We’re back on the road. It must be racing season again!
Since the first of the year we’ve been to Indianapolis and Daytona Beach, FL – and that was before the end of January. Mom just loves to travel; she seems to think the world is boring when we’re not at a racetrack, on an airplane or in a hotel.
We went to Indy for the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) banquet the second week of January. It was snowing, it was cold and it was nasty. Deb, who picked us up at the airport, let us stay in her nice warm house and ferried us around town, wasn’t happy with the weather. She’d much rather be back in the LBC, where we live.
Just a couple of weeks later, we were off to Orlando for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. We got to stay with Steve some of the time and in hotels for the balance, which was okay by me. The racing wasn’t nearly as noisy as the drag races she usually attends and everybody was so nice in the media center. We walked in the driver motorhome lot and saw all our old friends from IndyCar: Waddy, Chuck and Bill because they were driving coaches for some of our favorite people.
Becci Gordon was there too with her doggie and we got to spend time with them out by the playgrounds. Daytona International Speedway is very, very nice and easy for me to get around. There are plenty of places to go do my business and it seems somebody’s always having a party where I can snag some food. And it’s pretty good food, too!
Mom kept walking me during the race and I wore my Mutt Muffs – occasionally – I really don’t like them but I don’t have a choice, do I? Somehow, one of them got separated and they sent a new, larger pair – just right for some Oakley stickers, hint?
Going through the Orlando airport wasn’t terribly bad – we had a direct flight and got home by 3PM the next afternoon and that was cool.
In fact, when we arrived back from Florida, there was a car waiting for us. Mom thought we were getting either a Nissan Sentra or a Rogue – she told the guys to surprise her, but when we arrived, there was a 2011 Cadillac CTS-V wagon to take home for a week.
Mom was pretty excited when she got it and her eyes were gleaming. She couldn’t get the clutch right and we peeled out of Auto Airport Parking and hauled home. I got tossed a few times – it happens and mom always apologizes – but she seems so happy when she’s driving a car she really likes, like this one!
We took everyone for rides and they all held me securely so I didn’t fly around terribly much. I like that. Sometimes, on a flat straight road, I can even see out the windows.
Then mom started working and I just have to sit around while she does that and wait until she needs a break so I can go for a walk. When she’s working like that, we don’t go very far except to run errands and drive cars so mom can write about them, too.
After a couple of weeks of homework, we’re back at the NHRA drag races in Pomona again. We went out on Wednesday for lunch and got some work done, too.
Then they had the first round of qualifying on Thursday, so I sat through that quietly. Friday got rained out and Saturday suffered delay after delay. I guess I got bored and ended up on the chair waiting for mom to come back after photographing the first, long session of Funny Car, Top Fuel and Pro Stock.
That must have upset somebody because mom never went out to shoot again that afternoon. She just put my Mutt Muffs on and held me close while we watched the trackside action.
That Sunday she left me with some good friends, a civil rights attorney, her husband and daughter, which is always a lot of fun for me. We went to the farmers market and later that afternoon I helped sell Girl Scout cookies. I’m a very good salesperson, you know?
We’d been planning this visit but the lady attorney was adamant we should sue NHRA for violating ADA. Mom said she wouldn’t do that because she’d lose her job with the magazine. We’ll find someone to look after me at the Gatornationals, even though the racetrack and the paddock are very separate from one another.
After the Gatornationals the second weekend of March, we’re off to Sebring for the Mobil 1 12 Hours and then to St Petersburg, two places where I’m always welcome. I make a point of being so quiet that nobody knows I’m around. All of the sanctioning body PR people like that, for sure! And we get to see Nancy at Sebring – she’s always so nice to me.
That’s about all I can think of for now. Time to take a nap while mom works on another story.
Oh, the photos: they’re from Daytona International Speedway during the Rolex 24 Grand-Am race. There’s one of me under the table in the media center and another with Waddy, who’s giving me the love!
