NEW EGYPT, N.J. — It’s just another day on the road for us as we are making our way through New Jersey. The exciting thing is that we are finally getting where we are not messing around with just one race a weekend and are actually on the track at least three times in a week.
The travel has picked up, and we are getting to where we’re racing hard, heading down the road and doing it all over again the next night.
Generally, the motto that works is, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” When everything gets to be a challenge, it floats our boat. The only other problem is factoring in Mother Nature, but hopefully we’ll get all the races in.
It’s fun when it’s a challenge. The mental part is the hard part and is where you can really see the difference in teams. When you first get out on the road, guys probably think they’ve got a good idea of how to handle it all. It’s takes quite a few years of it to figure out all the little things that help you stay sharp with all the races, travel and more races. The more you do it, the more experience you have at it and ultimately the better you get.
That’s why you look at the history of the World of Outlaws and why guys like Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell and Mark Kinser won so many races. They learned how to prepare for them mentally, physically and emotionally. And when it was time to race, they just went out and won as many times as they could.
Experience is how you get through the tough nights. We had one last week at Lernerville Speedway and just kept digging. We found the problem, got it fixed and scratched out a ninth-place finish. 
You are going to have nights when you’re not good at the right time. You find yourself in the wrong spot when the opportunity presents itself all night long. It’s about overcoming those obstacles, getting what you can get and moving on to the next track.
Unfortunately, to get that ninth we had to use up our second and final provisional until later this summer.
We put our backs to the fire the very next race by timing in 35th out of 55 cars at Williams Grove Speedway. We caught a break in our heat and made our way into second, which got us in the dash. If it wasn’t for that, I’m not sure we could have run the alphabet into the A. We went from not making the show and losing the point lead to starting fourth and winning our fifth race of the year.
It’s great to get back the feeling of winning a race. Then coming back, not being locked in and doing it again the next night really makes you feel better. Having a couple nights like that builds character. My race team is pumped right now.
These guys (Dave Lawrence, Shane Bowers, Brad Sparks and David Nisbet) know they have to do whatever it takes. They do what they have to and do what I ask them to do. No questions asked. That’s awesome in a race team.
At Williams Grove the other night, I had a legend come up to me and say, “Man, you drive this place good.” It was Don Kreitz. When you have a someone like him pay you a compliment like that, it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck.
The next week will be filled with plenty of racing and travel. After New Jersey, we’ll head back to Pennsylvania and then onto Charlotte. We’ll get one night of racing down there and then turn around and go back to New York.
Hopefully, we don’t lose our Rand McNally Atlas on the way. I don’t think we can borrow one from the schedule makers.