It’s been a while since my last diary and I apologize for keeping you waiting, but as many of you know, I’ve been a little busy. On March 12, my wife Kim and I welcomed our son, David Jr. into our lives and it’s been a little crazy since. Even though we don’t sleep much, it’s all worth it. Being a dad is unbelievable and an awesome experience, and I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner. It’s been tough, but the joy definitely outweighs all of the sleepless nights.
One of the toughest parts of my job will be that Kim and David Jr. will not be traveling with me to the races this season. Kim will be at Texas, and maybe a few other races, but we are going to wait until next year before the whole family travels with me every weekend. It’s going to be tough for her, as well, because she loves going to the races as much as I do. While I’ll be missing them like crazy, I’m going to go do my job and win races.
While it’s hard to leave my family behind on the weekends, I am looking forward to getting back to racing my No. 24 Zachry Toyota Tundra. It’s been a long month off and I’m ready to go. However, being able to come home to Kim and David Jr. makes it all that much sweeter! I thought it was impossible to want to win anymore than I already did, but having a son has given me that extra drive, and makes me want to run even harder.
My team and I have been working hard, getting ready to kick the season into high gear. We’ve struggled a little bit in the first few races, but that is in no way indicative of how good our team is. Working with my teammate, Terry Cook, his crew chief Danny Rollins, my crew chief and both HT Motorsports teams, and the things that they are doing with the suspension and the bodies, I’m excited about getting the year kicked off.
I’m also really excited about the David Starr Fan Club. We started it last year, but this year we have a new President, Lori Billings, and we have some cool things planned for our members, including several new items in the fan club packet, contests, etc. We hope to get it opened up for members in the next couple of weeks, so everyone needs to keep checking DavidStarr.com for details!
So after four weeks off, this weekend the Camping World Truck Series is racing at the Kansas Speedway. This will be my second trip to Kansas City in the last couple weeks. On April 14th, I got to go to Kauffman stadium and throw out the first pitch at the Royals game. To go to the Royals stadium, which has been totally remodeled, and to meet the players was really awesome. I got to talk to Manager Trey Hillman, who is a great guy and a big NASCAR fan, and that was really cool.
And while I’m not a singer, I also got to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch, and we got everybody to sing with us. It was a great experience, and is what is fun about our job – that we get to promote our sport with other sports. Trey Hillman is going to come out to the track on Friday morning and check things out, so it’s fun to be able to interact with other sports stars like that. As a fan of baseball, when I get to meet players and learn that they are NASCAR fans, too, it’s pretty cool.
But it hasn’t all been fun and games on my time off. I’ve been working, too. I was in Martinsville on Tuesday and Wednesday to work with the team and get the truck ready for Kansas. It’s a new truck so we had to make sure it was comfortable, and now we are ready to go.
While I don’t have a very good history in terms of finishes at Kansas, I’ve always raced good there. I’ve had bad luck, I’ve had mechanical problems, and while we always seem to have a top-10 or top-five truck, we never seem to make it to the checkered flag. But it is one of my favorite tracks, so I’m looking for all of that to change this weekend.
I know that some of our fans may be a little concerned because we haven’t had such a great start, but rest assured, our team is getting stronger!! We had a little hiccup in Atlanta when we were trying something that didn’t work. Then at Martinsville, I was the victim of not one, but two flat tires. We had one flat, had to pit, and were just getting on the lead lap when we had a second flat and ended up losing three laps.
Even though we haven’t had a great start, I’m not worried because we have a great team and I really believe we will have a great year. I’m looking forward to getting my Zachry Toyota Tundra into victory lane for that first win for David Jr.
About the author
The Frontstretch Staff is made up of a group of talented men and women spread out all over the United States and Canada. Residing in 15 states throughout the country, plus Ontario, and widely ranging in age, the staff showcases a wide variety of diverse opinions that will keep you coming back for more week in and week out.
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