Hey everyone. Right now, I’m just hanging out, chillin’ in the desert with my wife Amanda, Kyle [Busch] and his now fiancée. There’s no sense on heading back east when we have to come right back out to Vegas, so we figured that we’d hang out and have some fun on the left coast before the race.
The season is only two races old and already we’ve found ourselves employing some interesting pit strategy in both events. It’s not that we are planning these types of strategies, but I think the right situations have presented themselves and Jimmy Elledge has certainly brought his A-game this year. I think we’re gaining confidence in each other and we’re working better now because of that.
Not only that, but our fortune has changed a little bit from always having bad luck and now we’re having a little bit of good luck. In fact, I thought we could pull off a Joey Logano this past Sunday in Fontana, as we were hoping that the rain would fall while we were in the lead, but it wasn’t meant to be.
So we’re sitting 15th in the points right now, definitely a great start to 2010. I think having one year of experience plays a big role in this success, particularly as it relates to me as the driver. On top of that, Jimmy is starting to get a really good feel for what I need in the car and working with my feedback. It’s a little bit of everything. I can tell you honestly that one year later, going back to these places I think wow, there is so many more things that I know now as opposed to when I came here the first time.
I mean, we were leading the Daytona 500 at one point, although to tell you the truth, as a driver, I’m really not thinking about possible results, I’m focusing on my job at that moment. You can’t control results, you just try to do the best you can, whether you are the leader or you are a lap down. There really isn’t any thinking about what could happen at the end of the race, you’re just trying to stay in the moment. It’s fun to reflect on now, but at the moment, I was concentrating 100% on driving.
Many of you know about my interest in ski racing after our trip to Europe in the offseason. I’m actually a fan of winter sports in general and have been enjoying watching the Olympics. In fact, I always look forward to the games, as they represent the greatest sporting event in the world. I’ve got a lot of friends out there, plus Red Bull has Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White competing and both of them have been tearing it up.
So that was good to see for my “teammates” of sorts. I’m also enjoying the curling, which I had a chance to play before, although it wasn’t quite the advanced version of the game that you see on TV today. Overall, it was cool to watch America do so well this year, which should be expected since we’re one of the biggest countries in the world with by far the most resources.
As I alluded to earlier, my buddy Kyle Busch got engaged earlier this month and I couldn’t be happier for him. I would like to say that I played a little part in getting them together, but it was more Amanda than me to be honest. I can guarantee one thing though, we’ll have an awesome wedding to attend in the near future.
I hope that you’ve been enjoying watching us so far this young season. I definitely expect that you will continue to see more of the early success that we have experienced so far. Thanks for your support! See you at the track!
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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