When we came to Martinsville, Va. this past weekend, I had felt something that I haven’t felt in about a year. That was the relief of being locked into the Top 35 in owner points. It’s definitely more relaxing and what is even better is that we get to concentrate a lot more on race trim.
Despite the additional effort on race setup, our day did not turn out as we got caught up in something that wasn’t really our fault. One of the guys ahead of me slowed and we went into the corner and basically the whole lane jammed up. So we were all just kind of running into each other. I got into the back of the No. 39 car and then I think the No. 47 got into the back of me. It was just one of those typical Martinsville deals, nothing we could do about it other than fix our car and make some laps.
As disappointing as the result was last Monday, things on the whole are still going pretty well in 2010. Last week I got to participate in the media day for the top-12 drivers for the first time ever. It was an interesting experience and evidence of just how much progress we’re making. Although saying that, we still have a long way to go. It’s a good thing though.
During the rain delay this past Sunday, many of you may have seen Kyle Busch busting on me about kicking my ass in our pit competition. Well, let me remind everybody that this was my first time doing this type of thing while he’s had this experience before, so he had the upper hand! Anyway, we were hanging out watching the truck team practice their stops and I said to him “I think I can beat you at this.” So like a lot of things, this all started from a little friendly wager. I will promise you this though, we will have a rematch and I will be ready for revenge! In fact, I have started to practice already.
Speaking of Kyle, he tried to blame my pit-stop “slowness” on the fact that I get manicures. I want everyone to know that I only got it done once and now, suddenly I’m the manicure man! As a matter of fact, I’m sure Kyle has gotten many of them done before me, at least more recently than I have. I mean, I looked at his success and figured I have to do what he does!
I’ve actually always been a self-expression kind of guy as many of you know from my recent hair dying experiment. I’ve always been that way since I was young, but certainly my time in Europe has added to that part of my personality as well. So for the fans who like something a little different out there, I’m your man!
I tell you what though, I’m having a blast right now between how our car is running on the track and the fun things I have going off the track like the pit stop competition and my hair. On top of that, I’ve got a lot of good friends in my life and the people around me are awesome, including my wonderful wife Amanda, so I’m just really enjoying things right now.
We have an off weekend coming up and I can’t even tell you what I’m going to do. I hate planning. In fact, as you are reading this, I probably still don’t know how I’m going to spend my weekend. When I do make plans, I know that when it comes time to move forward with them, I will have changed my mind about what I want to do. My preference is to wake up in the morning and decide then what I want to do on that particular day.
Thanks again for your continued support of both me and Team Red Bull. We’ve hit a little bit of a speed bump here the last couple weeks, but we’re going to take a week off, regroup and come back strong at Phoenix. See you in the desert!
About the author
Tony Lumbis has headed the Marketing Department for Frontstretch since 2008. Responsible for managing our advertising portfolio, he deals with our clients directly, closing deals while helping promote the site’s continued growth both inside and outside the racing community through social media and traditional outlets. Tony is based outside Philadelphia.
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