canadian male would do - I tore it apart. I took out the circuit board - checked the transistors with my multi-tester - wiggled things around - I even did the "tried and true" fix of yelling at it and hitting things (my dad taught me that one!) - the result: Nothing! Dead as a doorknob! So for the last week we have been drinking room temperature water as the water jug drained down.

Last night, we had some friends coming for supper and we began to debate what to do with the water cooler. We had not bought a new one yet (One of us - I won't say which one - is quite cheap!!!), so we decided that the time had come to toss it outside in the trash - and then it happened!!

I know that I should be more serious and less stupid most of the time - but this time I could not help myself - so I said to Sari, "Before we take it out - I want to try to faith-heal it". She gave me one of those looks (I am surprised that she has not tired of that look yet - because I am starting to) and in my very best southern drawl, fake preacher voice, I laid my hands it and said......

"Oh Lord! You know how much we loved this water cooler.... and if you could just see it in your heart to bring it back to life - we would be forever grateful! Heal this water cooler!!"

I plugged it in - turned it on - and we have been drinking ice cold water ever since! :) (I realize that it is not exactly a "Water into wine" sort of miracle - but it was impressive to say the least!)

So I am considering a new line of work - I may open a "Small appliance Faith healing repair shop" - you know - start with blenders, maybe a hairdryer or two - maybe I can work my way up to waffle irons!!! :)

Its either that or just charge people for looking at my "miracle cooler".....

You each now owe me $5!!! (At this rate, I will collect enough to replace this one when it dies again). :)

One More Round

We got news today from Ma and Pa Muller that Dad is due for just one more round of chemo. The doctor was very pleased with his levels in his blood work and so they are saying this next round should be the last. I know many people are now touched by cancer in some way and so many will know how demoralizing it can be to have any form of the disease. I know dad was ready to retire and see the world out ahead of him, filled with so many dreams waiting for him to have the time to fulfill them. So I am asking for your prayers for dad as we continue to live in the shadow of cancer and knowing that the plans we have for us are not always what God has planned. If you are waiting for retirement to chase your dreams perhaps you shouldn't wait and if you are waiting for someone to be good to you, there really is no time like now,to be good to them. If for no other reason this past year has changed how I (we) see people and life and the urgency of loving now. I hope you will save some room in your prayers for my dad.