Miller Lite Dodge expecting to be gold standard at AMS

We're moving on to Atlanta this week, where we're running a gold wrap on the Miller Lite Dodge, which celebrates our fourth gold award at the World Beer Cup. It's an awesome looking car and we think one that is going to be competitive in the race.

This will be only the second time we've run this car, and it won at Michigan the first time we ran it. Only four races to go in the season, and our goals have shifted a little since the beginning of the Chase. We're looking to put together a complete race in Atlanta -- start competitive, stay that way throughout, and finish strong. It would be very cool if we could put the gold car in Victory Lane Sunday afternoon.

A Tough Day All Around

What a tough day on the track ... we just couldn't get anything going at Martinsville. Between a poor-handling car, the blown tire that sent us into the wall and getting hit from behind on a late restart, which locked the transmission up in second gear, we just struggled all day long.

A 31st-place finish was not what we envisioned when we got to Virginia, and with six races now in the books we have a lot of work to do to make up some spots in the Chase standings.

Before we headed up to Martinsville for the weekend, I spent a day at Lowe's Motor Speedway for our inaugural "Ride with Kurt for the Kids" fund-raiser. We had a bunch of stuff going on at the track, including a silent auction, a photograph and autograph session and a dinner.

Of course, the centerpiece of the effort was the ride-alongs we provided to fans who donated money to the cause, and the highlight of the day for me was taking little Collin Smith and Kayla Rose, two kids from Victory Junction Gang Camp, along for a ride around the track. Judging by the smiles on their faces, I think they had a blast experiencing what its like to be in a car going 175 miles an hour.

All in all we raised $40,000 and have so many people to thank for their efforts. You know who you are.

We knew going into Martinsville that everything had to break our way to get back into the Chase, and qualifying up front would have been a good way to start the weekend. Practice got off to a slow start Friday with some rain showers rolling through, and qualifying was pushed back two hours.

The Blue Deuce went out late in order and I felt like we put in a good lap. Our time was nearly half-a-second better than our practice time, which put us in 11th position for Sunday's race.

Despite moving up to sixth early in the race, the Miller Lite Dodge was tight from the center out, which made it really difficult to pass anyone. Pat Tryson and the guys made some air pressure and wedge adjustments to the car, but we continued to move backward in the field and were 23rd when our day took a dramatic turn for the worse.

On Lap 166 the right-front tire went flat and the car shot up the track and into the wall, which Corey Russell, our tire specialist, quickly determined was a result of brake heat melting the inside bead of the tire. The car damage was limited but was enough to hamper our efforts for the remainder of the race.

We got two "lucky dog" passes to keep us on the lead lap, but on a late restart I got hit from behind by the 55 car [Michael Waltrip] just as I was shifting gears, and the transmission got stuck in second gear. We had to keep coming down pit road at the end of the race and ended up 31st.

Until next time.
KB