Bluegrass Bound

Hey ya'll. We've had a couple of weeks off since Memphis, but we're heading to Kentucky this Saturday for the Built Ford Tough 250. It was a nice break; now it's time to go racing!
If you take a look at who's won at Kentucky, it is a mixed bag of results. In the Nationwide Series, it's been first-time winners the past few years. Kentucky Speedway has put a few Nationwide drivers on the map - young guns like Joey Logano, Stephen Leicht and David Gilliand all got their first win at Kentucky. But in the Truck Series, it's been the veterans that shined. Skinner, Hornaday, Setzer and Hamilton have all taken the checkers. I'm hoping to take a cue from the Nationwide guys and buck the Truck Series trend. And the way we've been running at the mile-and-a-half tracks, it's not out of reach. The Ergon Racing team has had some great runs on the intermediate speedways. We usually run in the top-five at 1.5 mile tracks, and that's what it takes to win races. We got our best finish of the season at Texas, so I'm excited about this weekend. This should be a great event for us.
Another thing about Kentucky, they've never had a repeat winner in the Truck Series. They've raced there since 2000, and no one has been to Victory Lane twice. That just goes to show how competitive the series is. It also means that it can be anyone's week.
I'm not sure if ya'll read about it, but NASCAR Technical Director Steve Peterson died this week. He was responsible for instituting some of NASCAR's biggest advances in safety - SAFER barriers,improved seat belts and neck restraints among others. I didn't know him very well, but I definitley appreciate all he did for our sport. His legacy will always remain in racing. He was really young, only 58 years old, so please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers this week.
Have a great week everybody and tune into SPEED this Saturday night to watch the race!
Thanks,
Marc