It definitely was an odd trip to Charlotte last weekend with all of the rain. The delays really don’t bother me as a driver, I just kind of roll with it. You can’t let things outside of your control get to you when you are in this business. The true challenge was dealing with the track conditions. Each time we would lay some rubber down on the surface, it would rain and wash it all away. You wouldn’t believe how much of a difference that can make.
Still, with all the craziness going on around us, my Red Bull guys adapted well and gave me a great piece of equipment to drive. We’ve really come a long way with our intermediate program since missing the show at Texas last month, and I think it’s a testament to how hard everyone has been working. Back then, our car was not very good right off the truck and it’s hard to fix something that’s so far off at the track. This time around, we were able to use our experience in the All-Star preliminary event to learn some things and it really paid off.
All the rain gave me a chance to catch up on the other big race of the day, which of course, is the Indy 500. I really don’t pay much attention to Formula 1 any longer. If my former teammate Tonio Liuzzi was to go back to F1, I would definitely follow hardcore. In fact, I still know some of the guys at Team Red Bull over there. Overall, I really don’t get to watch much racing on TV, I do enough of it myself and there’s really no time to keep up with any other series.
We did not have such a great time at Darlington earlier this month. I was very grateful to Red Bull for being cool with me driving Joe Nemechek’s No. 87 Camry. The Lady in Black is difficult place to get around and the only way to figure it out is to log in some laps and that’s what we were able to do. You don’t know how good it makes me feel to know that Jay Frye and the rest of the guys at Team Red Bull have my back.
I know I can drive these cars and it’s just a matter of time before we get our entire package working together the way we want it to work. It’s a good atmosphere with this team right now and I’m excited to be a part of it.
Speaking of excitement, I’m looking forward to going to Dover this weekend. I got my first Camping World Truck Series victory there a year ago, so it will always be a special place for me. However, what really has me pumped is that Dover is similar to Charlotte in many ways and we are coming off a great run there last week. A run like we had on Monday in a CoT car actually gives me more confidence than just knowing that I won here in a truck last year. This is a momentum sport and we definitely have it right now.
The next few weeks should be good ones for us and this No. 82 team keeps getting better. Thanks again for all of your support!
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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