3 . 11 . 11

I can't even tell you the last time I actually blogged. I'm thinking it was around May of 2010. I guess I'm a little behind.

God knows a lot has happened since the last blog and I'm not even sure that I can remember everything and even if I did no one would have the time or want to take the time to read my blog. So, I will try to be as brief as possible and I am certainly going to try to do a better job of blogging this season.

Last season was quite the roller coaster ride that is one thing I do remember. Joey won a lot of races and had a very good possibility of winning his first WoO Championship but another accident took that away.

Reece and I traveled all summer with Joey and we enjoyed it. I didn't however enjoy working in the merchandise trailer during one of the hottest summers I can remember and oh, did I mention I was pregnant this entire time. Pregnancy and standing on your feet in 90 + degrees for months do not mix. I can't say being in the trailer was all bad. I did share a lot of laughs with my friend Jan, her kids and our friends the Gomez's. They helped me during a time I really needed it and to them I am thankful.

Joey had a lot of success last season which always makes life more fun for us. We live for racing it seems sometimes. I am figuring out that there is more to life than just racing as Reece is showing me this, but we couldn't imagine our lives without racing. Even though sometimes racing rips my heart out and stomps on it...LOL.

I am happy to say I did survive the road and pregnancy and after the Iron man race at Pevely, MO I went home for the duration of the season. No Knoxville Nationals for Reece and I and that was tough but Reece had to start school that Wednesday so it didn't work out that we could be there. That was a hard thing for us because I haven't missed the Nationals in geez I don't even know when. I suppose it was better for me to be home anyway because I was only a month or so away from delivering our baby Ragan.

Once I got home time flew as I had a lot to prepare for with baby Ragan's arrival quickly approaching. Thank God for my mother-in-law who painted his room and helped redecorate Reece's room so he wasn't feeling too left out.

The time went by fast and I was so ready to meet our little miracle baby. I had planned to be induced on Monday, Sept. 20 so that Joey could be home but Ragan had other plans. Wouldn't you know that I dropped Joey off at the airport on the afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 16 and on Friday morning in went in to labor. I was not so ready for that I have to say. Thankfully my mother-in-law was on call and she got me to the hospital in time. My sister was a God send and stepped in for Joey. I wouldn't have made it through the delivery emotionally if it had not been for her.

At 4:45 that afternoon I gave birth to Ragan Eugene Saldana. I was so HAPPY! I had another beautiful baby boy (mini Joey). I was also thrilled that I could deliver him before Joey started racing that night. I knew he would race much better if he didn't have to worry about the baby and me. I wanted him to be focused on his job not me.

As much as I hated Joey not being there with me during delivery I was so happy to see Reece walk in and see his baby brother for the first time. Nothing could prepare me for that moment. The look on Reece's face was an amazing gift. Reece was the first person to hold Ragan and he was so proud of that. He is an amazing big brother and I couldn't be more proud of him. My life is just so full of blessings.

Joey won that Saturday and I was listening from the hospital on Dirtvision. He said some really touching things in victory lane and of course I cried. The nurse walked in and was like are you OK? I had to explain to her why and it was something I will never forget.

Joey got home Sunday and was able to pick Ragan and I up and take us home from the hospital. I felt like I had given birth all over again. I can't even describe my feelings when I saw Joey hold Ragan for the first time.

We had a good week at home. Joey was able to be there with us. It was a very special time.

The following weekend Joey raced Eldora and unfortunately he crashed bad and had to be air lifted to a Dayton hospital. He suffered a severe concussion and was forced to miss the next race at Lernerville. I don't ever want him or us to go through that again. It was a terribly difficult and helpless feeling to be listening to the race and not know what is going on with him and I can't get to him.

I sat on my couch crying as I held my newborn son and my seven year old is consoling me. It was a very long night as we waited for news about Joey. I wanted to go with my mother-in-law to the hospital in Ohio but I knew my responsibility as a mother was more important and I just knew that Joey would want me to take care of his boys. I felt so torn but I am glad that I made the decision that I did. Joey's parents were with him so I knew he was in good hands.

Joey was released from the hospital on Saturday and he came home. He was a wounded guy but at least he was home.

Joey did race the following weekend but the damage was done as far as the points went . I know that a championship would have been wonderful but we both know that Joey's well being is what really is important.

Joey healed over the following weeks and he became more focused over the winter months as he worked out very hard at PitFit. I'm very proud how he tried so hard and how he continues to work out to try to make himself better, stronger and sharper. I know that this will ultimately help him in every aspect of life.

Winter has now been longer than I would like for it to be but the new season has begun and I am excited about it. I will let you know how things are going as the 2011 season unfolds.

Thanks for reading and thanks to all of our family, friends and fans who supported us through everything that we went through this past year.

Shannon

 

6 . 27 . 10

Well, it's been forever since I last blogged and it's not because I haven't wanted to. I've just been busy with family things at home before I left with Joey for the summer and now that I'm on the road it's even busier. We have been putting in tons of miles like all the WoO teams and families. It has been a long summer already and I've only been out for a few weeks.

Rain and heat continue to plague us but we all just keep plugging along. Fortunately Joey has been racing very well so that definitely makes it worth it.

Since I last blogged Joey has had three wins (Eldora, Dodge City and Grand Forks) along with eight top fives. The consistent finishes have helped Joey to gain the points lead and with continued good runs and GOOD LUCK he will hopefully continue to be the points leader throughout the season and finish on top. We all know it is a long season though and a lot of things can happen so we will take it a race at a time.

So far we have been able to have some fun while being on the road even with the little time off. Our friend Steven flew into Dodge City and surprised me and spent the week with us. He went through a lot to get out here with us because of bad weather and he wasn't so thrilled about that but he was a trooper and toughed it out. He helped me a lot in my trailer and I'm so thankful because being pregnant in this heat and for all the long hours is really taking it's toll on me. Thanks Steven for everything and we are looking forward to seeing you out here again in a few weeks.

My pregnancy is going well and I'm growing bigger every day. I'm thinking this little baby boy is not going to be so little. Reece is getting more excited every day and just can't wait for the arrival of Ragan. I know he is going to be an amazing big brother and I'm very excited for the day to arrive myself. I still have a lot to do to get ready for him though and I really need to get on it but when I'm on the road it's a bit difficult. I'm sure August will be a crazy month for me as Reece starts school and I will only have a month and a half left before Ragan arrives. BTW, I have to give a shout out to Chris from Minnesota who has purchased so many Joey t-shirts and really thinks the baby's name should be Chris...lol. Thanks for the laughs Chris (and his gang) up at Grand Forks. Hope to see you all next time we race up there.

This next month will continue to be hectic as we have a lot of races and that is always a good thing as it is how we make our living. I am thankful that Jan McMahan and the kids are still out here on the road traveling as it would be next to impossible to be in the trailer and keep Reece content during the long race nights. Reece does love being in the trailer but he loves being with Brayden and Kylie more and he is especially happy when he can go up and watch the races with the kids. I'm dreading the day they go back home which is not far off. We will miss them so much. We will definitely have to enjoy the next three weeks and make some more happy memories during that time.

One more thing, I want to tell Jamie and Niki Coates our dear friends but really more like family CONGRATULATIONS on their first baby, a beautiful girl named Kynedi. We are so very happy for them and can't wait fore them to experience all the joys of being parents like we have. We love you guys and can't wait to meet Kynedi.

Well, I'm off for now. I hope that summer has been and will continue to be enjoyable for all of you fans. Hope to see you at the races.

Shannon

 

5 . 4 . 10

The week leading up to our race in Jackson, MN was a good one.

Joey continued with therapy and he is now finished with it. The therapists were very shocked and pleased with Joey's quick improvement. He did work hard to get where he is and it has paid off. His hand will most likely never be what it once was but he is able to use it and race with it which is all he could really ask for. I think more time will help it to feel better just like anything.

My week was busy like usual running Reece to school and back home. We worked in the trailer getting it cleaned and organized for the next weekend of selling and we also started getting flowers to plant. I live for this time of year and I start getting the planting bug in March so when the end of April and first of May roll around I can't hardly contain myself.

Joey, Reece and Lucas Wolfe went out to the quarter midget track so Reece could practice. I chose not to go as I knew many hours would be spent there and I was right. They were there for four hours and Reece made 151 laps. Joey came home all smiles with how well Reece did and how quickly he is picking up on it. Joey said Reece improved every time he went out on the track. These are words that I'm not sure I was ready to hear...lol. Reece had so much fun that he wanted to got back out there the next day. He didn't get to because his car had some work to be done to it. I'm sure he will practice several times the upcoming week. His first race was supposed to be Mother's Day but we just found out that there is no race now on that day. We are not sure when he will finally get to race because of Joey's schedule but hopefully sometime soon. Joey doesn't want Reece racing without him there and I'm thankful because I couldn't bear the thought of Reece racing without his daddy there, at least for the first few times.

On Thursday I went to the Dr. for an extensive ultra sound and everything looks good and healthy with the baby. We were very relieved to receive this news. Reece received his bit of great news too when he got his wish...he is going to have a baby brother. The excitement in him when I told him was precious and so exciting for me. He has wanted a brother for three years now and now it is going to happen. We have been blessed. I still think that God has a sense of humor...I'm surrounded by boys including our dog. I just pray that I won't have my own little race team as my heart and nerves could never take it!

Now on to the racing at Jackson. We made the ten hour drive on Friday afternoon and arrived at Jackson on Saturday a.m. I opened the trailer at 4 p.m. and was steadily busy until I closed the door at 12:30 a.m. I was so beat when I finally closed. This ol' pregnant girl is going to have a long summer...lol.

I want to thank all the Jackson fans as I must have been told by 20 fans "thank you for coming to Jackson." I was so impressed by how appreciative all the great fans were for the WoO to make the trip up there. Joey said he had a lot of people thank him as well. I just think that is so cool. We really appreciate all the great diehard fans coming out and support us.

Joey started out the night strong. He qualified 7th, won his heat, won the dash and started on the pole of the feature. Joey took the lead on the start and lead the first 17 or 18 laps and had the field covered with nearly a straight away lead when a car flipped. When the car flipped a piece of debris hit Joey's car and he ran over it. Joey punctured his tire and that cost him the race. On the restart he fell back to fourth and finally his tire blew. The tire had gone flat on the red flag so his great night ended with a 12th place finish because he was able to get back out and go to the tail. The finish wasn't great but it could have been worse. Another frustrating night with a flat tire. I can't even imagine how many wins and great finishes flat tires have cost him throughout the last few years.....SOOOOO FRUSTRATING!!!!!

We drove straight home and arrived around 11 a.m. Sunday. It was an exhausting trip but it was nice to get home to Reece who had stayed with his grandparents and his cousin.

This week will be busy getting ready for Eldora. I hope that Lady Luck will be on Joey's side and he can have two successful nights of racing.

Time to go for now. I hope you all have a great week!!! I'll be back after the weekend.

Thank you~Shannon

 

4 . 26 . 10

I have to tell you that I had my Pevely blog all but finished when I lost it because I've been having computer problems. So, I got really frustrated and had to walk away from the computer before I broke it a million pieces...lol. I was so upset about it because I had spent an hour or more blogging. Darn technology is great when it works and when it doesn't it is frustrating.

Here I am four days later and I'm trying this again.

Reece and I had a busy weekend the weekend of Pevely. Reece had a soccer game on Friday night and Saturday morning and then we left with my friend Anita to ride with her to Pevely which was a 4 1/2 hr. drive. BTW Reece played to AWESOME games as he scored three goals on Friday and six on Saturday and he was quick to tell his daddy that 3
+ 6 = 9 and that is good luck and he thought that would help his daddy win that night not to mention Reece is his good luck charm. Reece is so funny about the # 9. A lot of things revolve around that number for him.

After a long but funny at times drive we arrived at Pevely and Reece was so happy because Kylie and Brayden McMahan were in the t-shirt trailer and he was ready to play and entertain them which is just what he did. Reece always has a lot to talk about and share with Kylie and Brayden and it is always funny to hear later from Jan or the kids what Reece had said or did throughout the evening.

Jan and I enjoyed ourselves and of course we chatted it up a lot. We visited with several friends and fans that stopped by to visit us at the trailer. I enjoyed that a lot. Jan and I always laugh a lot.

The racing for Joey was good this night as he qualified fifth and he ran fifth in the heat. Wish he could have run first or second in the heat so he could have made the dash but it didn't happen that way. So, come feature time Joey started thirteenth. I was just hoping he could get into the top five realistically and as soon as the race started he started picking cars off while mainly running the bottom. All of the sudden he was up to fourth and I was thinking he may win this thing yet. With some a red and some yellows he took advantage of some restarts and continued to use the bottom. He took the lead and was able to win from thirteenth. Maybe Reece was on to something with his # 9 and being Joey's good luck charm. It was very exciting for us especially because of Joey's broken hand which is still causing him pain when he races.

Reece, Kylie and I ran down to the front stretch to greet Joey but when we got there I could see he was in a lot of pain. I felt terrible for him. I know he was hurting bad and couldn't even enjoy what he had just accomplished. I also felt sorry the the team as they were super happy and they suddenly lost their smiles as they realized how Joey was feeling.

Although this night was tough for Joey physically I'm so proud of him for racing so hard through the pain to win. I know that Pevely is a very physical track that you are turning a lot and this really aggravated his hand but he sucked it up and did a great job. People may say negative things about Joey like they do all drivers because that is how racing goes but one thing that can't say is that he doesn't dig deep and give his all. He impressed me this night even if he is my husband. If people know me they know I don't usually cut Joey much slack I tend to be harder on him because he is my husband but I had to give him props this night.

The drive home was long but Joey got us there at 6 a.m. He said his hand hurt to bad to try to sleep so we just kept driving. He did well with it throughout the week and had three days of therapy. Time is the biggest thing he needs to heal him completely.

Haubstadt rained out this past Saturday which was a bummer but for Joey's hand it was probably a good thing. This will give him a few weeks off of racing and time to rest it. He is doing therapy twice this week and then next week he will have an X-Ray to see how things look.

Jackson, MN is this Saturday and I'm not looking forward the drive up there for one race but it is usually a good place to race and sell and the fans up there are super. It is always worth it when you get to visit with great fans.

Well, it's Monday a.m. and I must be getting Reece ready for school. Hope this week is good to all of you and hopefully my next blog will report another great weekend for Joey and KKR.

Take care~Shannon

 

4 . 20 . 10

I had every intention of writing a blog before now but the last few weeks or should I say month have been crazy in our home and I just have not been able to sit down long enough to write. Sorry for this.

I have had a lot of great fans asking me how Joey is doing with his hand and I am thankful to them for showing their concern.

Joey's first race back was a couple of weeks ago at Pocola, OK. The race itself was frustrating to watch and there was a lot of controversy involved with it that I won't go into because I will only get angry so I will just choose to keep my mouth shut. You know the saying if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. So this is what I choose to do. I just trust that races like this won't happen again. I do want to apologize to all the fans that were there and left disappointed. It was a long and confusing night and we certainly appreciate all those who endured it. Without all the great fans we can't race and Joey and I recognize this. So, thanks to all the fans that support Joey and WoO through the good, the bad and the ugly.

In regards to Joey's hand. He raced pretty well with it through the night but he paid the price for it after the races. He had discomfort and swelling which is to be expected but he did what he needed to do. He got back to therapy when we returned home and he will continue to do so until the therapists cannot see him anymore. I'm very proud of him for racing through all the pain and for not giving up. It's hard to see him in pain and I just want to take it away from him.

The best part of going to Pocola for me was that I got to see two friends (Michal and Monica Martian) who used to be my neighbors and they moved away to Tulsa area last May. They drove the three hours to come and see Joey race and hang out with me in the t-shirt trailer. I loved seeing them. We had some laughs and we enjoyed spending some time together. They were so helpful to me. I wish they could come to all of the races because I hardly had to lift a finger. They were naturals at selling merchandise. Thanks Michal and Monica for coming all that way and for all the help. I miss you and the kids so much and I sure hope I can see you all again soon!

After the long weekend we made it home safely and were glad to get back home because we had left Reece with my mom because he couldn't have missed school or his first soccer game. He was sad he couldn't go to the races but he will be able to go very soon as school will be out for summer break soon.

Joey's dad is doing better since his surgery but he will be starting chemo again soon and he is not looking forward to it. We are all very hopeful that it will go by quickly and without any bad side affects for him. He is such a strong man and we are ready to see him back to his old self.

With all the bad things that have gone on in our family the last month or so I'm thrilled to share some very exciting news with the world. After being told that we could not have anymore children due to some health problems that I have had the last three years we have recently found out that we are expecting a little MIRACLE Baby. What a wonderful time to receive this news!!!! God totally made this happen and of course he always knows what he is doing. We are very happy, surprised and every other wonderful emotion one can feel. Reece is over the moon happy as he has wanted a sibling (particularly a brother) for three years. He will be a wonderful big brother and I can't wait for this baby to arrive. My expected due date is at the end of September so this summer should be an interesting one as I continue to work in the trailer.

Well, this is it for now. I will blog about Paducah and Pevely very soon. Hope all is well with all of you followers.

Thank you for reading~Shannon

 

3 . 29 . 10

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the fans, friends and family who have called, emailed and text showing support of Joey and Big Joe. We have found out who real friends are and we are thankful and pleasantly surprised by many we have heard from.

I wanted to share with you how this past week went for Joey and his father. It was not one that we want to experience again anytime soon if ever again.

Joey underwent surgery on his left hand after a hard crash at Bulls Gap. Joey went in Friday morning and had surgery and did quite well with it. The surgeon informed us that instead of one break in his hand he actually found a second near his wrist that was not seen on the X-Ray. So, Joey had ten screws and one plate placed in his hand and he will start therapy on Tuesday a.m.

I'm pleasantly surprised how well Joey is feeling not to say that he didn't have some pain and discomfort but for the most part he is managing quite well and we feel he will recover fast. We are hoping that the therapy won't be too uncomfortable but I fear it will be unpleasant for him. I sure wish I could take the pain from him and take it on myself but that just isn't possible.

Joey is planning on returning to racing on April 10 when the WoO race again. As much as we wish this accident would not have happened it couldn't have happened at a better time because it gives him a few weeks to recoup from the injury. With every day he should feel better. I won't deny for selfish reasons I wouldn't be disappointed if the race in Oklahoma rained out just so he could have another week to recover from the surgery. So, I'll be doing a little rain dance leading up to that day....lol.
In regards to Joey's father Joe, he had surgery on Tuesday and it went well. He was supposed to go home this past Saturday but unfortunately he took a bad turn on Friday and had some discomfort and set back so he is still in the hospital. We are hoping that he will get through this quickly so he can go home and recover there. It's certainly been a hard journey for Joe but he is the strongest man I know and he has a strong faith in God so we all know he will get over yet another bump in the road.

I will keep you all posted on both Joey and Joe. Again, thank you soooo much for the support and prayers. Our entire family is appreciative.

Thanks~Shannon

3 . 21 . 10

My blog this week isn't my normal drawn out one. Some of you may be happy about that and for those of you are disappointed I apologize.

I am really tired and emotionally spent after this weekend. It was my first race this year and it was a busy one in the apparel trailer. I had many laughs with my buddy Jan although we didn't get to spend as much time together as we would have liked to. We will have many more races to do that though and I'm looking forward to that.

Joey had a great night on Friday capturing his second win of the 2010 season and extending his points lead. It was a great night for the KKR teams as Joey won, Paul McMahan and Brad Sweet had great finishes. Kasey set a new track record but unfortunately spun in the feature while running well.

Kasey and Budweiser sponsored the races this weekend and it was a success. The crowd was great and I was happy for Kasey and Budweiser. It's so AWESOME that Kasey gives so much back to the sport of winged sprint car racing. There is no other car owner out there that is more passionate and giving than Kasey. Joey and our family are not only fortunate to have him in our lives but sprint car racing is too. Thanks Kasey for the the wonderful opportunities that you give us. We are so blessed.

While Brad Sweet and Paul McMahan had good finishes again on Saturday that would not be farther than the case for Joey. Tim Kaeding had crashed I believe in turn four and when that happened the field of course checked up and stopped but Joey was on the back stretch and was unaware that the red was out because he couldn' t see the light. We are not sure if the red was thrown in time but several people have said that the red was not thrown soon enough. Who knows but because of this Joey ended up crashing hard on the back stretch due to chain reaction of cars checking up and Joey was on the outside of Greg Wilson when he went over Greg's right rear and hit the wall hard.

Joey walked away from the crash but I later received a call from him when I was up in my trailer trying to get closed up that he was at the hospital and his hand was broken. Talk about a blow to the gut. I couldn't believe it!

I'm thankful to have great friends that helped me with getting the trailer closed up so I could get to the hospital. I don't know what I would do without the Paul and Jan McMahan. They came to the rescue. Paul got my trailer hooked up to the motor home while Jan drove me to the hospital to be with Joey. When we got there Joey was being released.

His left hand is broken and he is wearing a cast but he has to see a surgeon and thanks to Rick Long our motor builder who contacted a well known hand surgeon in Indy he will hopefully be taken care of and will be mend quickly. We sure hope so because he certainly doesn't want to miss any races. The good news is that he has three weeks off of racing so hopefully that will help with the healing process. I'll keep you posted on how things go.

This is going to be a rough week for the Saldana's not only because of Joey's hand situation but Joey's father Joe is having surgery on Tuesday to proceed with removing a cancerous tumor. He has been battling cancer since November and we are praying that he will do great with the surgery and he will get that much closer to being cancer free. Your prayers are certainly appreciated.

Well, I need to get going. I will keep everyone posted on everything going on in our lives.

Thank you for reading and thanks so much to everyone who has sent us messages, texts and phone calls showing your concern for Joey and Joe. We really are so LUCKY!

God Bless~Shannon

 

3 . 14 . 10

First let me start by saying Happy Birthday to Joey (March 14). Hard to believe you are almost 40!!! I know you are driving home right now so not too exciting of a Birthday but at least you will be home soon after three weeks of being on the road.

This week wasn't the best week I've had, just had a lot of different things going on but that's how life goes...gotta roll with the punches.

I will say that I did enjoy a few really nice days of warm weather and sunshine and that allowed for Reece, Bandit and I to get outside and get in some exercise instead of the old treadmill. We also worked in the yard and I loved that. I cannot wait for Spring to officially get here so that life is restored to the flowers, trees and grass. I love Spring, it's the best time of the year.
Joey had a not so good trip from California to Texas as he broke a turbo on the motor home and had to be towed 50 miles. Fortunately, Freightliner was quick about fixing the problem so that Joey and Bonzai could get back on the road. Thanks Bonz for helping Joey we all appreciate it.

Joey did arrive safe and sound in Texas and picked Jan McMahan up at the airport so she could help me sell at both the Texas races. Thanks Jan for your help. I know you didn't have as much fun since I wasn't there...lol. We will be able to work and laugh together at Bulls Gap though. I'm really looking forward to it too.

Now on to the racing results. On Friday night the team had to make a motor change before the night began and unfortunately the motor that was put in was causing problems too. Joey qualified seventeenth which really stunk because he missed the inversion. I knew he would have his work cut out for him. Joey transferred out of the heat finishing fifth. Obviously, he didn't qualify for the dash so he would have to start seventeenth in the A.

I was listening on Dirtvision as always and on the first lap of the feature I lost the sound and for the first eighteen laps I couldn't hear a thing so I was very surprised when finally the sound came back on and Joey was running fourth. I was like woooohoooo he is doing great! I received a few texts from folks at the races and they were saying Joey was flying and driving his butt off and that I would be proud. Well, I sure was as he did finish third in the feature. The most impressive part to me was that Joey raced all night with a motor that was blowing oil and not running up to par. I know Joey and the team were pleased with the finish but I also know they are probably thinking what would have happened if the motor would have been running great like normal. Oh well, I'll take a third place finish and be thankful for it. Consistency is the key and so far they have been consistent.

After another late night of driving Joey arrived in Houston at 5 a.m. I cannot believe how little sleep he has had these last five days. I know he will be beat when he is home this week. At least Bulls Gap is a two day show and it's not a 20 or 30 hour drive like these others have been.

The racing started out a little better for Joey on Saturday as he qualified fourth, finished fourth in his heat and was able to run the dash. Joey started third in the dash and finished one spot better in second. So, come feature time he started outside front row. On the start of the feature Joey's motor wouldn't take off and he fell back to third. He said he could feel that his motor was blowing from the beginning and by the end of the forty lap feature he was not running on all cylinders. Joey did manage to salvage a fourth place finish with a lot of luck, which is so refreshing because he like so many drivers through the years has had his share of bad luck. I know he and the team were disappointed but I am thrilled that he finished fourth because he could have easily finished twenty-fourth. Either Joey had a little early Birthday luck or maybe this is the season that Lady Luck is on his side (I hope this is the case).

So, although the team had some motor issues which will get taken care of they had two good nights and they held on to their points lead. It is waaaayyyy early in the season but you gotta get what you can get when you can and run with it. I'm confident that Joey and the KKR Team will continue to charge forward and they won't give up. Great job guys and keep it up...this is your year!!!!

Well, I better get going. I need to get working on a Birthday dinner for Joey. He's been driving all night and says he will continue to until he gets home this afternoon sometime. Hopefully, he will want to eat and not go straight to sleep but I doubt Reece will let that happen. He is very excited for daddy to get home and I'm sure he will not let him out of his sight until he himself goes to sleep tonight.

We will have a nice week together and then we will head to Bulls Gap. I'm really looking forward to going to a race and especially there. I love Bulls Gap, it's a great high banked track which I totally prefer. Kasey is promoting the race so hopefully his two teams will represent well. If you are planning on going to Bulls Gap please stop by and say hello. Jan McMahan and I will be there working and providing lots of laughs. We have the best time together. I've been looking forward to this for weeks.

Hope you all enjoy your week. Thanks for reading my blog and I'll be back after next weekend. Keep your eyes on the merchandise page of joeysaldana.com as Joey's new merchandise should be on there soon!

BTW if you didn't catch Kasey's house/shop on CMT Cribs log on to cmt.com and watch it. It's pretty cool. Kasey's shop is something to see.

Adios for now~Shannon

3 . 7 . 10

This weekend was very busy for the Saldana family. While Joey was off racing in California, Reece and I were spending hours at Reece's wrestling meets.

Reece wanted to wrestle in two week intramural program as he did last year. I have to say that I love watching my son play and compete in sports because I'm such a sport lover and always have been. I was very much a tom boy growing up and I always enjoyed competing in sports so it is only natural to enjoy watching Reece do the same.

However, I learned that there is a big difference in a game and a meet. The difference to me is that a game means that it is mostly a team sport and meet means more one on one competition. The good part being that when you do well it's all you and you are so happy and proud but when you lose you are the only loser and it hurts and no one else (team mate) shares the disappointment with you (except for the heartbroken mother and grandparent). When you win or lose a game the team wins and loses together.

So, I have to wonder sometimes why a person would want to do such an individual sport like wrestling but I know that it truly can be rewarding. Just like racing even though you need an entire team to make it work and to succeed and win. The driver is ultimately the one who has to make the right choices on the track and put himself in the position to win the race and it can be truly hard for a driver to deal mentally when they don't win or if they make bad choices. It can be so hard for that driver to get over a bad night of racing. But, when they win it is the ultimate feeling of accomplishment. I can really see the similarity in racing and wrestling. That is probably why so many racers were wrestlers at some point in their life including Joey. Racers/Wrestlers are true competitors and I really respect what they do.

OK, sorry there I go getting carried away with my dumb thoughts.

Back to our weekend. During Reece's first meet he won both his matches and his team won overall. He was so proud (as were Joey and I). He had finished 2nd last year with his team so he bettered his position. I was so nervous watching him wrestle and I can't help wanting to jump out of my seat and help him. Reece was amazing as he wrestled and I just couldn't believe how serious and competitive he was because he is just so easy going an your typical little silly six year old until he steps on the mat and then it's like watch out!

On Saturday Reece had a Bracket Tournament and he won his first match and it was a good match. Reece then moved on to the championship round and he so badly wanted to win The Rocky Belt as he calls it. He had told me in the a.m. that he really wanted to win it for his Daddy. I almost cried...such a sweet boy.

Well, Reece had to wrestle an awesome little club wrestler who wrestles all year and I knew it was going to be ugly. I watched in horror for the longest three (one minute) periods that seemed to last an hour. Reece was trying so hard and never gave up which made me so proud but the little boy really put a beating on Reece. I couldn't believe the moves the kid used but his dad is a coach and he has been wrestling for years I'm sure. Reece wrestles six times a year...lol. Not a real fair match up but I think in the end Reece will be better because of it. When the match was over Reece limped off the mat with a headache from the slam to the mat, a bloody knee and twisted ankle. I still can't stop picturing it in my mind. I felt so helpless and I cannot believe I let my little boy endure that...what kind of mom am I? Needless to say we made a trip to Dairy Queen because ice cream makes everything better. A dose of advil and Reece was feeling better but still disappointed.

After the the craziness of the wrestling matches we went home and got ready to listen to the races on Dirtvision. Unfortuantely the time difference is three hours so it makes for late nights.

On Friday night Joey had a good night as he started off the night right by qualifying third and won his heat. He started 5th in the dash and finished sixth in it. Joey would start sixth in the feature and acutally ran in that position for most of the race. I started to think he might finish there but then a yellow came out which helped him to restart in fifth and then on the restart he got right up to third and then passed Haud for second. Joey would then run Meyers down for the lead and it seemed he might have a chance to pass him but Joey wasn't able to get it done. He finished second for the third time this season which is pretty darn good and consistent. I know Joey was disappointed because he felt like he should have been more aggressive but he will beat himself up even if he wins a race so that doesn't surprise me.

On Saturday night Joey qualified sixth and won his heat again. Another good start and Joey finally got a good draw for the dash and he started outside of the front row. He finished second so that meant he would start outside front row of the feature. Joey grabbed the lead on the crazy start and was able to lead every lap. He was super fast lapping up to eighth place I think. It was a great night for Joey/KKR. It is nice for the team to get their first win of the WoO season, Joey's 60th career WoO victory and take the points lead. The bests part of the victory was that Joey dedicated it to Reece. He said "This is for my son because he got beat in a wrestling match today and he is pretty down, hopefully this will put a smile on his face."

Well, when Reece woke up this a.m. and I told him about his daddy he went crazy and suddenly the defeat of his wrestling match was no longer in his memory. Glad Joey got the win for Reece because he really needed a good cheering up.

The teams will be heading to Texas to race this coming up weekend. I wish Reece and I could go because Reece seems to be Joey's good luck charm there but school is more important. We will be listening and cheering from home and hoping for another Texas Two Step.

I hope everyone enjoys the long and TMI blog. I'm just trying to let you inside our lives a bit and besides this is good therapy for me.

Until next weekend, Adios.

Shannon

3 . 2 . 10

Well, after a few weeks off of racing which seems like an eternity for any race the third race of the WoO season has been completed and it was an interesting night for Joey.

After qualifying ninth and winning his heat it seemed like it was a good start to the evening. Joey qualified for the dash which is always a good thing. The six (inversion) pill was drawn which didn't help Joey so he would have to start eighth in the dash. Joey was able to better his finish by two positions so this meant he would start sixth in the feature.

Feature time rolled around and Joey got a great start going from sixth to third at the start but unfortunately as I was listening on Dirtvision I hear Johnny Gibson say that the #9 of Joey Saldana has a caved in sideboard on his top wing...I was like oh no this is not good! I don't want to seem like a whiner but I really truly am over having random crazy things happen that usually end of costing Joey in the end. The strange thing is that Joey had made no contact with anyone or anything so I'm not really sure why the wing was damaged but it definitely was. I also received a text from my friend Steven (#1 T-Shirt Seller) that Joey's wing was caved in and he thought Joey would have a hard time driving it.

I was immediately thinking negatively knowing that as Joey raced that the wing would most likely get worse and the car would become harder to turn. Then suddenly Joey passed his team mate Brad Sweet for second and then Schatz for the lead and I was then thinking well maybe he will be alright. The yellow then came out and on the restart Joey chose the outside lane and that put Donny on the pole. Donny took off and resumed the lead and then Joey started to fall back farther.

Well, my fears were coming true. The wing was getting worse and worse and Joey was just doing his best to hold on and finish the best he could. He did end up finishing sixth which is a good finish with the WoO but it is so frustrating to think he had taken the lead because he had a really fast car and he was driving hard only to have it taken away because of something out of his control. It definitely could have been worse and he could have finished even farther back or not have finished at all so we will chalk this up as a lucky night.

I'm so thankful that the races are on Dirtvision so that I can listen from home but I'm getting old and the three hour time difference is hard to deal with. I had dozed off after the B main and then jumped up and scared myself thinking did I miss it? Then I was relieved to hear Johnny Gibson's voice reading off the A main line up. It didn't take long to wake up after the race started and then like always when the race is over and I've talked to Joey and I can then go to sleep there is no chance of it. I lay awake every time and before you know it is 3 a.m.

I am happy to report that Steven did well selling for me at the USAC and WoO race in our new trailer. He of course had to change things around to make it a better working space for him...lol but I expected that. Just kidding ya Steven as always I couldn't do it without you and I'm so thankful for your great friendship to Joey and me and for your trust worthiness.

The guys have a week off before they race Tulare, CA this coming up weekend and I so wish Joey could fly home during this time but it isn't possible. Reece is wrestling and has a tournament Thursday and Saturday and he really would like for his daddy to be here for it. Reece told me today that you know mommy I got my wrestling skills from daddy (Joey used to wrestle) and I said I know because you sure didn't get them from me...lol not that I couldn't or wouldn't take someone down. (For those of you who know me know I'm super competitive and I can't back down on a challenge).

As this week is filled with wrestling practice and meets it will fly by which helps us pass the time while Joey is gone.

A little update on Big Joe for those of you who have called, emailed, prayed and expressed your concerns for him. He has been scheduled for surgery on March 23 so if you could continue to pray for him our family would certainly appreciate it. He is looking and feeling better aside from finding out that he has three blood clots that he is having to take care of. We pray that the clots will go away and that he can get through surgery and continue his road to recovery. Our family has strong faith in the Lord and we know that God will take care of Joe and he will be back at the races watching his son who is so supportive of.

I'll get going now. Thanks for reading and enjoy the new site. Thanks to Sean Cain for doing an AWESOME job on the site!

God Bless ~ Shannon

 

2 . 16 . 10

The racing season has begun and Joey is very happy about that. He flew down to Charlotte and then drove down to Florida with the Team.

On Wednesday and Thursday night Joey raced the All Star races and started off strong. Qualifying on Wednesday wasn't great as he qualified 13th but he had a strong finish in the heat and started 8th in the A to finish 2nd in the feature. He had a fast car.

On Thursday Joey qualified 2nd which was much better. Joey started 6th in his heat and won it. I knew this was going to be a good night after this. Joey started 5th in the Feature and raced an awesome race to win it. This was a special win for him because he was able to dedicate to his father who is battling cancer and has been going through a very difficult time. When I told his father over the phone he was touched and it meant a lot to him.

Friday night was unfortunately washed out so the teams would have to wait until Saturday for the first World of Outlaw race of the season.

When Saturday night rolled around the weather was clear and it was time to get the season underway. Joey started out by qualifying 2nd which would put him in the 4th starting position in the second heat. He won his heat which qualified him for the dash but he would have been in it anyway as long as he would have transferred out of his heat because of his qualifying time. It's always better to finish first or second in the heat though.

Now the WoO have a new format now and one of the things that has changed is the pill draw. Instead of each driver in the dash drawing a pill for a starting position. There are only three pills that be be drawn for an inversion in the start of the dash. 4, 6 or 8 pills can be drawn and of course tonight the 8 pill was drawn so Joey had to start 7th in the dash and didn't gain any positions in it so he would start 7th in the feature. Joey got a good start and raced his way up to 2nd in the feature. It was a great finish and great start to the WoO season.

On Sunday, the final night of racing at Volusia Joey qualified bad timing in at 16th quick. Luckily, Joey was the last car in the inversion so he started on the pole of the fourth heat. He won the heat and started 10th in the dash and would finish 8th in it. Joey then started 8th in the feature and finished 2nd again in the feature. Another great finish especially since Joey has had to start back a ways on these nights. He definitely had a fast car when feature time rolled around and that is very encouraging for the races to come.

There are some interesting changes in the format with The WoO and it could make for some interesting racing this season especially the double file restarts. I'm not sure if I really like it yet but time will tell. I would say it will help drivers on some nights and hurt them on other nights. Hopefully the fans will enjoy it.

I do want to let everyone know in case you are not aware that Cody Darrah (Joey's team mate) who was to be driving the KKR 91 Great Clips car for the entire WoO season was injured in a automobile accident while down in Florida. He and his father Joe were both injured. Joe was released from the hospital and we are glad for that but we are very sorry that Cody was severely injured when he shattered his leg and he will undergo several surgeries. Cody will be out for a very long time while he recovers from this terrible injury. Our thoughts and prayers are with him during this difficult time and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Well, that's it for now as I am crazy busy getting Joey's new shirts ordered and things ready for him to leave for Las Vegas. Please keep you eyes posted on the site in the next few weeks as I will get the new designs on the Joey's site.

Thanks to everyone for reading and hope to see you at the races.

Shannon

 

1 . 29 . 10

It's a new year and with that brings new possibilities, new challenges and GREAT EXPECTATIONS!

Our off season has been great. We have spent a lot of family time together for the first time in many years and I'm really thankful for it.

The holidays were wonderful and we enjoyed a fun and relaxing vacation in Florida. We spent time on the beach collecting sea shells, playing in the sand and swimming. The weather wasn't as warm as we would have liked it to be but it sure beat cold Indiana. We are looking forward to another trip next winter break.

A big part of our time this winter was spent going to Indianapolis Colts games. I'm a little obsessed with the Colts but it's so much fun to go cheer on my team. Last weekend Joey, Kasey, Brad Sweet and I went to the Colts AFC Championship game and we had an incredible time. We saw a great game and of course the Colts won. So, now it's on to The Super Bowl and I'm really hoping to go but if I can't I will sure be supporting from back here in Indiana. It could be loud and crazy at my house on Super Bowl Sunday between the game and watching Joey race on Dirtvision.com. GO JOEY and GO COLTS!

Joey is more than ready to get back to racing. He has enjoyed his time off but I can tell he is anxious to get back to his office and get after it.

In less than a week he will be back to work and hopefully he and the KKR Team will start off where they finished last season and that is winning races.

I have an unbelievable feeling for this new season. I think with each year the KKR Team and Joey get better and better. I really think that 2010 will be the best year yet. I know time will tell and before we know it the season will be coming to an end and when it ends in November I think the KKR Team will be celebrating.

On another note, I wanted to thank all who have shared their thoughts and prayers for Joey's dad (Joe). It has been very touching to hear from people and receive emails. He is having a tough time but he is getting closer to being cancer free. We know God has wonderful plans for Joe and he will be healed.

I will blog about the outcome in Florida. I won't be able to go but I will be watching on Dirtvision.com. I'm already getting butterflies...let the racing stress begin.

Thanks for your continued support of Joey/KKR.

Go Joey Go.

1 . 1 . 10

I hope this blog finds you all happy and healthy this New Year. It is hard to believe that the holidays have come and gone and we are quickly approaching another race season. Our off time is going by quickly like always but we have been enjoying our time together as a family. I'll fill you all in on what we have done these past few months.

Reece has been enjoying school and continues to do well. He also has been playing basketball for our local youth league. Reece seems to like any kind of sport that he can participate in and he certainly plays with his heart. We really didn't think he would like basketball so much because he definitely doesn't have height and size on his side but he played hard and never gave up. He scored several baskets and had some mean defense. We laughed so hard at all of his games because when he was guarding a player he was serious. His expression cracked us up. He never let being one of the little guys on the team affect him. We are proud of his determination and good sportsmanship...but I think we have a super competitive boy who loves to win!

Joey did go to New Zealand for a weekend to race for Ron Salter and although it was a short trip it was sweet as he won 23rd feature of 2009. In regards to racing this season it has been an incredible ride and one that will always be special to Joey and our family.

Reece and I spent Thanksgiving with my family and Joey's family and of course I ate and ate and ate! Reece not so much because he is so picky and has more important things to do with his time than eat. Unfortunately, Joey was in New Zealand during Thanksgiving but it was a good trade off to have him home for Christmas.

We spent the next month doing normal things. I've been trying to help out my grandmother by taking her to doctor's appointments. Her health is failing and my heart is breaking seeing her health deteriorate. I know that this is a part of life and it is tough but it is something that many people have to deal with. I do love my grandmother and just don't want to see her suffer and have the simple things in life (that we take for granted) taken away from her.

It seems that the end of 2009 would prove to be a trying time and test of faith for the Saldana family as we just found out that Joey's father AKA "Little Joe" Saldana has been diagnosed with cancer. He has just begun chemo and radiation and will undergo this treatment for many weeks before undergoing surgery and then months of treatment after the surgery. There is no doubt this will be a hard time for Joe and all of us who love him but we are faithful to God and know that he will help and heal him and he will back to his normal hard working self very soon. I would like to thank all of our friends and fans who have shared their good thoughts and prayers for Joe and I hope that you will continue to pray for him.

Although we were saddened because of the news about Joey's father we were still thankful (even more so now) that we were able to celebrate Christmas together. It was truly special this year for so many reasons and one of them was because Joey was home after racing overseas for the past seven years which means he has not been home for Christmas since we have had Reece. I know Joey loved seeing the excitement in Reece during the weeks leading up to Christmas and especially Christmas morning. We had a wonderful day and Santa was very good to all of us.

Reece was so fortunate to get most everything he wanted including a huge #9 Budweiser RC Car that has his own name on it. Santa's elves worked very hard to make that happen. Now, Reece did not get the Peyton Manning signed Colts football that he wanted. He told me just days before Christmas that he wanted this and I said "I will tell daddy" and he said "you don't need to tell him because he can't get it but Santa, well now he can make it happen." I was laughing so hard inside but couldn't let him know it. I didn't really know how to handle this situation so I just told him "well honey I don't think Santa is a Colt's fan so it probably won't happen." He wasn't too disappointed when he didn't get it but I sure would love to get one for me oh I mean him.

Oh, I have to give Reece and my mom a big thank you for giving me a great Colt's Birthday cake for my Birthday which I celebrated on Christmas Eve. I'm not a big one for big Birthday celebrations but it was a nice surprise and I didn't see it coming. Reece was very proud of the cake and I loved seeing how happy he was to give it to me.

We enjoyed our weekend and of course went to the Colts/Jets game and well just let me say I really can't talk about it! We were so mad and I can't believe I'm going to say this but in hind sight we should have sold our tickets for that game because we stayed home an extra day for the game before heading down to Florida for our first NON RACING family vacation.

On Monday morning we left a cold Indianapolis and headed south to Captiva Island, FL. Although the weather was not as hot the entire week like we would have liked we did have two really warm days and soaked up the sun. We spent most of those days on the beach collecting sea shells, playing football and digging in the sand. Even on the other days we walked the beach and around the village. What a great time together. We will have to make it a family tradition.

Now that the new year has begun we will start to get ready for the new racing season. Joey will be heading to Charlotte on Monday to test a midget and then the following week he will race Chili Bowl and before we know it he will be back down in Florida racing with the WoO. I know he is ready to get racing and he is looking forward to the 2010 season.

Our family would like to wish all of you a very BLESSED AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. Let's hope that 2010 will bring many wonderful changes in this crazy world we are living in today.

Thank you and God Bless~Shannon

11 . 9 . 09

Well it has been months since I've last blogged and I have sure heard about it. I'm sorry for the lack of effort on my part these last few months.

I had told myself I would do a better job of keeping up with my blog but didn't seem to keep that promise. So, I will try to get up to speed here and do a better job from this day forward.

I have to say that when I don't go to the races it is much harder to blog because I'm just so caught up with my life at home and doing things with and for Reece. Time seems to fly by so fast and the activities that Reece has been involved in since we came home after Knoxville have kept me hopping. It seems like we no sooner wake up in the morning then it's time to lay our heads back down on our pillows for the night.

Life has certainly been enjoyable all year and especially these last few months. Racing has been incredible for Joey and the KKR Team as they have won an awesome number of races. We just finished up in Charlotte for the season and Joey/KKR won The World Finals Race on Saturday night. It would make it their 21st World of Outlaw race of the season which puts them in an elite group of drivers/teams. What an AWESOME accomplishment and honor to be on the list of the drivers which include Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Dough Wolfgang and Mark Kinser. Not bad company at all!

I'm super proud of the effort that Joey and the Team have put forth and the hard work that they have shown. It has been four years of dedication to each other and believing in one another and they have done great things. I know they will continue to strive for even bigger and better things and they will achieve them...without a doubt.

I would like to thank Kasey for giving Joey and our family the most wonderful opportunity. Kasey is the most supportive car owner who not only gives Joey the best equipment but keeps Joey pumped up and believing in himself. More importantly Kasey is a dear friend and we are so thankful for his friendship.

Willie Kahne has been a huge part in the success that the #9 has had for the last four years. Without his hard work and vision the success just would not be there. Willie definitely has not gotten the credit and respect that he deserves from a lot of people in the Sprint Car World but I want him to know that Joey (our family) and all who are involved with KKR respect and appreciate what he has done for the team and for Joey. He is often misunderstood but he is so dedicated to making the race car faster and better and it does not go unrecognized. Willie you are a wonderful friend and we (especially Reece) love you. BTW your Factory Kahne Shocks rock it buddy and I really would appreciate a hot pink shock...lol.

Kale Kahne, there is a lot to be said about this great guy. Kale has a super big heart although he tries to act like a tough guy he's just a big teddy bear. Kale works so hard not only on the car but driving up and down the highway. I'm always amazed how he can just keep driving and driving. You have really made Joey step up to the plate to keep up with you this year in the motor home and let me tell you it's not always easy. Joey has a few years on you but there is no way you are gonna show him up...lol. Kale is always there for us. He is always taking care of us and handling things for us and quite honestly I don't know how we would ever make it without him. Kale is a great friend as well and we love you dearly that goes for Reecey as well. I will miss your awesome cooking over the winter my friend. I would love it if you could just make a trip to Indy for me and whip up something tasty to eat. I will even go buy some better cooking utensils for you.

Kolten Gouse has been a part of the team now for several years and it has been great to see him grow up. When he first started he was so quite and kind of shy. Wow how things have changed. Kolten is a hard working kid who busts his tail every day to make sure things are clean and organized and he can certainly groove some tires. Kolten is one of Joey's biggest cheerleaders and we are appreciative of that. Thanks Kolten for your hard work and your friendship. We look forward to next season and spending time with you and enjoying listening to your crazy adventures that God knows you will probably be on over the winter. Be careful what ever you do and enjoy your time off the road.

As for us now we are looking forward to getting home and enjoying some family time. Reece is loving school and doing very well. He just got a Rock Star Award from his Principal that he is very proud of and so are we. He's a great kid with a big heart.

Reece just finished up his first flag football season and I'm proud to say he won the Super bowl as well as the Pro Bowl game. He even scored!! That cost daddy $100 which Joey had promised that is until Reece made a deal instead of $ he wanted a Bow and Arrow. I'm thinking it may have been cheaper to just pay him the money since we spent more than that at Dicks Sporting Goods. So worth it though and now Reece is ready for some deer hunting...lol. I think he will just stick to target shooting and that's OK but it sure is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I am seeing the Ridenour (my maiden name) come out in him. I just know my Dad is watching down over Reece and he is so proud of the little outdoors man Reece is becoming.

We will be spending the next several Saturday afternoons at Reece's basketball games, which he is loving. We will also be enjoying our Colts Seasons tickets together as a family. Joey has only been able to go to one game so far so we are looking forward to going and tail gating. Life continues to be good and blessed for us and we are thankful.

I have to thank Joey for making my life so blessed not only with his racing because I do love our racing life but for being such a good husband and father to our son. I know people don't always get Joey and they may perceive him wrong but I know that real man that he is and I'm so very proud to call him my husband. He truly loves his family and certainly has his priorities in order. He knows at the end of the day that all the racing and success that he has doesn't mean anything without the love of your family. He is a good person. We just celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on Nov. 8 and we have shared 22 years together and I have no regrets. I'm looking forward to many many more years with Joey and I thankful for the all that we have already shared.

I hope that all of you will enjoy your families and your times together especially during the Holidays. We need to be thankful for our blessings and appreciate one another. We should also remember our troops who are defending our freedoms daily so we can live our lives and enjoy our freedoms and go to our Sprint Car Races.

Happy Holidays to all ~ Shannon Saldana

 

9 . 10 . 09

Monday after the Nationals was a new beginning for my family. Joey continued on to the next race and Reece and I had to get used to being home again. It was a big day for Reece as he started Kindergarten at a new school. I was nervous for him (like every mommy) because he would be going to a different school than he did the previous years for pre-school. Reece didn't seem to be worried about it he was just more concerned that he wouldn't be able to be on the road with his daddy. That broke my heart.

I knew at this point it was going to be a tough few months until the race season was over and I wasn't looking forward to having my little guy so upset and then having to upset Joey because he knew Reece's heart was hurting.

I will be the first to tell anyone how blessed we are. We have our health, a roof over our head, food on the table and Joey has an awesome ride with Kasey Kahne Racing and I would never want that to change, but I will be honest it is times like this that make you think wow, this really sucks. There is no sugar coating it. Racing is such a tough life when you have a family at home. I know that family life is put on the back burner but it has to be that way with the schedule and competitiveness of it. Now that doesn't mean that racers don't love their families of course but they have to be dedicated and completely focused for atleast 10 months of the year. It's a sacrifice and I think if fans realize that when you see a driver win it is so much more than just a win. They work so hard on the track, driving to the track and sacrificing the precious time with their families and that is when they win it makes them feel like it's worth it.

So, as Reece gets into his school routine and I try to keep him busy doing fun things we will hope that Joey will continue to win and run strong and most importantly stay safe racing and hurry home to us.

One of the fun things Reece is doing right now for the first time is playing flag football. He had always played soccer and he wanted to try something new. I was totally supportive of that because I love football. Reece has really been enjoying it, it's so different for him but he's playing well. He's very focused on doing his best and he's a fast little guy. He cracks me up and he is so much fun to watch but I'm a little nervous and kind of wish he was wearing pads or bubble wrap or something. He's banged skulls with a few little boys a time or too and that scares me. I just hope he continues to enjoy it and I want him to be able to do all the things that most kids get to do.

I'll continue to share our lives journeys with you and hopefully you will get some laughs from it but more importantly you will realize if you don't already how important family really is. There is nothing better than the joy and the support you get from family.

I'll be back with more to update you on how Joey has been racing but for now I need to get Reece ready for bed as tomorrow is a school day.

Thanks for reading~Shannon

9 . 3 . 09

Surprise I'm back, better late than never I suppose. I'm gonna have to fast forward a bit because I've just allowed myself to get too far behind to write and probably remember.

We have had a very busy couple of months and it seems like we've been everywhere. We have had some really fun times this summer racing and traveling and of course our typical drama that usually happens with us when we are traveling.

The racing was kind of not so good for us for a few weeks but then it took a turn for the better and Joey started running strong again and he started picking up some more wins!

The Iron Man race at I-55 was a big night for the Joey and the Team. They won it and it was a pretty exciting night, luck was even on his side because he won it with a hole in his tire. Had there been a yellow flag towards the end it would have been over for him. I must say he wasn't too excited about the trophy girl or should I say guy but I sure didn't mind getting my picture taken with a body builder.

My friend Mandy was again a huge help to me at Pevely. She is such a good friend and this was going to be our last weekend that we really got to spend any time together because she would be flying home after Knoxville. Thank you Mandy for your friendship and for all of your help throughout the summer. We had a lot of laughs and I will miss you.

After a great night there we headed to Knoxville and it was a fun week there. It's always a busy week with the trailer and four nights of racing but it is fun. We arrived there on Sunday and watched it rain that night but we enjoyed relaxing in the motor home and spending time with friends Julie and Steven.

Joey raced Oskaloosa on Monday night and Reece and I drove over to watch with my friend Jennifer and her kids. We got to see the heat races and then it poured down rain. We decided to leave because it was going to be a really late night and we didn't want to keep the kids out that late with the four late nights at Knoxville we would have to deal with. We didn't get out of there without a little excitement though...lol. We got stuck in her car in the middle of the pits so we got to put on a little show for everyone... it was so funny. When the race finally did run Joey finished second. It was a good night considering the track the was so fast and heavy from the rain. It was a finish where you started kind of race.

Tuesday was a fun day for Reece and I because we went with our friends The Hergott's and Jennifer and her kids to a great water park in Pella. We had a blast sliding on the slides and enjoying the lazy river. Of course Reece had to give us at least once scare when he fell off his tube in the lazy river and was going under and couldn't fight the wave maker in it. Heidi, Jake and I jumped off our tubes to save him. Geez that boy of mine makes my heart stop! He was fine just a little startled. He hoped right back on and back after it he went again.

As much as we looked forward to the week we did receive some bad news on Wednesday regarding Joey's grandmother. She was diagnosed with cancer and she would not be coming to Knoxville. She had not missed the Nationals since Joey has been racing so that was hard on the entire family for her to not be there especially since she lives in Lincoln, NE and we don't get to see her very often. Thankfully she has had surgery since then and she is doing well. We are hopeful that the doctors got all the cancer and we will continue to pray for her healing and good health. We know she will be at Knoxville to watch Joey race next year.

On Thursday I had a funny plan to surprise Steven who works so hard for me in my t-shirt trailer. I arranged for several friends to wear a shirt with his picture printed on it and it said The Steven Gomez Fan Club. All of us wearing the shirts walked up to the trailer while he was working and surprised him. It was a priceless moment. Our big joke between the two of us is that I could sell shirts with him on them because he knows so many people so I decided to make them...lol. We had a great laugh over it and now there are so many more people who want one of the shirts. It was and continues to be hilarious.

Seriously though I don't know what I would do without the help of Steven, Julie, Mandy, my niece Jessie and her friend Brianna. They all helped me get through the week and it was a good week and they made it possible for me to spend more time with Reece and Joey. Thanks to all of them.

Joey had a great qualifying night on Thursday. He qualified second, finished fourth in his heat and finished third in the feature and he was second in points overall because of all the points he accumulated throughout the night. When Friday night rolled around Joey was able to run the A scramble and he ran well in it. He also ran the Kele World Challenge race and was really coming up through the field after having to start back in the lineup when he got a flat tire. Oh well better in that race than in the big one.

Saturday arrived and we were looking forward to a good night. We had a busy day selling in the trailer and we are grateful to the fans for the support!

As excited as we were for the race I couldn't help to feel sad because I knew that Reece and I would have to leave on Sunday to head home because Reece had to start school. I was really looking forward to going home and getting back into my routine but I just hate us being away from Joey. This is the tough part of racing, it's not so family friendly when school starts back up.

I really want to thank our friends the Brewer's who invited Steven, Julie, Mandy, Reece and myself up to their suite to watch the races. The Brewer's are very nice people who live in Indiana and they have been super good to us. They have a suite at Lucas Oil Stadium as well and I've been fortunate enough to enjoy several Colt's games there. Thanks Brewer's for a fun time at Knoxville. I'm actually shocked that I was able to get through a few nights of racing at Knoxville without being in the pits. That was huge for me, I'm thinking all the laughs were good calming medicine for me.

Unfortunately, the rain began to fall very hard on Saturday night and the race had to be rescheduled for Sunday night. This was not good news for all of the fans and us. There was no way that Reece and I could stay for Sunday night because he had to start school on Monday. Mother Nature certainly wasn't our friend on this night.

We said our goodbyes to the Brewers because they had to head home as well. We also had to say goodbye to Mandy because I wouldn't see her again before she left. I hate goodbyes and it was a sad way to end the soggy night.

Reece and I spent our last night with Joey and were sad knowing that we wouldn't see Joey for quite a long time. We slept the night away and when we woke up we said our goodbyes and jumped in my brother and sister-in-laws motor home to head home. It was going to be a long drive home. Reece actually had a lot of fun because he got to play with his cousins so that made it easier for him.

We headed home and all went well that was until we made it about six miles from home. As were were almost to our exit off of the interstate we heard a loud noise. Well, guess what??? We blew a right rear on the motor home. Can you believe that? We pulled over and when we got out we could see all the damage to the motor home that the tire caused. It broke through the side bay and it ripped the line off of the propane tank. We were very lucky something worse didn't happen. I called the emergency number in the manual as Jim managed to get us safely off of the road.

We were able to get some help from Jim's mom and our aunt. They came to pick us up and poor Jim had to wait a few hours for someone to come change the tire. I felt so bad for him. At least it happened close to home though.

Once we finally got home and got unloaded with all of our bags. We turned on the computer so we could listen to the race. My mom, Reece and I hung out in the kitchen listening until Reece got too nervous and went to his room and turned it up loud so he couldn't hear the race...lol. My mom and I took turns pacing the house and even going outside and making laps on my driveway. We are truly nuts.

Joey was leading the Knoxville Nationals for the first 34 laps and I couldn't help but think to myself well if the race had been 30 laps like it always has that he would have won, but that was not to be. With six laps to go Joey got passed by Schatz and Joey was doing all that he could to hold on to second. He finished second again...not a bad finish at all and something to be proud of but not what we all wanted.

Joey's car had been really good and he was rolling around the track perfectly for those 34 laps but suddenly things changed and his car started handling bad. He had seen something fly by him and when the race was over he realized what it was. The sideboard on his nose wing flew off and when that happened his car suddenly became hard to drive. What a freak thing but it is what it is. I've gotten used to freak things happening to him or the car...lol.

Sometimes you just have to accept that things are not meant to be at that time and this was another one of those times. I know that if that had not happened to his car he would have won his first Knoxville Nationals. In God's time it will happen for him I know that. I also think that maybe because of how everything played out with his grandmother not being there and Reece and myself having to go home that maybe it just wasn't the year. We would all want to be there to see him win it and celebrate and he would have wanted us there too so he could share it with us.

So, another Nationals is over and not much time to think about it because Joey would have another race in North Dakota a few days later.

I'll be back soon to get you all up to speed on that race and the others that followed.

Thanks for your patience and sorry to those who have been calling me, emailing me and texting me asking me if something is wrong. I'm back now and will do a better job of blogging.

Thanks and talk to you all soon~Shannon

 

8 . 24 . 09

Well, I'm finally writing another blog after a month of nothing and it's not like there hasn't been anything to tell you. I apologize but I've just been too darn busy to sit down and type and remember all that goes on (to, from and during a race). I really need to make notes so I remember all of the funny things, not so funny things and all the stuff in between.

I truly cannot believe that I have not blogged since King's Royal, wow this summer has flown by. It finally hit me when fans started asking me at the races what's going on with the blogs and I've received emails asking the same thing. I certainly do not mean to disappoint anyone so please forgive me as I will try to do a better job keeping you up to date on our crazy life.

Since I'm so far behind I will probably won't mention every race that we've been to since the last blog but I will do my best.

After King's Royal we came home for a couple of days and then left for Lernerville. I always like racing at Lernerville, it's a very nice track and it usually provides us with some really good racing. Of course whenever we go there it tends to rain and of course it did. We did get the race in the next night.

Now, the WoO was going to have two twin 25 lap races this night to make it interesting and different for the fans. I guess it was OK but in my opinion it took away from the prestige of winning the Don Martin Memorial. Who really cares what I think...lol????

Anyway, the first part of the night wasn't good for Joey. He qualified 32nd..ouch. He did transfer out of his heat which made it a little better. He ended up finishing 14th in the A. In the second feature they inverted the field so he would start closer to the front instead of last or close to last. He did end up being pretty good in the second feature actually had a shot of finishing 2nd but lap car issue I believe cost him and he ended up fifth.

Time to get on the turnpike and head to the Grove. We actually went to Hanover, PA and parked at Justin's grandparents house and shop so the guys could work on the car there. Justin's Nan and Pop are wonderful people and they are so kind to us. It's like going to Grandma's house for Reece. He can run and play in their backyard and have tons of fun.

Jennifer (Justin's wife and my friend) and her kids Kiera and Keilan were there as well and so we went to Hershey Park for the afternoon and what an awesome time we had. We went to Chocolate World and ate tons of chocolate and delicious desserts. We also rode on the rides until it rained and caused the park to have to shut down. That was a bummer but that just meant we had to go back to Chocolate World and eat more chocolate. It was a great day of fun and I can't wait until we get to do it again. I really don't know who enjoyed it more....the kids or us mommy's.

Back to racing the next day at the Grove, unfortunately it wasn't too fun, I would rather have gone back to Hershey Park...lol. Joey had a horrible night as the team tried some different things. Joey had to take a provisional that night and I couldn't even tell you where he finished. As bad as it was the first night the next night was a different story as Joey was going to start on the pole of the dash. The rain came again so they didn't get to run the dash, the B or the A so they will run it the next time we are there in September. I'm hoping it will be a great night!!!

I have to tell you On Saturday we held an auction for The WoO Benevolent fund at the Grove and it was a lot of fun. Diane Schatz, Julie Dollansky, Patty Haudenschild, Robyn Meyers, Mandy Pittman, Cyndi Craft and myself worked on getting it set up with the great help of some really nice help from the Caterpillar guys. Some of the drivers were there to enjoy the food and the auction. It was a descent turn out of people and the folks that were there were very generous and we are grateful to them for supporting our drivers. BTW we now own a Jason Meyers helmet for Joey's helmet collection...thanks Joey for getting off of your wallet for a great cause. ( I know just how tight he can be with his money...lol).

I have to give a big shout out to the Bus Boys from Buffalo New York...they were a great group of guys who bought I think every side board off of every car that donated one. I enjoyed chatting with these guys and look forward to seeing them again. It's folks like this that make being on the road so worth it. I'll be downloading a pic of them for the site. Thanks guys from myself and Joey (AKA The Joey The Tickle...this was their nickname for Joey).

It was a long late drive up to New York and it was pouring on us the entire way. Once we got there the next day we didn't have much down time before we had to open up the trailer. It was an OK night of racing. This track is a tough one to pass on because it gets so slick so you really want to start up front to really have a shot at winning. Joey ran 6th and so off we went and this time we would be heading to Canada.

I'll blog some more about that very soon. I need to get to bed now. Don't worry I won't wait another month before I finish.

Thanks for your patience~Shannon

7 . 23 . 09

Hard to believe that King’s Royal is already here again, where does the time go? It seems like every season goes by faster and faster and it scares me a little bit. I’m watching my son grow up way too fast and our lives are flying by. It really is true when your parents say it goes by faster as you get older. We must truly live every moment and take it all in.

On Saturday morning the weather was looking not so good and of course as Steven was trying to open up to start selling it started to rain. He stuck it out and then it stopped only to rain again. Finally, the rain went away and we were able to have some descent weather. It was crazy how cool both days were for this weekend’s racing which was totally great for hoodie sales. I’m sure most people enjoyed the cooler temps compared to the normal high heat for this time of year especially during this weekend of racing.

We had another busy day of selling and Steven, Gabrielle, Kevin (AKA Dozer) and Mandy helped me out so much, thanks to them again. If I didn’t have their help I would have had one really long day and poor Reece would have been going nuts.

As the racing started I began to get more nervous like I always do. I was just hoping for some luck especially after the year before when Joey had been so fast and leading when he blew a tire, it was a heart breaker.

Since Joey had not qualified good the night before I was really hoping for a good qualifying run for the King’s Royal because it is especially important because of how the format is run. Joey did end up qualifying good at thirteenth which would put him on the outside front row of the first heat. The first and second place finishers in the heats qualify for the dash and you really want to win your heat because that will put you in the top six starting positions of the dash. Joey won the first heat so he had to start sixth in the dash.

I was so happy about this because I had complete faith he could do well. After starting sixth in the dash he finished third but not after a hard battle for second with Dale Blaney, it was an intense few laps between those two and Joey ended up slamming the wall on the back stretch causing a lot of damage to his car but fortunately he still finished third. The team would have to thrash to change a front axle and rear end before the feature.

It would have been great to start outside front row of the feature but that was not going to be the case for Joey this year and besides I’ve seen him win the race from the ninth starting position. So, going into the feature I thought he’s got a great shot to win another King’s Royal.

Unfortunately before one lap was completed Joey hit the wall going into turn three when he got tight and couldn’t turn the car. I thought to myself well this really sucks…lol. He was OK but physically but I knew he was going to be not such a happy camper. Reece was the one who was really broken hearted. He didn’t handle it so well and I had to console him for awhile. I’m trying to teach Reece that this is life and you can’t always win or get what you want but it’s not the end of the world. It’s so hard to make a child understand when sometimes I don’t even understand it, but I’m going to keep trying to teach him one of life’s lessons.

The race itself was good for a few laps between Schatz, Blaney and Hafertepe and that made it exciting to watch. I was very happy for Hafertepe and it was great to see have such a strong run and finish third.
When the race was over we sold some more and then finally closed up shop for the night so we could drive home for a two day stay before we would have to leave for Lernerville.

I was sad because Steven and Gabrielle were flying home on Sunday and I wasn’t ready for them to leave. I’ll be seeing Steven again at Nationals but as for Gabrielle I won’t be able to see until next year unless I make a trip to Chico this year. Who knows if I will be able to do that with Reece starting school.

I want both Steven and Gabrielle to know I appreciate all their time they spent in the trailer it meant so much to me. I’m also thankful to Dozer and Mandy who jumped in to help me as well. I have great friends and feel so blessed.

The two days at home went by super fast as always and I of course had lots to do before we left again. There’s just never enough hours in a day. I had to get my inventory done so I could order more shirts to be sent to Williams Grove which was a good thing.

Even though the racing wasn’t great for us I had a fun weekend with my friends and I enjoyed seeing and chatting with the fans. Wouldn’t trade our life for anything.

I will say after getting home on Sunday I saw a boy fishing in Joey’s dad’s pond and he is there from time to time fishing with his father. He is disabled in a wheelchair and I can’t even imagine what he goes through in his life. It was just another reminder to me that at the end of the day a race is just a race and there are so many other things that are important in life. We take so much for granted and don’t always stop to be thankful for the things like being able to walk. I have not doubt that God wanted me to see that boy there at that particular time. I just believe in my heart this is how God works. I heard you God loud and clear.

So, with another King’s Royal behind us and lessons learned we will go onto the next race track and try again. We will enjoy our family time together driving and taking nothing for granted.

I hope that you all will stop and reflect on your lives when things seem to be not going the way you would like them to and think about all the blessings that you have been blessed with.

Have a great day and I’ll be writing again soon.

God Bless ~ Shannon

 

7 . 18 . 09

After our not so great night at Lima we headed out and made our way to Eldora. We wanted to get there quickly because we had to get in line so that we could get our trailers inside at 8 a.m. Thursday morning. I knew there would already be a lot of vendors inside and I didn't want to be all the way at the end of the lane of t-shirt row.

I have to laugh because Patty Haudenschild and I razz each other about getting there first. Well, Patty and Jac had left Lima quite a bit earlier than we did but we caught up to them down the road. Joey and I said wouldn't it be funny if we passed them in the motor home??? I knew Patty would be cracking up if we did that especially when we would pull into the gas station to get fuel and water. We didn't do it but I told Patty the next day what we thought of doing and she said that she had told Jac to speed up so Joey didn't pass him...lol. We just crack ourselves up.

We made it to the track safely and we had a full house in our motor home. A friend named Ryan from New Zealand just flew in and he is going to be traveling with us through Knoxville. He races in New Zealand and he really wanted to experience the WoO tour. He will certainly see a lot of racing and I hope he enjoys every bit of it. He's a great guy and we will look after him so his mum and dad don't need to worry.

Steven and Gabrielle would also be staying with us too and they are always fun to hang with. They help me a lot in my trailer and I sooo appreciate that as Eldora is always a very busy place for us and we start early in the day. I'm thankful to have such great friends that I can count on and trust.

Thursday was just a hang out kind of day. We didn't' do too much just got the trailer set up and hung out. We ordered pizza from St. Henry's Bar and loved it. Thanks to Gene and Starla for that suggestion.

Friday a.m. came and Steven and GiGi opened up for me and started selling. I was able to take care of Reece and let him play so he wouldn't be stuck in the trailer all day. He set up his race track like normal between the trailer and motor home and raced while Sheldon Haudenschild watched. When the afternoon arrived I started selling and it was pretty much wide open.

I want to thank Dusty my t-shirt artist for creating a new design that just rocked it! I have never sold a shirt/hoodie so well. I had a feeling I was going to sell out and by Saturday that would be the case. It was a nice problem to have. BTW Dusty and his wife Jodi welcomed a new baby boy on Thursday and I want to congratulate them. Welcome to the world Lucas Eugene Kemp.

I thought that Eldora had a great crowd for the Friday night show and I was extremely happy with sales. Thanks to all the great fans who support Joey and who make my job fun. I'm still can't believe how many people read this blog and comment about it. My friend Steven was shocked by it and keeps teasing me about it. I don't think he believed me when I told him about the comments I receive...lol.

The racing wasn't what we were hoping for but that's the way it goes. Joey didn't time in well at all. He qualified 27th but ran third in his heat. He started 23rd in the feature and was racing forward. Joey was coming up to pass Haud for 12th when Haud blew a tire and hit the wall and Joey couldn't avoid hitting him. Joey broke his wing and popped his right rear and had to go back to the tail. Wrong place wrong time but he was OK and so was Haud. Joey came back up to finish 13th. I think he would have been OK and would have had a good finish had this not have happened but that was not the case.

I was hoping for a better night for King's Royal. I'll get back to you on that.

Back at ya soon~Shannon

 

7 . 17 . 09

I don't even know where to begin with the blog this time because I'm so behind. I apologize but I have been really busy the last couple of weeks and just haven't had time to hardly turn my computer on except to do Internet orders.

The last time I blogged was after Joey won at Burlington, IA. After we left there we drove to Madison, WI for a couple of days before we raced at Beaver Dam. I wish I could say we did something fun like went to Wisconsin Dells, but I can't and I won't go into to that too much because I've already given Joey a hard time about it (several times).

The afternoon before I opened up to sell at Beaver Dam, Reece and I went to a local park with my friend Camisha and her step daughter Taylor. We had a wonderful time feeding the ducks and the kids had fun playing. It was a nice little break away from the track. I want to thank Camisha for inviting us to go to the park and for including Reece in your evening at the races. It was a great time for him.

The racing that night was good for Joey. He was 6th quick, 1st in his heat, 3rd in the dash and he finished 2nd in the A. It was a good points night.

After the races we drove to Cedar Lake, WI. It was another late night of driving to get there. My friend Mandy had come back to stay with us for a few days and I was glad to have her help again and her company.

Reece was not feeling good after the night at Beaver Dam so that made it a bit harder on us but fortunately he didn't stay too sick for too long. A stop at the Dairy Queen put a smile on his face and mine too.

Joey qualified 6th, ran fourth in his heat, finished 6th in the dash and ran 3rd in the A. He was pretty good again and the consistency is what he needs.

After the race we all loaded up and drove all the way home. It was over an eight hour drive, and it stunk! I don't know how but Joey drove all the way home as Mandy stayed awake most of the time with him. I tried to sleep for a few hours but really didn't manage to do so. Now Reece certainly did sleep and I'm glad for that.

After finally arriving home Monday morning I started in on all my errands and bill paying and so on. I had shirts to pick up for King's Royal and I was really wanting to get everything done so we could enjoy some time off before we left on Wednesday a.m. The best part of being home was on Tuesday night when Kale grilled out for us at our house and we played Rock Band II. (We bought it for Reece for his Birthday and gave to him early). It was hilarious to watch Reece singing and drumming and jamming. Willie killed it on the guitar, Kale on drums and Mandy singing as well. What a fun game!!!! I imagine that Reece and I will be playing it a lot when Joey is gone racing and no one else is around to hear me sing...lol.

After a fun evening everyone left and we went to bed so we could get up and get going in the a.m. to head to Lima.

We left for Lima and had an easy drive. I was really looking forward to going there because our friends Steven and his niece Gabrielle were going to be there. They flew in from California to watch the races and help me sell. They are great people and we have a lot of fun!

The racing started out good for Joey as he set quick time and a new track record. In his heat he finished 4th. He started 10th in the dash and finished 8th in it. In the feature he got going pretty good getting up to fifth when suddenly a big piece of mud hit the side board of his top wing and bowed it out. He then started backing it up. His car was getting really tight and hard to drive and then he spun out. He went to the tail but with it being so tight he couldn't really do much. Then a read came out and so he went to the work area and the guys tried hammering out the side board. When he came back out he had to go to the tail of course. He did end up finishing 14th which isn't great but better than last. Bummer for Joey and the team. Just have to move on to the next race.

We will have a day off before we race at Eldora so I will let you known how that goes. Before I go I want to thank a friend Mark for bringing me some awesome pork jerky...it was delicious! In fact so delicious that Joey finished it off for me darn it.

 

7 . 10 . 09

I was so miserable on our drive to Burlington, IA on Wednesday. My allergies have been bothering me a lot lately and usually when that happens I get a terrible sinus infection. I couldn't hardly function and the last thing I really wanted to do was go to the racetrack. Duty calls though.

I tried to rest the best I could as we drove and I loaded up on sinus medicine. I hate taking medicine because it always make me feel like medicine head. I had a hard time getting motivated to open the trailer but I finally did. It was a nice night of selling and chatting with the fans as always. I have to apologize to a few customers that I seemed a little dingy to. I promise it was the medicine. The good news was that my head pain started to subside.

I enjoyed visiting with friend Brandi who is out visiting her boyfriend who works on Jason Meyers car. She made me laugh and offered to help and I appreciated that.

I have been working on my inventory and getting things ready for the big week of the King's Royal. I always start stressing about how much to order to the point that I lose sleep. I truly need some chill pills I think. I'm so obsessive about things it's annoying to me and others I'm sure.

Reece enjoyed playing with Selina and Savannah in the trailer. I'm so thankful that they take time to play with him. He does entertain himself so well but it is always nice to see him laughing and playing with other kids.

I never even walked up to see the track on this night. I just didn't feel that great and I was nervous for some reason. I get that way and it's just best that I don't watch.

Another friend of mine named Kim Stewart and her husband Greg and their son Austin stopped by to visit. They are really nice people and they were telling me that Austin just got a quarter midget. He's going to start racing but first he has to learn how to build it and learn what the parts do and so on. I think that is awesome! He will be such a better racer for learning these things. I'm going to have to get his autograph because he will be a big time racer some day.

Kim offered to take Reece up to watch the feature and I was like oh he would love that. So, when feature time rolled around Reece grabbed his goggles and ran out of the trailer before I could even say do you want to go...lol. Thanks Kim and Greg for letting Reece sit with you, I appreciate it.

Joey had qualified 7th and ran second in his heat. He drew a one again for the dash but this time Reece didn't draw it for him. He won the dash and then I knew for sure I wouldn't be able to watch the feature. I get more nervous when he starts on the front row.

From what I was told by the fans and from Kim the feature was awesome. Joey and Donny had a great battle going on and thankfully Joey won the feature. Kim took Reece down to the front stretch because he had to get his confetti (which he informed me later that there was a new kind of confetti). I had to ask the fans as they were leaving who won because I didn't know. I had tried to listen on dirtvision but it was quite delayed so it was still playing after the race was actually over.

I was really busy selling after the feature and that was very good. The fans were pretty excited about the race and couldn't believe I didn't go watch. If only they knew me...lol.

When Reece came back to the trailer he came running in and told me what happened almost play by play. He's so into this racing thing...so funny to hear his take on the race.

Joey was a happy guy when he walked in. I'm so proud of his/Team effort. It was especially cool because Kasey was there to see it.

Joey has now won twelve WoO races this season and he is now tied with The Wild Child for ninth in all time WoO wins. I'm sooo happy for his accomplishments. I know I'm partial but I have been with Joey for twenty plus years and I know how hard he has worked towards this and I know how dedicated he is to his racing and he is deserving of his success. God is good and he is looking out for Joey.

We will have a couple of days off before we race Beaver Dam, WI but we won't be going home. Hoping to go swimming or something during those days. We will see what we find to do.

I will blog about this weekend's racing and hopefully it won't be too long before I do so. I know I'm going to be so busy when I get home on Monday but I will try to do it on my way home.

Have a good day to all.

Shannon

 

7 . 7 . 09

I had a great few days at home even though I was busy like normal trying to catch up on paying bills, running errands and doing internet orders and visiting my family.

On Monday night I stayed up until 4:30 a.m. working so that I could try to get caught up so that I could be sure and take Reece to do some fun things and visit his cousin. We did go to the carnival and had a fun evening there riding rides and playing games. Reece won four fish but I had to convince him that we could not keep them because we were not home enough to take care of them. Besides we had already had four fish die in a year's time so I didn't want that to happen again. So, we took them over to his cousin Riley's and put them in his little pond he has with other fish. The fish will enjoy their lives much better living there. Thanks to my brother-in-law for helping me out on that one.

On Wednesday we had a good day and I was looking forward to that evening when I was going to hang out with my girlfriends from school. We have a card club that gets together once a month to play euchre, Texas hold em or just hang out and laugh and lean on one another. I haven't been able to go for at least three months because of racing so I was very happy to be able to go. There are usually nine of us but this time there were only six of girls. As much as we missed three of the girls we had a good night just talking and playing Bunco. I really needed that girl time. I love my friends and I treasure that we have been friends since we were little girls and we continue to be good friends. I wish I could spend more time with them but all of our lives get crazy but we all understand that and when we do get together we don't skip a beat. We share a lot of laughs and tears together. Can't wait until next time girls.

We left on Thursday afternoon for Sioux Falls, SD. We didn't drive all the way there so we had to get up and drive the rest of the way Friday a.m. When we arrived we knew there probably wouldn't be a race that night due to rain. That was the case. What a bummer. The fans were disappointed and so were we. That track is usually very racy and the stands are always packed.

I did manage to open up my trailer for fifteen minutes and got swarmed. I am thankful to the fans for supporting us it was totally worth opening the door.

My friend Mandy drove from Minneapolis to help me for the weekend. I felt bad she made the trip all the way there for it to rain. She was going to follow us in her rental car.

We followed the team to Outback to eat a nice dinner. It was a nice evening with everyone even though we all really wanted to be racing.

After dinner we drove to Nebraska and the weather was horrible. It was storming so bad and by the time we made it to the track poor Mandy was shaking. She didn't enjoy driving through that bad stuff and she really wanted to stop but she didn't know where she was going. I'm sorry to her for having to deal with that. Kale and Joey were not phased by the weather which is no shocker to me...lol. They just keep on trucking.

Saturday was a quiet morning and afternoon until it was time to head into the track. I was looking forward to racing at Eagle. It's usually a great race but tonight would be different because they had four inches of rain. Not a lot you can do about that but at least we were going to be able to race.

I got to see Joey's grandma and our friends the Breslow's , Beerenstrauch's and the Hergott's. Thanks to Brent and Buffy for delivering some merchandise to me, I really appreciated that. Thanks also for letting Reece hang with you and play with Kane, Jake and Bailey and watch the races. The big mud ball that the boys made and decorated with eyes, nose and cape now officially named Super Mud Man is now our new mascot in the trailer.

The racing wasn't really exciting just because of the fact that the track was so fast. There was not a lot of passing all night. The 360 feature was especially rough. There were I believe four red flags and one person even had to be taken to the hospital by helicopter. I felt bad for all those drivers and pray that they are all doing OK.

Joey qualified eighth and won his heat on this night. When it came time to draw for the dash kids from the stands got to draw for the drivers. Well, when it came time for Joey to draw our son Reece drew for him and he was so excited to do so. He closed his eyes and reached in to draw the pill and he drew the ONE. Joey said Reece's expression was priceless when he saw what he drew. Reece truly is our little good luck charm.

Reece came flying in the trailer yelling guess what mommy guess what???? I said what and he told me how he drew the one and he showed me how he did it with his eyes closed. He's so animated and dramatic...that is definitely me coming out in him. He just cracks me up.

Joey ran second in the dash which I thought might be a good thing but when feature time came Joey didn't get the lead on the start so he was running second and then Sammy passed him for second. Joey just didn't have a good handling car and no matter how hard he drove it he couldn't make anything happen to get the win. It was definitely a hard track to pass on unless a driver made a mistake or had problems with a lap car. It was a disappointing finish after starting on the front row but third is respectable. Joey did feel bad for letting Reece down after he pulled the ONE for him but Reecey was not too upset with dad.

After the feature I went back to the trailer to sell some more and Reece went with our friends down to the pits. Mandy left to head back to Minneapolis and she will meet back up with us in Wisconsin.

We drove to Phil Durst's place again and parked and we planned to stay there until Wednesday morning. While in town for those few days I wanted to do some fun things again with Reece.

Sunday night we went over to our friend's house (Heidi and Jeff Hergott) and had a cook out, fireworks and enjoyed one my other favorite things to eat, Smores. It was great evening. We played baseball and Reece loved playing with his buddies Jake, Bailey and Kane for hours. It was so wonderful to be able to enjoy the Holiday weekend this way.

Now I know that we all should be grateful for our freedoms on 4th of July and I am myself, but this particular day I felt especially thankful. Our friend Jeff Hergott who cooked all the wonderful food we ate and set off the fireworks and allowed Reece to help him had served a year in Afghanistan a couple of years ago. He served our country and sacrificed for us. I know this was incredibly hard for his wife and two sons at home. Everyone was so thankful when he returned home safely. His story like so many others soldiers and their families makes my times of sadness and missing Joey when he is gone racing for a long stretch seem so selfish. I have thought that so many times but I really truly felt it on this night. It was just a true blessing to be spending this special holiday with Jeff and his family. Thanks Jeff and to all of our soldiers who have and who continue to fight for our freedom. We are truly blessed.

Monday was another good day for Reece and I as we went to see Ice Age with Buffy and her kids and Heidi's kids. We loved the movie and enjoyed the popcorn and candy. When the movie was over we said our goodbyes to everyone and headed back to the motor home. We spent one more day in Lincoln and spent some time with Joey's grandma.

I'm glad we stayed in Lincoln for these few days, it was a great time and I'm looking forward to going back there. I'll miss our family and friends until the next time.

I'll let you know how things go at our next race which is Wednesday night in Burlington, IA.

Hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July Holiday and you stopped to think about what it truly means.

Shannon

 

6 .30 . 09

Nothing too exciting about today in Knoxville. We woke up to another hot day but not as bad as Cameron.

We got our trailer dropped and then we grabbled some lunch and then stayed inside the motor home for as long as we could. We watched the Dodge City race on Speed.

I did some work around the motor home and that was it until it was time to go to the trailer. Nothing too exciting.

As I was opening up the trailer to start selling a friend named Nadine brought over some brownies for Reece and I. I didn't waste any time eating mine but I had to save Reece's for him because he wasn't there yet. Thanks Nadine for the yummies and thanks for taking food down to the team. I know they appreciated it.

It was busy but I was missing Reece and looking forward to him arriving at the races. I felt lost without him for the day and a half that he had been with grandma/grandpa. He came running in the trailer and I got a big squeeze from him and that felt so good. Nice to know he missed me too...lol. He handed me a cup and a jar and I asked him what's in these. He just giggled and got all excited. Well, the cup had a lid on it and when I took it off I cringed. It had dead bugs and snake skin and other strange things. I said gross Reece and he said oh mommy I found all of these things when we were working in granny's yard...lol. The other jar had a live tiny praying mantis. He was quite proud of his bug collection even if most of them were dead.

Qualifying started and Joey timed in 8th, not bad. Joey ran third in the heat after getting a bad start when the pole sitter didn't really take off. So, he ran third, not good enough to get him into the dash. Joey started thirteenth in the feature and on the start of it he fell back quite a few cars and then passed a few cars back. He finished fourteenth. Not a good finish for Joey/Team at K'ville. Hopefully this will be the last of bad finishes for the season.

The race itself wasn't very exciting at all. Mostly track position on this night and not a lot of passing. I think Jason Sides had the best run of the night when he passed several cars to finish fifth and other than that it was boring especially after the exciting racing throughout the field on Friday night. That's the way it goes though.

We went back to the trailer and sold some more and then waited for Joey to get there so we could start driving home. Finally, he came and we headed home. Joey drove about four hours after the races and stopped really late. We got up the next day and finished the drive home and it was so nice to get home.

I love going home but I always get myself so worked up about everything I need to do to get caught up. I had laundry to do, bills to pay, flower beds that needed weeding and internet orders to do. So much to do a not a lot of time to do it so I ended up working until 4:30 a.m. I'm just trying to get caught up so I can take Reece swimming at grandma's and go visit my family during normal hours...lol.

I'll enjoy the next few days here at home before we head back out for a couple of weeks. We will race Sioux Falls, SD on Friday and Eagle, NE on Saturday. I'm looking forward to going to both of those tracks as the racing is usually good and sales are usually great! More great sprintcar fans in those parts of the country.

So, I'll be back after Friday night's race. Until then have a wonderful week.

Shannon

 

6 .28 . 09

This week was very nice as we stayed in Lincoln, NE. After getting caught up on laundry and Internet orders we had some fun.

Reece and I met up with our friends Buffy, Kane, Ellie, Jake & Bailey and we went to Chucke Cheese so the kids could play. After three hours of video games and winning tickets the kids picked out there toys and of course Reece and my favorite-cotton candy. As if three hours isn't enough of hyperactivity I have to give my son cotton candy, my bad but I had to have some myself. (Sorry to Jan McMahan that I ate cotton candy without you, I would have shared a little with you). It was a great day and I truly enjoyed visiting with Buffy and watching the kids laugh and have fun...that's what life's about anyway.

Reece and I also went to a local pool one day for a bit and Reece had tons of fun going down the slides and jumping off the edge of the pool. It felt so good to be in the water as it was almost 100 degrees all week. Summer is officially here!

On Thursday we went to Joey's grandma's and went to dinner at Famous Dave's Bar-B-Q. Joey's mom and Dad had come to town for a special night as Big Lil' Joe was being inducted into the Big Car Racing Association's Hall of Fame. So, they were able to go to dinner with us as well.

Joey's mom had asked if Reece could stay all night with them at grandma's house and they would bring him to Knoxville on Saturday. Of course that was just what Reece wanted to do. I know grandma was very happy to be able to spend more time with Reece so that was very nice. Besides it was going to be so hot at Cameron, MO and my trailer gets so hot so I figured it would be best if Reece didn't have to endure the heat.

Joey, Bandit and I drove to Cameron which was just a little over a two hour drive and when we got there I thought I would melt away. It was soooo hot and poor Bandit was not liking it at all. Poor little dog is jet black with thick fur. He was not digging the heat at all. I myself must have eaten seven popsicles because that's the only thing that even tasted good to eat. The popsicles would melt in about two minutes it was so hot!

The night started off kind of slow with selling but really picked up as the night went on and I had my best sales there that I've ever had there so that made suffering through the heat of the trailer worth it.

I didn't watch any of the racing until the feature like normal but tried to listen to it on dirtvision. My signal was bad so I kept losing the feed. Thanks to my friend Anita she kept me updated throughout the night.

Joey had qualified 5th qk., won his heat and ran 4th in the dash. When the feature was starting I ran up to watch and it was standing room only. They had a very large crowd in attendance. I stood down in turn one which was where all the teams were watching from. I stood by Larry Woodward (Joey used to drive for) and we chatted a bit about his health. He's doing pretty good after battling an illness and it was really good to see him looking and feeling better. Johnny Herrera drives for Larry now and Johnny was starting outside front row.

The race started and Joey and Meyers raced a bit and Joey passed him as well as McCarl who started on the pole. Joey started running down Johnny and Larry and I were making comments to each other about who needs to win and so forth. It was exciting for both of us to watch Joey and Johnny battle back and forth. I was a nervous wreck as they battled lap traffic. It was crazy and great racing.

Joey had passed Johnny and had a descent lead when a yellow came out and when they restarted Johnny got back around Joey. Joey was trying to run him down as he was hammering the cushion. It was some really exciting racing. There was a red with seven laps to go and Larry said he had to get up off of his four wheeler to watch the last seven laps. We both thought we would have heart attacks.

With all the exciting racing I had to keep turning away because I was so nervous that I was scared to watch sometimes. As the laps ran down it was getting more and more interesting and finally on the last lap coming off of turn four Joey went between the wall and Johnny and passed him for the win. I wasn't even sure who had won because I couldn't watch it. I had to ask Larry who won...lol. He gave me a hug and said congrats you did. I felt so happy but so bad for him and for Johnny. I wanted Johnny to win too, but I know there can only be one winner.

I'm very happy that Joey won and I'm happy for Johnny's good run as well. We have a longtime friendship with Johnny and we are very happy to see him racing back out here and racing so well. It was great to see two friends racing hard but clean. As nervous as I was watching the racing I never once worried that one of them would take each other out because they don't race that way and that's a cool thing.

I was bummed that Reece wasn't there to enjoy daddy's victory. He would have been so excited to see the trophy that Joey received. The trophy is taller than Joey. Reece will love it!

I ran back to my trailer and a rush of people came up to buy. Anita came in to help me and I appreciated that.

After things slowed down I closed up the trailer and Joey and I got it hooked up and drove to Knoxville.

We arrived there late or should I say early and went to bed. I was looking forward to sleeping in after a hot day and night on Friday.

I have to say that I'm quite proud of Joey as he's won his eleventh WoO race of the season and this win was his 50th All time WoO win. He is in an elite group of people. Joey is currently tenth on the list but one more win and he will be tied for ninth. If it is God's will he'll keep on winning and we will continue to be grateful.

Thanks for reading and thanks again for those of you who come up to me at the races and tell me your kind comments about reading my blog. I'll keep doing it as long as you enjoy reading it.

Be back with you after K'ville.

Shannon

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS to Kasey Kahne for winning his first road course race. We are so proud of him!!!! YEAH Kasey!!!!!

6 .22 . 09

We got on the road Sunday a.m. and drove the rest of the way to Minot, ND. Not a bad drive at all, just kind of tired from two nights of racing and working in the trailer. I'm just getting old what can I say?

Mandy opened the trailer up for me because I wasn't feeling great. I really need to see my chiropractor but that won't happen for another week so I'll have to suck it up.

The wind was fierce today and the t-shirts hanging outside were flying off the hangers and all around but that's OK it wasn't raining and it looked like it could for a while.

Sales were really good for us, our best ever there so I was so happy. I'm glad again that Mandy was there to help out.

Reece played with Delaney Meyers and Peyton and Celina in Robyn's trailer for a while. They had fun and entertained Robyn.

Joey had a good night of racing. He qualified second and ran second in his heat. Drew a one for the dash and won it. In the feature he took the lead at the start and led the most of it but he had a big problem occur. Something in the motor broke so all the oil pumped out of it and went all over him. He couldn't see because the oil covered his visor and he had to tear off all of his tear offs due to this. His hands were slipping off the wheel too (so glad I didn't know this until after he finished safely). He was smoking pretty bad. He had his hands full.

Joey got passed by Lasoski but thankfully he was able to hang in there for a second place finish. I'm so thankful he didn't crash himself or someone else and I'm glad the motor held on to finish. He was very lucky tonight for sure. I know he's frustrated because he should have won another race but he knows how fortunate he was. If it would have been last year the motor wouldn't have lasted and he would have been done, so hopefully lady luck is with us this year.

All in all the three days of racing in ND were good. Joey had a two second place finishes and one fifth place finish. Very good consistency.

After the races Mandy took Reece down to Joey and came back to help me. I got slammed again and for that I will never complain. I appreciate the patience of the fans and their support.

After we closed up the trailer Mandy left with our friend Anita to head to Minneapolis so she could visit another friend. I guess I have to share her but don't really want to...lol. Seriously though I hope she has a nice visit with her friends up there and I will look forward to seeing her at the next race she will show up which hopefully will be Knoxville next weekend.

We are going to drive a bit as we are heading back to Nebraska. We won't get there sometime late afternoon or early evening Monday. I'm really looking forward to going back there so we can visit with our family and friends.

Have a good week and I'll be back after the Cameron, MO.

Thank you~Shannon

 

6 .21 . 09

We woke up Saturday a.m. and I baked some biscuits for breakfast. My darling buddy Mandy ran to the bank for me to get some change and most importantly went to the Starbucks at the Barnes & Noble which is conveniently close to the Holiday Inn. Oh how I was craving a iced mocha....mmmmm love them.

My day started off right and we got ready. Mandy actually got ready before me so she took Reece in so he could swim. I followed shortly. Reece enjoyed about an hour of swim time and playing some games. This time the life jacket stayed on the entire time.

We headed out to the track so we could get set up to watch the race from the Friday night race at Dodge City. It was supposed to air at 3 p.m. on SPEED. Well, the truck series was on so we thought well maybe they will show it after it was over, but no. Cup practice came on after that. I gotta say that really stunk! Even the commercials were advertising the race would be on at 3 p.m. How the heck can you advertise that it will be on and then not show it? Who knows if or when it will be aired. Oh well, I was fortunate to be able to see it live but family at home didn't get to so I'm bummed for them.

I opened up and had another good night of selling. I also enjoyed visiting with fans and I loved being able to buy Fresh lemon shake ups. Thanks to Robyn Meyers for my nice cold one, I owe you one girlie.

When the racing started I was concerned because Joey qualified bad! Seventeenth, so he missed the inversion and would have to start fifth. Not that I don't have confidence that he can transfer but the track is a big fast scary track so I didn't want him to take any risky chances. Well, he pulled a great finish off. He finished second which put him in the dash. I wasn't exactly expecting that but I was pleased as I'm know he had to be.

Joey started on the pole of the dash but ran third. He struggled a bit with his car and then in the feature he finished fifth. It was just one of those nights that wasn't the most satifsying but I'm just happy for a top five especially after qualifying so bad.

Mandy and I enjoyed our time together in the trailer and Reece played all night with a friend. Reece also made some more artwork which he sold out of my display case. So precious!! He's carrying his own sharpie because he has perfected his autograph in case you may want it at the next race you attend...lol.

Well, another night over and time to head to the next track. So, we headed down the road. We drove to Bismarck, ND and slept.

I'll be back with the results and stories from Minot.

Shannon

 

6 .20 . 09

We enjoyed a few days in Nebraska this week. Phil Durst who owns Lincoln Auto Auction is a wonderful man and he lets the team stay at his business and work out of his shop. We stayed there as well and he let us use a car so we could run errands and most importantly go visit Joey's grandmother.

We spent some time with grandma and took her to dinner and then she put Joey to work. He had to clean her gutters and it was quite funny to watch. I told him it's nice to see him doing so much for her sure wish I could get him to do those things at our house...lol.

We will be going back there after this weekend of racing for three days or so and I'm looking forward to it. We will visit with grandma again and also some good friends Buffy and Heidi and their families. Joey's family is originally from Lincoln so we have good friends that live there and it makes it nice to get back there.

We headed up to Fargo on Thursday and drove all day. We hit some pretty bad storms on the way up there but had no problems. After arriving at the hotel where the guys stayed we went and had a bite to eat with Willie, Kale and my friend Anita. Enjoyed some laughs and good food and headed back to the motor home to get some sleep.

On Friday I took Reece into the hotel to swim and he had a blast! He's not the best swimmer yet so he used a life jacket in the deeper parts of the pool but we decided that we would take it off of him because the pool wasn't that deep and he thought he could swim from where the slide stops and the edge of the pool.

Well, all was good until he got a little ways from the edge of the pool and he started to panic and he started to go under and the look on his face scared me so in I jumped with my clothes on. Oh my the people in the pool area got a little show. I did have my suit on under my clothes but I didn't even have time to take off my clothes.

So, after saving Reecey I figured I may as well stay in and have some fun (after taking off my soaking wet clothes). We had a lot of fun and I loved that Reece was able to enjoy some fun time in the pool since he's always stuck in the apparel trailer or the motor home.

Two hours later we went to the motor home to get ready to leave for Grand Forks. After arriving there my friend Mandy met up with us again and thank goodness she did because we had a busy night of selling and I don't think I could have done it by myself. She also took Reece in to watch the races and that made him a very happy boy.

Joey really enjoys racing the tracks in North Dakota and he's had success there so it is always nice to go there. The fans are very supportive up there as well and I appreciate them keeping me busy in the trailer. I especially love it when the Canadian fans stop by and entertain me, they always make me smile. A few guys taught me some new words for our beanies and other things. I was quite entertained.

Racing went well tonight. Joey qualified eleventh, ran second in his heat and seventh in the dash. He then started seventh in the feature and was ripping around his preferred line (the top). I noticed when there would be long green flag runs he would get better and better but if a yellow came out it would take him a few laps to get going again. He had some good racing going on with guys. I was just hoping for a top five finish but after some continuous green flag laps he started passing guys and passed Steve Kinser for second coming for the checkered flag. It was a great finish and a great night all together. If only there had been more green flag laps he probably could have won it but not the case so I'll take a 2nd. Gotta be consistent.

When Joey came back to the motor home I asked why it took so long to get going and he said he run a harder tire than other guys and it took a few laps to get it working. I figured something was going on so now I know. It was over now and on to the next race in Fargo.

I got slammed with sales after the good run and I'm glad for that. Mandy came back to help out after she delivered Reece to the front stretch so he could be with daddy and the guys.

After things slowed down we closed up and headed back to Fargo. We arrived safely back at the hotel and got some sleep. Reece had big plans to swim again that day so we needed some rest.

I'll be back with updates from races at Fargo.

Thank you ~ Shannon

 

6 .14 . 09

After getting to bed so late all three of us slept in. It was nice to sleep in again. I figured since I didn't have to open the trailer early there wasn't a real good reason to get going early.

I made some lunch and then opened the trailer around 5:00 p.m. I enjoyed visiting with Patty Haudenschild as we kept each other company by yelling back and forth to each other because we were parked directly across from each other. A little while after I opened up fans starting filtering through for about an hour so we did make some good sales. It is a shame that the fans were so limited on their time to shop around all of the trailers.

I met some really nice fans and we had some local Budweiser employees from the local Distributor stop by and I enjoyed talking with them and their families. They were really excited about Joey's win from the night before and were looking forward to another great night. The support from Budweiser and it's employees is amazing. We are grateful for that.

Reece played with Peyton and Celina again and they had fun in my trailer and then they went and played in Julie Dollansky's trailer as well. Thanks to the girls for entertaining Reece again it makes him so happy to have some buddies out here on the road. I feel bad for him so often because he gets lonely. So, any opportunity that he has to interact with other kids is wonderful.

Racing started and Joey qualified twelfth after going out really early. Fortunately that was good enough for a front row starting spot in the fourth heat. He won his heat and then drew a two for the dash and finished second in the dash. Joey started outside front row of the feature and on this particular night it was especially good to start up front. Joey took the lead from the start of the race and then a few laps in there was a red for a crash. The race restarted and on lap five Jason Meyers had something break on his car and his car drove straight into the turn four wall. It was a wicked wicked crash. My stomach instantly became upset.

Reece and I decided to go check on Jason after the crash and he said he was fine but I felt the need to give him a hug for his wife Robyn who had flown home to California with their daughter Delaney. I knew she would be listening on Dirtvision and she would be very upset. I know from experience how this feels to be so far away and feel so helpless. I text her right away and told her he was fine even though he was going to call her right away. Sometimes us wives don't always know if our husbands are just saying this to keep us from worrying. So, it has always helped me when my friends have called me to reassure me. I just wanted to try to do that for her. Robyn is one of the sweetest people I've ever met and she has become a good friend on the road. I'm glad that Jason is OK and hope that nothing like that ever happens again to him or any driver.

The race started again with Joey in the lead and they completed three more laps and then the skies opened up. We had a rain delay for over three hours but the track and WoO were determined to get it in. During this time Reece and I went to the motor home and got ready for bed. It was going to be too late for him to stay up even though he was begging me to let him atleast listen on the computer. When the rains stopped and the track was ready again the cars went out for hot laps. While I was listening to Dirtvision I hear Johnny Gibson announce that Joey had blown a motor. I was thinking this is insane. It seems like every time we have a great night and gain points that something crazy happens just like the weekend before at Lawrenceburg.

Then suddenly I realized that the timing of our bad luck actually turned out to be a blessing because when the rain delay happened it was announced that crews could work on their cars so you could change tires, change parts and even engines. So, Willie, Kale & Kolten busted their tails to change the engine in eight minutes. They were covered in mud and oil and dealt with the u joint not wanting to come out of the car. Joey was cheering them on that they could do this. I also want to mention that Rob Hart helped and Shane from Donny's team helped as well as some others and for that our team is very grateful.

During this time I was sitting in my motor home praying and wondering what was going on. I heard the horn blow which meant that the guys had eight minutes to get to staging lane. My heart was racing and I kept watching for Joey when finally I see him being pushed off but I never heard the engine fire so I was waiting for him to come back around but he had fired and was out on the track. Thankfully my friend Anita sent me a text to let me know he was out on the track. My Dirtvision was delayed so I couldn't find out from Johnny if Joey was out there.

Anyway, with all this chaos going on Reece had fallen asleep right after the motor blew and he was upset and he was saying come on guys and come on daddy you can get the motor changed come on you can do it. It was so darn sweet and then next thing you know he was out like a light.

The green flag fell and Joey led every lap to win his tenth WoO race of the season and his forty-ninth overall. Like I've said before I'm so proud of Joey and the team and their determination and drive to win. They haven't given up and they have done some amazing things. I don't know if any other team could have done what they did tonight. I'm going to buy them a nice steak dinner for this one because they deserve it.

After the race we drove to the hotel in Dodge City. On Sunday we went to lunch with the team and John (The Budweiser Distrbutor) and his daughter. We all had some laughs about the evening in hind sight. Just to listen to Willie, Kale and Kolten talk about how they were covered in mud and oil and it was utter chaos in the trailer. I'm thinking if they hadn't won it would a more somber lunch...lol. The funniest thing was when Willie said that they drove to the hotel and parked and when he jumped out of the door he landed in a big mud puddle and of course the only one around...lol. What did a little more mud hurt anyway? I'm sure the hotel housekeeping are not going to be so thrilled with the mud and oil all over the bathroom.

Well, after a wonderfully exciting and chaotic weekend of racing I'm glad to be writing about another sweep. That makes three this year and there's more to come hopefully.

We're heading to Nebraska this week before we go to North Dakota. The guys will work from Phil Durst's auction house and Joey, Reece, Bandit and I are going to surprise Joey's grandma. She lives in Lincoln and has no idea we're on our way...can't wait to see her as well as some of our dear friends who live there.

I can't thank you fans enough for your loyal support and for being respectful and for showing class because there are those people out there who aren't that way. Joey is very fortunate and because of you fans he can do what he loves to do.

I'm out for now gonna enjoy a few nice days with family and chill out. Have a wonderful week!

Oh, before I go I want to ask that you check out my friend Camisha's new website on Hoseheads called Dirt Divas. The address is: dirtdivasyolasite.com

Shannon

 

6 .13 . 09

Hey there folks, I had a nice four days at home. It was a typical week just running errands and preparing things so we could leave on Thursday to head for Dodge City, KS. We will be gone a few weeks so had to get the bills paid, get some appointments in and so forth. I was sad to say goodbye to Mandy on Sunday as she left to go visit another friend for a few weeks. She will go to Fargo and Knoxville so at least she's not going home to Australia.

Reece enjoyed being home because he got to spend some time with his cousin Riley and he also got to go over and play with his two best buddies from school. He had a great time and I'm looking forward to going home again so he can just do the normal things that a little boy is supposed to be doing.

After picking up a ton of new shirts from Arizona Sport shirts we loaded them in the apparel trailer and hit the road on Thursday. We had a thirteen hour drive ahead of us...ugh. The drive from Indy to Dodge City is not exactly the most thrilling drive ever. Things were going along smoothly until we hit a terrible thunderstorm that included some hail. Fortunately we drove through it quickly and safely. We continued on down the highway and then pulled into a rest stop somewhere in Illinois or Missouri not sure where. When we got going again Willie jumped in with us. As we started driving we heard a strange noise. So, we pulled over and found that there was another air leak but this time in another area of the motor home. We were able to keep on driving though so after another six hours or so of driving we stopped in Salina, KS. I believe God was looking out for us because just a block from the hotel where the team stayed and where we parked for the night was a Freightliner dealer.

We woke up early in the a.m. and drove down there and had a guy look at the problem. He said moisture had gotten in whatever the part was but he couldn't fix it for a few hours. Well, we didn't have a few hours to spare because we had to get to Dodge City to race that night. We had a little over two hours of driving left to do. So, Joey bought the parts and said he would fix himself. I thought to myself this could be interesting.

Anyway, we met back up with the guys and drove on to Dodge City. The track is in the middle of nowhere!!!!! I mean this too. We dropped the trailer and got settled in. I had to get in the trailer pretty quickly though because I needed to get all the new shirts inventoried and organized. I couldn't even walk through the trailer, it was a disaster. BTW Joey did work on the motor home but he nearly blew his hand off or worse when the air blew the piece off. It was a scary moment. Thank God he was not hurt.

Unfortunately the track wouldn't let us park our trailer up near the main grandstands where we normally do. So, we had to park in the pits which meant that the fans didn't have access to us unless they had a pit pass until after the races. It really was a bummer. The only good part about it for me was that I could get my stuff organized.

Reece played with Peyton Dollansky and Celina (Eric-Working Woody's) daughter. They are sweet little girls who helped entertain Reece for the weekend. He just loves company. He also played with another little boy who he gets to play with in the trailer just about every race for a while. His grandparents work for another driver out on the tour.

Reece had a rough night though, got his finger shut in the door by accident but he was a trooper. I wouldn't have handled it so well, poor little guy. Once I saw the blood I would have been freaking a bit. He let me clean it up and band aid it up. Then he was better.

The racing was great for Joey and the KKR team. He qualified luckily in sixteenth which put him on the front row of the heat. He won his heat so he was able to draw for the dash. He drew a seven and finished sixth in the dash. He started sixth in the feature. I had a really good feeling before the feature started for some reason. Sometimes I get these feelings but they are not always good ones.

Joey started sixth and around the top he flew. He passed a few cars at the start and started chasing down Jason Meyers for the lead. Joey made a move on Meyers but Jason wasn't going to give it up easily. Then on a restart Joey was able to drive around him on the outside and from that point on he was never threatened by anyone for the lead. He was on a rail flying around the top. The track had taken rubber and most the other drivers were driving through the middle in the rubber. Joey was exciting to watch but my nerves got pretty worked up. The lap cars made me very nervous. He took the checkered to win his ninth race of the year. It's crazy really because last year this track was the first track he had won at in June. Now he has nine. Wow, we are blessed.

After the races Reece went down to victory lane with Willie and enjoyed the celebration. I wish I could have joined in the fun but I had to get back to the trailer. All us ladies at the trailers were hoping the fans had stuck out a late night and would come to buy some shirts and they did.

Finally after a late night Joey and Reece came to the trailer and we finished up there and went to the motor home. We were all pretty keyed up. It was after 3 a.m. (Eastern time) when our heads hit our pillows. Another race down and it would be a new day soon, techinically it was already...lol.

I'll get back to you on the Saturday's outcome. Hope everyone reading this is having a wondeful weekend.

Thank you~Shannon

 

6 .12 . 09

On Saturday we slept in for the first time in a very long time. It was so nice to not have to get up early to run errands or leave for the races. I never seem to sleep in anymore so I took advantage of the opportunity.

In the early afternoon we had a friend from school named Marc Richwine and his wife Kim and son Michael drive to Lawrenceburg and they hung out with us in the motor home and we enjoyed a very nice visit. Dear Mandy opened up my trailer for me so I could visit. Reece and Michael played and played and played. The had a great time except for when Michael flipped down the big hill that he and Reece climbed. It was a scary moment! Thankfully he was OK.

After some time visiting in the motor home and eating some more food that Rick brought over we headed overt to the trailer. Mandy did a great job holding down the fort for me...thanks friend.

We sold and hung out, ate some more food and laughed a lot. Reece loved playing with Michael. Thanks to Kim and Marc for watching over Reece and for taking him up to watch his daddy's heat race and dash. He loved it!

Joey qualified seventh and won his heat. He ran third in the dash so of course he would start third in the feature. I was hoping that would be a good omen because he started third on Friday night and won. Joey was trying to pass Meyers for the lead when Meyers and Joey both had to check up for a lap car and when they did Schatz passed both of them. Joey did end up passing Meyers for second and was running Donny down for the lead when he broke. I couldn't even believe it!!! He broke another u joint (it only had a race and a half on it-ugh!) this time he wasn't lucky like he was at Beaver Dam when he had broken one there. Joey would finish 23rd.

In racing things can change so quickly. On Friday he won and took over the second spot in the points and on Saturday he broke running second and fell to fourth in the points. I have no doubt that Joey would be leading the points if he could back the DNF's that he as had and the really bad finishes due to mechanical problems. The thing is that there's a lot of luck involved and there is nothing you can do about it. So, Joey says all he is worried about is winning races and everything else is out of his control and I have to agree.

I'm very proud of my husband and his entire team. They work hard and give their all. I know they can win this championship and they are certainly deserving. If it is God's will it will happen and I'm fine with that.

Reece didn't take daddy's breaking so well...lol. He cried because he didn't get his confetti but I've told him he has to be a good sport in life and not get so upset. I also told him that times like this are why it feels so good when you do win. Good nights are hard to come by and you can't take them for granted.

So, after the races we drove to our shop and decided to just stay in the motor home instead of waking Reece up to take him home. When we woke up and gathered our things to head home we saw Ricky Warner fishing in Grandpa's pond. That snapped Reece right out of his sadness of losing. It was time to go catch the big fish!!

We convinced him that we needed to go home and do some things there and we promised to take him back to go fishing that afternoon. We kept our promise and went back that early evening only to find Ricky was still fishing along with Scuba Steve who works on the 20 car and some other folks.

We fished for a while when Scuba caught a pretty good size bass, it probably weighed 8 lbs or more. Reece and his cousin were so excited! Reece dreams of catching that big fish. Grandpa Joe swears there are bigger ones in his pond. Scuba threw him back in and now Reece is more determined than ever to catch that fish.

Eventually we went home after pulling Reece away from the pond. We enjoyed our evening and when it was time to put Reece to bed he was fighting going to sleep. Finally, I said Reece you have to go to bed and he said "but mom I just can't get this out of my head and I just keep thinking about it over and over". I asked what it was and he said if only I had been right there with the net to help Scuba catch that bass I would be so happy. I almost cried it was so sweet and so funny. He's obsessed with this fishing thing. I promised him we will catch that fish don't you worry and when we do we will have it mounted just so he can keep it always.

Well, that's it for this weekend of events we will enjoy a nice week at home until we have to leave on Thursday for Dodge City, KS. Until then have a great week.

Thank you ~ Shannon

 

6 .11 . 09

Friday we drove to Lawrenceburg and parked the trailer. Soon after arriving we got a knock on the door and we were given the first of many good things to eat from a very nice guy named Rick. He and his buddies cook all kinds of food and bake desserts and take to a lot of the drivers and wives. I swear I gained 10 lbs. in two days. The first thing he gave us was an entire strawberry shortcake dessert. It was big enough to feed twelve people and there were only four of us. Then he brought us prime rib, shrimp cocktail, friend mushrooms, onion rings and if that wasn't enough the biggest apple pie I have ever seen. I swear he is just trying to fatten Joey up so it slows him down. You see Rick is good buddies with Steve Kinser. He even told us that jokingly...lol. He even kept bringing food to the trailer all night long. It was so crazy. We really do appreciate it though. I wish he would travel to all the races so we wouldn't have to eat the nasty track food.

When we went in to sell I was very excited to find that I had my new ladies shirts awaiting me. I've been excited to get them so I could make the female race fans happy because I have had so many girls and ladies wanting a new design. Well they are here now and they will be available online very soon. If you are coming to the races please stop by and see them as well as two other new designs for men or women.

Mandy helped me get the display ready and we opened up shop. We had another good weekend of selling. I saw a lot of friends and people I had not seen in a long time. So, it was so good to be racing in Lawrenceburg especially since it's in our Home state of Indiana.

I grew up going to Lawrenceburg Speedway with my best friend Susannah Stapp. I was probably about ten years old when I started going racing with the Stapp family. Andy Stapp (Susannah's brother) used to race so I would go to watch him. I have some of the best memories from the track and some bad ones as well (like a night spent in the hospital because Andy crashed badly and had to spend the night there). The track and facility are really different than what they used to be. Although the changes that been made to the track are very nice I still hold a special place in my heart for the old Lawreceburg Speedway.

Speaking of The Stapp family, well they are the reason I even know what a sprintcar is. I used to go to Bloomington, Lawrenceburg, Eldora, Terre Haute, Putnamville and Paragon Speedway which is where I met Joey when I was twelve. I had gone with Sus to the races one day after our softball tournament and I was so excited they asked me to go. I had a change of clothes but no shoes so I had to wear my cleats. I was so embarrassed to wear them but it wouldn't stop me from going to the races.

So, we get there and we walk into the pits and we see our friend Ryan Stanley (the late Robbie Stanley's brother). Ryan was sitting on a open wheel trailer next to Joey who I had never seen before even though we lived in the same town. Joey was eating some nerds candy...lol. I remember everything about this night. We were introduced and he offered me some of his candy...I was in love from that moment on as ridiculous as that sounds. I told Sus after that night that I would marry Joey some day. Don't ask me how I knew this but it was the craziest thing ever. I know Sus thought I was nuts, maybe she thought it was just like all my other crazy little obsessions like I had for Rick Springfield or Michael Jackson...lol. Turns out it was the real deal and I can thank her for asking me to go to the races that night.

This was the summer before my seventh grade year which meant when school started I would be in the same school as Joey so I knew I would see him. He was going to be in eighth grade. I couldn't wait to see him. I wasn't even sure if he would remember me or not. He did but we didn't start going together until he was a freshman and I was in eighth grade. This is so funny to think back on all of this. You can ask him about us meeting for the first time and of course the first thing he will say is I was wearing cleats...lol. Oh well, I guess he likes girls in cleats.

The rest is history....we have been together since 1987 and boy have we shared a lot of good and bad times. I guess I'm in this for the long haul. A lot of races have come and gone and I pray that God will continue to bless us with many more. Without sprintcar racing who knows where I'd be or who'd I be married to. Thank God for sprintcar racing because I'm a happy girl OK Lady (I still feel like that girl though but evidentally the cashier at Walmart who asked me if I was younger than 40 didn't think so-that's another story for another time).

Wow, I've gotten off track here, sorry. I guess I should tell you how the racing went. Joey qualified fourteenth, won his heat and ran third in the dash. After starting third in the feature he passed Terry McCarl on lap twenty and led the remaining fifteen laps to win. It was a great win and it would be the first race he's ever won at Lawrenceburg.

I have to say it was pretty cool to be able to watch the race with Susannah and her boyfriend Chuy. It's basically come full circle for me at Lawrenceburg I guess you could say. I don't know how much of the race I actually watched because I get so nervous that I usually look away and then watch people's expressions. I know that is dumb. Chuy would keep me informed of what was going on...lol, so I knew Joey was still leading or doing OK. You would think after all of these years I could sit through a feature.

After the checkered flag flew Mandy, Reece, Sus, Chuy and I went down to victory lane and enjoyed the moment. Reece went directly to the confetti so he could gather it up for his own little race that will take place in our motor home or outside of my apparel trailer.

I quickly ran back to the apparel trailer and with the help of my friend (Kale's girlfriend) Michelle we re-opened the trailer so we could sell some more. After a few more sales we closed back up and headed to the pits.

We would spend the night there at the track in our motor home and when we got back there our friend Rick (the food guy) and his buddies had decorated our motor home with Papa John's Pizza flyers...it was funny!

Another night of racing over it was time to get some sleep and it was really nice that we didn't even have to drive anywhere. It was a great way to end a great night of racing.

I'll get back to you with Saturday's events. Thanks for reading!

Shannon

 

6 .10 . 09

Originally we had planned to go to Wisconsin Dells after I-96 and spend a couple of days before Joey had to race a special IRA race at Beaver Dam, WI with Kasey and Craig Dollansky but of course as usual for us plans changed and we went home. I didn't mind though because I will take any day at home that I can get.

On Sunday we didn't do too much just unloaded the motorhome and did laundry and such so we would be ready to go on the next trip. Mandy as usual helped me with anything that I needed done. I love her being around she has me spoiled. We call her my personal assistant now unfortunately for her the pay isn't very good.

That night Kasey flew into town to tire test at Indy so he stayed with us Sunday and Monday night and that was nice to have him hanging out and relaxing. He needs a break badly because his schedule is so hectic but he never complains, don't know how in the world he does all that he does. I definitely couldn't do all that he does.

On Tuesday morning we followed the guys up to Beaver Dam. We let Reece stay with his cousin because we didn't want him to be stuck in the motor home for five hours of driving up there and then eight hours of selling only to drive five hours straight back home. It would have been way too long for Reece to be confined. Bandit stayed with my mom because he would have been freaking out from the long day as well.

Mandy and I chatted the entire way up there and we downloaded my cds on my computer so I could put on my new Ipod. I'm finally getting with the times, I'm getting jiggy with it now...lol. I'm totally hooked on it because I can put my ear phones in and totally escape for a while. (OK like 5 minutes...lol). But, I'll take what I can get.

My new group that I can't get enough of is Kings of Leon so I seem to play them over and over. They are awesome! Joey got me hooked on them after he heard them while he was racing in New Zealand (he knows my taste so well). Sweet Mandy bought us the cd so we are totally loving that. Thank you Mandy.

The races went well. Joey was seventh quick, won his heat and started sixth in the feature. He won the race and thankfully so because about the last ten laps of the race he felt a bad vibration. After the race the team found that the vibration was due to a broken U Joint.

Mandy and I had a very busy night selling this night. We were very entertained all night long by the Kasey fans. Many were decked out in entire KK gear as well as every family member. He has some very supportive fans for sure.

I can't go on without razzing Mandy a bit over the drunk guy who I thought might just pass out while standing nearly on top of her. It was a very uncomfortable situation and I told her to move down a step so he didn't fall on her, but not after getting a good laugh out of it. She deserved it though because she was a bit amused with a crazy eyed stalker of mine. Wow, we see some crazy things. I don't think Joey quite believes us when we tell him our stories. Just more stories for my book...lol.

We closed up the trailer and headed to the pits after the crowd had left. It was nice to hang out down there for a few minutes after the races because I so rarely make it down there anymore.

We finally got on the road and it was late. We drove forever it seemed and I managed to stay awake until 5:30 a.m. to help keep Joey awake (by singing along to my ipod tunes) but I couldn't stay awake any longer, I think Joey was glad I finally went to sleep. Finally at 7:00 a.m. we were home. That was a long day and night. I'm really glad that he won or would have made an already long day worse.

We went home and went back to sleep and after a couple of hours I went to get Reece. Reece had made some nice artwork while we were gone which included an headband made with goose feathers...YUK! Also, he had a clam shell taped to paper as a picture to hang. He was so proud of his work but I was finding it hard to be as enthused about it because I'm a germ freak. Grandma did bleach all of the feathers and shells but I still wasn't so keen on taking them into my house. We still have them but I'm thinking that when he forgets about them and hopefully that will be soon I will be throwing them away, sorry that's bad of me but it's just gross.

That evening we just hung out at home and the team came over for some Budweisers, wine and Wii. Reece gave Willie a run for his money on every game they played. I love it because Reece is Mr. Competitive and he cracks everyone up. The best thing was Reece came in the kitchen and told me he wanted to race his Nascar/Indy car game on his Play Station. The reason he wanted to play it was because he wanted to show Kasey how he raced it. Next thing I knew Kasey was laying across Reece's bed playing it too. Reece said he beat Kasey but I'm not sure about that. It's Reece's story and he's sticking to it.

I was very excited for Thursday to arrive because my buddy Jan McMahan was coming to town with her friend Brandi to visit Brandi's boyfriend. So, Mandy, Jan, Brandi and I went for pedicures and lunch. I have to laugh because I left the nail salon totally happy with the job they did on my ugly feet and Jan was complaining about the messed up paint and the fact that the lady cut her toe...lol. That's what she gets for being a stinker and talking bad about my feet. Jan will be so mad when she reads this...hee hee.

After lunch at our local little Chinese restaurant which is so yummy (Hey Jan wasn't the san choi bow delicious) we dropped Brandi off to see her man and Mandy, Jan and I headed to the mall. It was a very nice day with the girls although it was way too short. Time always flies when you are having fun.

I miss seeing Jan so much and I hate that Paul isn't out on the WoO Tour with us. This racing life is so much more enjoyable when you have buddies out here to travel with and hang with on the days when there is no racing. I keep hoping that something will come along for Paulie and he'll be back out here.

Well, after the fun things we did this week it would be time to leave again Friday for Lawrenceburg, IN. Thankfully Lawrenceburg Speedway is only a couple of hours from home so we wouldn't have to leave super early.

I'll let you know how the two nights of racing goes. Thanks for reading my silly life's stories.

Shannon

 

6 .5 . 09

After a couple of days at home lastweek we drove over to Attica to race. I always like racing at Attica, I guess I just have a lot of good memories of racing there back in the All Star days. Gotta love the shredded chicken sandwiches there!

There was a good turnout of fans as usual and my sales were the best we have ever had there. I was very happy about that! Thanks as always to you great fans and thanks for letting me know how much you enjoy reading my blog. I just crack up how many people tell me this, I'm flattered but I'm thinking you all must think I'm a nut case most of the time.

Joey didn't have his best night at Attica with a 27th qk qualiffying effort and a fifth place finish in his heat. Joey started 22nd in the feature and raced his way up to 8th. It was a good finish but it would have been nice to have started closer to the front for sure.

I did enjoy a nice visit with Kelly Reed (Byron Reed's wife) and their boys. It was really nice to catch up with each other. We use to spend a lot of time together when Joey was racing the All Stars. We've been through some interesting things together. Reece enjoyed playing with the boys and it was cool to see them. I still can't believe some days that I'm a thirty something mother still doing this racing thing...lol. Life is flying by and I am appreciating every second but sometimes I get too busy and I try to do too many things at once and I lose sight of the MOMENT. I need to do a better job of this. I think seeing Kelly reminded me of this. She lost her father a few months ago from cancer. It made me really sad as I always liked her dad. He was this sweet little man who looked like Papa Smurf. I'm sad for her loss as I can totally relate because I lost my father when I was 14, it just plain sucks to be honest.

After the night of racing ended we headed to Michigan so we could race at I-96 on Saturday night. We drove almost all the way there, it was another late night of driving. (Isn't that normal?) We stayed at a Walmart parking lot right across from a Cracker Barrel, so of course we had a yummy breakfast. While we were eating Jason Meyers and family came in and sat behind us. Jason and Robyn have a beautiful little girl named Delaney. I'm thinking Reece will be thinking she's something in a few years...lol.

After breakfast we headed to the track and set up shop. Another good night of sales, it seemed like the crowd was better than in years past and that's great.

Again, I visited with some friends from racing past. Ryan Johnson who is the grandson of the wonderful late Warren Johnson. Ryan was just a young boy when Joey drove for Warren back in 1994. I enjoyed seeing Ryan, he's a father of two now, wow am I getting old!

Joey qualified 7th and ran 2nd in his heat. He ran the dash and finished 5th so he started 5th in the feature. Joey held his own in the feature and finished 5th. Another solid finish so we'll take it.

We drove home after the races and got home late or should I say early. We had another couple of days at home. Lots to do and not much time to get it done but atleast we were home.

My friend Mandy is still with us and she's been so much fun to spend time with. She's an amazing person, she helps me so much, she's totally spoiling me and I don't know what I will do when she leaves. Joey actually said he would consider sending me back to Australia and keeping her...lol. I may take him up on it...just kidding. Mandy will be going to some other places after Lawrenceburg this weekend but she'll catch back up with us at some other tracks. Hopefully she won't get tired of us and she doesn't want to come back...lol.

I be back soon to update you on this weeks events.

Thank you~Shannon

 

5 .27 . 09

Well after what seemed like a long day of driving we stopped and parked in a Holiday Inn parking lot to sleep for the night. The team stayed there as well. I wasn't sure where the heck we were and felt kind of dumb for asking since poor Joey had to do all the driving while I laughed and visited with Mandy. I also took the time to blog as well.

I ran into the hotel washed a uniform for Joey and then Mandy, Reece and I walked down to a Taco Bell/KFC. We risked our lives to walk down the road which was under construction...lol. Had to put that in there Mandy. Well, we made it to the restaurant just in time because they were closing and thank goodness because Mandy was really wanting some of KFC's biscuits because she can't get those in Australia.

So, we ordered our food and then as it usually does here comes the big question for Mandy. Where are you from, Australia? She replies yes and then we laugh about it. Well while we were on the subject of where are you from I asked the lady BTW this may sound strange but where are we? What town is this? The nice lady told us Waterloo, NY. Mandy and I just laughed because we knew she had to think were odd.

Anyway, we received our food and walked back to the motor home. I ran in to get Joey's suit out of the washer and when I returned to the motor home Reece and Mandy were not happy because KFC forgot the biscuits. OH NO! The worst part was they weren't even open to go down and get them. They ate what they did get and then we started watching E.T.

We got some sleep that night because we didn't have too far to drive to the next track. We got up and then Joey, Mandy and Reece went back down to the KFC and would you believe that instead of giving them rice they gave them tacos. Mandy caught the mistake this time and said hey you guys messed up on this order and on last nights too. So, they felt bad and gave us a nice moist yummy chocolate cake. I have to say it is the best thing that we ate from there because everything else wasn't too good...lol.

We drove to the track, went to work, nothing out of the ordinary. Before the racing started Patty Haudenschild asked if I had looked at the track and I said no why? She said is was really slick and looked bad. I thought oh great it will probably be a tire eating race tonight and terrible racing.

Well it turned out to be exactly that. Joey qualified sixth. He started fourth in his heat and ran fifth, it looked like all he and everyone did was spin their tires. Joey started tenth in the dash and finished eighth. On the start of the A main Joey went from eighth to fifth and that is where he would finish the race. He got the hard charger award...lol for passing three cars. I think I could have gone out and ran around the track faster than the cars were racing. It was a terrible track and I feel bad for the fans who paid good money to watch a race because it definitely wasn't a race.

For the fans that were there and had never seen a WoO race before I hope you will not judge by this race because this is not what our racing is about. Hope you come to another race and enjoy what the drivers can do.

We are driving home now and we'll be there until we leave until Friday a.m. I'm so looking forward to some time off!

 

5 .26 . 09

We arrived safely at the track without any problems. We were still pretty pumped up about the night before at Lowe's Dirt Track.

There's never a lot of time to sit back and enjoy a victory for very long when you are racing with the WoO Sprint Car Series. It's on to the next race (which is usually the next night) so you have to get focused for that race. That is definitely the case this time.

Mandy, Reece and I headed for the trailer and we started selling. It was another good night of sales for us. It was also very nice to hear from so many fans that had watched the race the night before on Speed Channel.

The racing began and Joey qualified twelfth, not a great qualifying run but good enough to put Joey on the front row of a heat. He finished second in the heat, so he was able to run the dash. He won the dash, so he would start on the pole of the feature. Joey was able to lead every lap to win his seventh race of this year's WoO season. This win was special for Joey because it placed him on an elite list. He is now tied with the legendary Bobby Davis, Jr (who Joey has always looked up to) in tenth for the most World of Outlaw wins overall. I'm very happy for Joey for accomplishing this and I'm so proud.

The team celebrated again in victory lane as it was another great night for Joey/KKR.

We loaded up again for another road trip to New York. We didn't drive too far this night before we stopped for a sleep.

I'll let you know how the races are from New York on my next blog.

Thanks for reading ~ Shannon

 

5 .25 . 09

We enjoyed a couple of days at home this week although I was pretty busy preparing to leave for Charlotte. We left Tuesday afternoon and drove for seven hours when we started to notice the fan on the motor home was running and would not turn off. Usually it will only kick on when the temp gets up to 200 degrees and then kick off. The thing was though that the engine never did get up to 200 degrees so we knew there was a problem.

So, we pulled into a rest area in Virginia to check it out and when we did so a warning light and beeping noise came on warning us of low air pressure. We were both like oh no this is not good because of course the motor home has air brakes. I told Joey I'm not real comfortable with the idea of driving through these mountains with no brakes and all I could picture was us having to drive up one of those run away sand pits that you see on the side of the roads...scary.

We couldn't see what the problem was but JOEY DECIDED to try to drive and see if the air pressure would build back up and thankfully it did. We had about another 2 hour drive to go so I was praying that we would be OK. We did finally make it to Kasey's shop at about 2 a.m. and we went to bed. In the morning Joey was able to find the problem on the motor. It was a simple fix of a line that had come off due to a fitting breaking. I'm glad it was as simple as that and that Joey and Kale were able to fix it.

On Wednesday we had to be at the Grand Opening of Kasey's new shop. I was in awe of this amazing building! It is a beautiful shop and store and Kasey should be so proud of it.

It was a busy day for Kasey, Shanon (Kasey's sister), all his employees and teams and drivers. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Mayor. Kasey spoke to all the fans that had been waiting for hours (some since 6 a.m. as I noticed when I had to walk my dog-not so happy about the early hour...lol). Speed Channel was there covering the event live. Then Kasey, Joey, Craig Dollansky and Brad Sweet all signed autographs for 200 people, it was a very good day!

While all of this was going on I sold merchandise from my trailer in the parking lot. I had a good day selling and I was pretty happy to be selling so much to mostly Nascar fans so thanks to all of them who supported Joey by doing so.

When the event was over we went out for a nice dinner. Then back to the shop we went to hang out until about midnight and then decided we needed to get to bed because we had to wake up at 4 a.m. to fly home for Reece's Kindergarten Graduation. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep but it was worth it to make it back for Reece's big day.

Reece was dressed in a cute little cap and gown and as he walked down the aisle to the stage my heart just fluttered and the tears began to flow down my cheeks. I couldn't believe that he was already graduating from Kindergarten, it seems like I just had him yesterday. Anyway, Reece was so very happy to see that his daddy was there as Joey had promised. You see Joey has never been able to attend any of Reece's programs or functions at school the last three years because he has always been away racing and this has always caused Reece to become very emotional during these times. I have always felt so bad for Reece and for Joey because it is so hard on both of them. So, this day was very important in more ways than one. It was a BIG DAY in which we will never forget.

Reece and his classmates sang songs and it was precious. There is one in particular that Reece really enjoyed singing and it was about the amazing things that God can do with sign language. Oh my did it get to me. Then he received his little diploma and when it was time to move his tassel to the other side of this cap he didn't understand the pastor so he just spun his cap around instead...lol. Well it worked that way too.

Reece enjoyed his day and said his goodbyes to his classmates and his wonderful teachers that he just loves so much. He and I will miss everyone at his school and we are sad to be leaving there. But Reece will start public school next year and hopefully it will be as wonderful as these past three years (Pre-K-Kindergarten).

We rushed home after the ceremony and got Reece ready to leave because we had to fly back to Charlotte that late afternoon. We arrived back in Charlotte at 10:30 that night. Kolten was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and take us back to the motor home. (He also took care of Bandit for us while we were back in Indiana, so thanks to him for that.) When we arrived at the motor home and we decided to then drive to the track because we had to have our trailers there at 10 a.m. so we arrived there at about 12:30a.m.

Finally, we were able to go to bed and boy were we ready for some good sleep after an exhausting few days.

On Friday we went to the Concord Mills Mall for a bit and then back to the track. I was looking forward to getting back there because my dear friend Mandy Benny from Australia was going to be there and she is going to be staying with us for a while. I was very excited to see her and she has been such an enormous help to me since her arrival. I owe her a day of pampering. I'm thinking a medi and a pedi for sure when we get home to Indiana.

We opened the trailer and began selling at around 2:30 or so and stayed busy throughout the day until after the race was over. It's definitely some long days in the trailer for the wives and mothers who sell out there. I have to thank the fans who were waiting patiently in line after the races waiting for me to reopen the trailer (since I ran to victory lane).

Now on to the racing. Joey qualified 7th which would put him on the front row of his heat race because there were only 3 heats due to car count. This would be a good thing you would think because he needed to run first or second in the heat to make the dash, but he was so bad he backed up to finish fourth. I couldn't believe how bad he was. The track was so slick too and that didn't help matters. I have to admit I really thought we were in for another bad night. Joey did end up making the dash because of his qualifying so that was a great thing. He drew a two for the start of the dash and he would finish 2nd in the dash.

Oh, I cannot forget to mention that Reece had played a slot car game that a vendor had set up at the track. He played it several times and he was loving it. The last time he played it he told me that he had to be back down to play it at 7:30 for the championship race. So, for two hours this is all Mandy and I heard. "mommy is it 7:30 yet?" over and over and over...lol. Finally, at 7:30 I took him to the race and it had already started, my bad we were late. Instantly the tears started rolling down his cheeks but the nice gentlemen who ran the game said hey buddy we have one spot left especially for you and we were wondering where you were. How sweet is that? So, Reece joined in the race and he raced so well. He had told me that you can't hold the throttle in all the way because the car will slide off of the track so you have to hold it half way. I thought oh great here we go he's getting this racing thing figured out and I'm so in trouble...lol.

Anyway, all the older kids and even an adult obviously didn't know Reece's racing secret because their cars slid off the track. So, it was down to Reece and a little girl who was probably about 8 year old. Well, the little girl did end up winning the race but Reece was a close second. The man gave the girl her prize which was a hat. We started to walk away and he said hey wait second place gets a prize too. So, he pulled out two nascar hotwheel cars. Reece's eyes lit up and you would have thought he'd won the Knoxville Nationals. He would later tell me that it was better to finish second because all the first place prize was just a hat and second place were these cool race cars. I thought that was pretty funny.

Another funny thing that happened was when we to sit down to watch the feature. As everyone knows Johnny Gibson plays music before the race starts when the cars are doing the four abreast. Well, Reece being the rock star that he is was standing up on the bleacher playing his air guitar and rocking out. It was so hilarious. I only wish Johnny would play the "Eye of the Tiger" song because that is Reece's favorite and he knows all the words. He sings it nearly every day and makes me pull the old Survivor video up on Youtube so he can watch it and sing along...lol.

Oh back to that other race...lol. Joey lined up outside front row next to Donny and I knew it would be tough to beat him especially on such a slick track. Joey and Donny raced side by side for the first couple of laps and then Donny started to pull away on the third lap. Joey started gaining on him in lap traffic and on the twentieth lap Joey passed him and it was a good move. Mandy, Reece and I were so excited in the stands and we were praying the last ten laps would fly by. Finally the Checkered flag fell and Joey had won the race!!!!

We ran to greet Joey as he entered victory lane and it was quite the celebration. The entire team was there including Kasey. It was an AWESOME race to win in front of so many fans and for it to be live on Speed Channel was special as well. (Reece's grandparents loved seeing Reece on television, and I suppose Joey too...lol). I'm also very happy for Budweiser.

I only wish we could have had more time to celebrate but we had to race in Virginia the next night so the celebrations were cut short so we could hit the highway again. We did so and drove until about 3:30 a.m.

We woke up Saturday morning and drove the rest of the way to the track and it was time to start all over again.

Thanks for keeping up with our lives. I'll blog about our night at Virginia next.

Thank you~Shannon

 

5 .24 . 09

Before I tell you all what's been going on in our racing life I would like to express my condolences on behalf of Joey and our family for Larry Rice's family. Larry was a truly nice person and was iconic in the sport of racing. Joey's father Joe raced with Larry and has known Larry for many years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bev, Robbie & Zach. We pray that God will comfort you all during this very difficult time.

The last few weeks have been a bit crazy with the racing schedule and every day in between. So, I'm later than usual with my blog-Sorry.

After the Delaware race we drove to Carlisle, PA and a had a day off of racing. Joey and I didn't do too much that day, but we did enjoy a nice dinner at Carraba's Italian Restaurant by ourselves for the first time in who knows how long. We had a nice meal but we felt very strange without Reece being with us.

After dinner Joey dropped me off at Walmart while he went to get fuel and dump the tanks at the Flying J (Not in the parking lot...as some people think...lol). My mission was to buy some Martin's Bar-B-Q Potato Chips because we LOVE them! We cannot buy them in Indiana. I bought two bags for us and one for my buddy Jan McMahan but the chances of me sending them to her before Joey eats them is pretty slim (I've hid them from Joey). She is used to it though and comes to expect it when I tell her we have them for her...lol. She always says she will never get them, but the thought is always there Jannie.

After I finished up there we headed to the track (Williams Grove) and shortly after the rain began to fall and it rained through the night until the morning. The afternoon was dry but it poured again around 6:30 or so and the races were canceled.

We did get to race on Friday and we had a terrible night. Joey qualified 28th and ran 7th in his heat so he had to run the B and he finished 5th in it. He did not transfer into the A so he had to take a provisional. He started 25th in the feature.

Joey continued to struggle in the feature. He packed his right front wheel with mud early in the race which caused a bad vibration in the car until there was a red flag for another car that had flipped. Even after the crew removed the mud from the wheel and the race continued he was still struggling with his car. He finished 18th. They just have to chalk it up as one of those bad nights but learn from it and go on.

We were hoping to drive straight home after the races (about a 9 hour drive) so we could see Reece's last soccer game of the season. We didn't make it though, we drove until about 5 a.m. and that was all we could do because we were so tired. There was a chance that the game may be canceled due to thunderstorms but of course he played and scored I think 8 goals. We were so disappointed that we weren't there but he was understanding as he usually is.

As soon as we got home Reece wanted to fish in Grandpa's pond. So we did and he caught some blue gills. He was not happy with that because he wants to catch the big large mouth bass. So, he tried using the blue gill as bait and Joey was not liking that idea at all. He thought it was so cruel, but Reece said Dad that is the way to catch it! Well, Reece was right the bass took hold of the bait but he was so heavy he broke the fishing line. So, now we have to buy a heavier line so that next time he can catch the big one.

I'm gonna be going for now and I will write again soon.

Thanks~Shannon

 

5 .13 . 09

Well, not to disappoint but our trip to Delmar, DE was uneventful (I'm so glad for that).

We waited until after Reece was finished with school for the day so we could pick him up and take him to grandma and grandpa's house. I was especially sad to leave him this week because we will be away from him five days. I just hate leaving him. Reece not so much! He was going to help grandpa burn at his burn pile and then they were going to fish in grandpa's pond. So, when it was time for us to leave I was hugging Reece and telling him I loved him with some tears being shed. Reece says mom why are you always crying? I just said because I miss you so much and don't like to be away from you. He said well I have work to do with grandpa so don't worry. I'm like Oh OK I guess I'll leave now...lol.

As sad as I am to leave him I do love that he gets to spend time and make great memories with his grandpa Saldana. I lost my dad when I was fourteen years old and I miss him terribly especially because I know he would just adore Reece. My dad was an outdoors man, hunter and fisherman. It makes me so sad that Reece will never be able to do the things with my dad that I did. So, I'm especially grateful for Reece's relationship with Joey's dad.

We drove until 2:30a.m. and stopped in a cracker barrel parking lot this time. All was good there, got some food to go for Joey and a cup of coffee for me. We drove the rest of the way Tuesday. We arrived in Delmar for another night of racing. It was a nice day. There were fans who were there early waiting for a night of racing to begin. I enjoyed talking to many of them. Sales were good, although someone did steal a jacket off of a hanger. Darn it but if they needed it that bad then more power to them.

The racing started a little later than usual and honestly the racing itself wasn't too exciting. There wasn't much passing all night. Sorry to the fans for that. I know the drivers don't enjoy that too much either. That's the way it goes though. It's not like to the track didn't try to make a better track for racing because they did rework it before the feature but it just didn't help.

Joey qualified 7th, not a bad effort. The heat race was another story. Joey started third in the heat and on the start he was up to second which is an important position being that the top two finishers get to run the dash. Well, the WoO called it back because they said that Joey was out of line coming for the start. Now, I hate to complain and don't want to be a whiner but that was a bad call. I don't know how they could say that when he was on the inside but that was their decision and when it's over there's nothing you can do. It's so frustrating!!!

Joey was moved back a row so that hurt him pretty bad because of the track. He ended up spinning out because his car wasn't handling so well. He went to the tail but did finish fifth so he did transfer to the A.

The feature was pretty boring to watch so there's nothing much I can really say. It was follow the leader. Joey started fourteenth and finished ninth. He was happy with that finish considering the track conditions.

After the races we drove to Carlisle, PA. We arrived at 3 a.m....ugh another late night. I have to say it felt good to sleep in this morning, well at least be able to go back to sleep after my dog woke me up for his normal early morning meal and walk. It's been an easy day hanging in the motor home in the hotel parking lot. I can't remember the last time I have just sat down and just relaxed. I just wish I was on a beach somewhere instead...lol.

We race Thursday and Friday night at Williams Grove. I hope the rain stays away but it seems like it always rains at least one day every time we race there. Hope this time is different. I really like selling at the Grove so I'm looking forward to it.

I'll let you know how the racing goes. BTW, Reece was so excited to tell me that he almost caught a big fish...AKA The King of the Pond. The fish broke the line three times, so now he is on a mission to catch it. He has plans to catch it with a net...lol. He told grandpa that he wants to catch it so his picture will be in our local paper...there's a personal story behind it and it just cracks me up that he thinks that's what will happen if he catches it. I wonder if he will settle for a pic of him holding his fish on my blog site????

Well, better get going for now. I'll be back soon.

Thanks~Shannon

 

5 .11 . 09

Another weekend of racing has come and gone and it was an interesting one for the #9 KKR Team.

After dropping Reece off at Grandpa/Grandma's Friday morning we headed for Eldora which is probably our closest track we race at (a little over 2 hrs.) We had to get there early enough to get the apparel trailer inside the gate and parked. The skies didn't look good from the time we left home until the time we arrived at Eldora. It looked like it could rain any second and then suddenly it cleared up a bit and I thought we would be good to go for a night of racing but after the heat races the heaven's opened up and boy did it rain.

Normally I would be really bummed about the rain out but because Reece had an early Saturday morning soccer game that we were driving back home for after the races I was glad that when it did rain that the WoO didn't hesitate to cancel the evening of racing.

Another reason I wasn't too disappointed was because Joey had not had such a good night of racing so far. He had motor problems qualifying and in the heat race. He qualified 22nd which was terrible! He did transfer out of his heat but he would of had to start 22nd in the A. I was hoping that with the rain out that the team would be able to make some changes and get the motor situation figured out so that when Saturday's race took place it would be a much better night. Well, they did make some changes but things didn't go any better and they even had some other bad luck.

We left the track after I managed to not drown trying to get the trailer closed up. I had some help from Tom Balderson and his buddy. Tom is a great friend of ours who is part owner of Balderson Motor Plex in Zanesville, OH. He has sponsored Joey for years and years. He's been really good to us and we are grateful to him. Thanks for helping me out with all the wet shirts and my sales rack as well.

We got home a bit after midnight and awoke bright and early to get ready for the first and only game we would be able to see this season. Reece was excited for us to be there and it was so worth the drive home. Reece's team won again and he scored nine goals. He is so hilarious to watch. His expressions are great and he means business when he is on the field. He is so competitive but he's also good about being a good sportsman. That is a hard lesson to teach a child. I will say he's not so good at losing when he's playing mommy or daddy on the Wii...lol.

After his game we all headed back to Eldora for Saturday nights race. We got there just in time to open up the trailer and start selling again. The wind was soooo bad! Thanks to a nice gentelman who helped me brace my trailer door so the wind wouldn't slam it shut. My shirts on the sales rack were flying everywhere and then my new display sign broke from the wind. This should have been my sign that the night might not be so good....lol.

Suddenly when I was getting kind of stressed three smiling faces that I had not seen in years appeared. Joey and my friends from school as far back as elementary were standing in my trailer. Marc Richwine, Mike Shipp and Kurt Wasson. It was so good to see them. They were really pumped up about seeing Joey race. They went down to the pits and visited for a while and then came back up to visit with me. They actually helped me in the trailer as well, so thanks for that guys. I really enjoyed the laughs, it was like old times again. It doesn't matter that we are all thirty somethings, when I was hanging with you guys it was like school days. I really hope you will come to some more races. Joey was very happy to see you guys as well and that was the first thing he said to me when he came to the trailer after the races. That was a good thing for him because his racing didn't go se well and he needed something to smile about.

Sorry that I seem to go on and on about all the little details of my days...I sure do get long winded when I start blogging. It's a funny thing considering I really didn't think I should blog. Now you can't shut me up.

Anyway, on to the racing. Joey had hoped with some changes made with the motors that it would be a better night, but it didn't go that way at all. He qualified 18th and finished 7th in heat. He had hit the wall in turn two on the first lap and knocked the rear end and drive line out of it...not good.

So, off to the B main he went. He did win the B but his motor started blowing up with two laps to go so he really was lucky it held on to finish. When the B was over the guys thrashed to change engines and while doing that they found that the drive line was broke again so they had to change that as well. They barely made it out to start the A and because they were late getting out on the track Joey had to go to the rear of the field (24th). I thought oh my this ought to be interesting. I already knew that Joey would be up on the fence, so I should have taken a little brown bag so I could breathe into it in case I hyperventilated or worse threw up....sorry that's gross but I'm serious.

It was a crazy race to say the least, several guys blew tires, rear ends and motors. Haud and Joey were making me quite nervous as they were both wanting the same piece of real estate. Joey did end up having a descent finish of ninth and considering all the bad luck and starting 24th I would have to say we will take it.

I know that the team and engine shop will get the engine problems sorted out and they will be back to their winning ways. I know they are working hard and it's such a great team effort.

We are off to race Delmar, Delaware Tuesday (we driving there as I write this) and the Grove on Thursday and Friday. It's going to be a good week of racing for the #9 KKR Team.

I do want to thank all the fans that have been giving me such nice compliments about my blog. I'm just so amazed and flattered that so many people read it. I never dreamed this would be the case. For those of you (John and Brent) who get some laughs from it, I hope I continue to entertain you. Thanks so much for the support.

Thanks also to my friend Cathy Hart who took Reece down to the pits to get driver autographs on Saturday and for taking care of him for the evening. He enjoyed playing with Ella. You are a good friend.

Until the next blog, have a great week! Happy Be-Lated Mother's Day to all of you Mothers.

Toodles~Shannon

 

5 .7 . 09

I'm not one to wish my time away because life is soooo short, but this has been one of those weeks when I just want to snap my fingers and it just be over!

We started out last Saturday early morning and headed to Knoxville for a one night show (because Huset's had been canceled on Friday). Our travels were safe and for that I'm thankful.

I had a good night of selling so thanks to the fans for that. I always love going to Knoxville because they do have some of the best Sprint car fans, what else should I expect right??? It is the home of Sprint Car racing. I was busy but when the heat races started I ran in to see Joey's heat race and the feature so I was glad to be able to see some racing, although it wasn't our best night of racing.

Joey qualified seventh which wasn't too bad, but he had been having motor problems since the beginning of the night so when he ran his heat he struggled a bit and ran fourth. Although this allowed him to transfer into the A main it was not good enough to put him in the dash. So, after the heat the team changed his motor. So, when it was time for the feature to start Joey lined up eleventh. On the start he immediately backed up to about sixteenth...ugh. It was not a good start for him he did manage to get up to eleventh and then coming for the checkered Randy Hannagan passed him so Joey finished twelfth. His car was really tight and he did the best he could do.

Joey was really pumped up about racing Knoxville but at the end of the night a twelfth place finish was all he could muster. That's how racing goes we know so we'll put it behind us and learn from some things and go on to the next race track.

Fortunately we are headed to Eldora which Joey loves so hopefully it will be a great weekend of racing there with no problems. Of course mother nature is going to threaten us with some rain but it is Eldora so anything can happen when it comes to weather.

As unhappy as we were about the night of racing it wasn't even the worst part of our weekend. We drove a little while after the races on Saturday night and decided to stop and get some sleep. Sounded like a great idea to me since we have been doing so much driving the last month or so. The driving straight through and into the wee hours of the morning definitely get the best of me.

So, we stopped at a McDonalds somewhere in Iowa and slept good. When we got up in the morning we showered and I ran in for a nice hot mocha to wake me up! We then hit the road and after about ten minutes of driving we get pulled over. Joey looks at me and says "I swear I wasn't speeding". (This has been an on going argument we have had for 20+ years, no joke-ever since we were in high school.)

Anyway, the Sheriff pulls us over and Joey was like I know I was not speeding and he tells Joey no that is not the problem sir. We received a phone call that you dumped your black tank AKA sewer tank in the McDonalds parking lot. He was like what???? I would never do that, that is disgusting. He said well we have to follow up with the complaint. So, the sheriff spoke to me and I confirmed what Joey had said. Another sheriff radioed back to let the sheriff know that he went to the McDonalds and there had been no such dumping. So, he let us go, but we lost some time there. (This is what we get for not parking at Walmar, I guess).

I'm never surprised by anything anymore. We have seen so many and had so many crazy things happen to us through the years on the road it's almost normal to me to have something happen. Our friend Stephen can confirm this and he swears that someday he is going to write a book about it. There will be many chapters and I think I have convinced him to title the book AS THE OVAL TURNS.

We got back on the road and we were trying to get so we could see Reece. We miss him so much when we are away from him. We were really bummed on Friday because he was supposed to have a soccer game so we were going to be able to see him play finally, but the fields were so wet from all of the rain so his game was rescheduled. Reece did play on Saturday a.m. and he had another great game. He scored ten goals!!! I'm thinking soccer might just be his gig. I so wish we could have seen him play. He makes us so proud.

So, we are driving home and things are going good. We stop for fuel about an hour and a half from home. Joey is at the pump and I go in to take my credit card in to get the pump turned on. When I go back out to get in the motor home the door is locked. The thing is that the motor home is running so I know that the keys are in the ignition. My heart immediately started beating fast and I thought oh no this is not good.

I walked around to Joey and with a nice voice said umm Joey did you happen to lock your door and he looked at me with big eyes and said no why???? I said well the door is locked and from that point on I was sick to my stomach. All I had was my purse. Our cell phones were in the motor home so I couldn't call anyone. I ran in and asked the sales clerk if I could use the phone to call a locksmith. She wasn't going to let me use the phone at first because her manager didn't allow it and there are no pay phones in existence I guess.

I finally said well if I can't call someone that there motor home and trailer will be sitting there for a long time. So, she let me call a wrecker service who I thought was sending a locksmith. Thirty minutes goes by and finally a nice guy shows up from the wrecker service with a slim Jim and some wedges and some kind of pump to slide under the glass. I was like what?? Where's your little kit with the key thingies to jimmy the lock??? This is what a locksmith has used before (yes we have had two prior incidences...lol but when you consider we have been traveling in a motor home like this since 1996 our record isn't too bad and actually one of the times I actually grabbled the keys but they just happened to be the wrong ones.)

An hour of trying to get in has passed and Joey says just go call your mom and see if she can bring the spare keys. So, I asked a nice man in the store if I could use his cell phone and he was kind enough to do so. My mom found the keys and started on her way. It would be the longest hour and a half wait for her.

I continued to pace and pray that this guy would some how get in. He was getting frustrated and he kept saying I've never not been able to get into a vehicle. I of course was thinking well this will probably be the first one, so negative I know. He asked Joey to look through the windshield to see if he was close to the lock with his little hook and Joey said you are right on it just pull up and suddenly click it was unlocked!!! I was so relieved I wanted to cry. I grabbed my phone and called my mom to stop her from driving any further.

I gladly paid the man and jumped in. The rest of the trip was quiet but I was so upset because I just don't understand how the darn door got locked. I know I didn't lock it but could never convince Joey of that. Oh well, things happen and of course they can always be worse.

Finally we made it home and as soon as we saw Reece life was good. He filled us in on his eventful day and a half. The rest of the week would have some crazy things happen for me too but there's not enough time in your day to read it....lol.

We are now driving to Eldora to race tonight. We hope to get it in so we can head home tonight so we can watch Reece play soccer in the a.m. and then we'll all drive back to Eldora Saturday after his game. Hope we have a good uneventful weekend and I'll be able to report some happy stories.

Thanks for reading ~Shannon

 

 

4 . 27 . 09

Sorry I'm a little late with this blog folks but I haven't been able to slow down long enough to actually write.

Joey and I left for the races early Friday morning and drove six or seven hours to get down to West Memphis for the races on Friday. We probably should have left on Thursday evening just so we wouldn't have to drive all day and then Joey have to race but we wanted to see Reece practice for soccer especially since we haven't been able to see him play a game.

Anyway, we arrived at the track and it was pretty much time to get to work. Joey headed to the pits and I opened up shop. It was a descent night of selling for us and I was pleased at the end of the night. The fans were really nice down there and there were a lot of them. The stands were full as they have been everywhere we have raced thus far. I have been very happy to see this with these hard economic times.

The racing wasn't all that exciting in my opinion because the track was really fast so there didn't seem to be a lot of passing all night long. Joey qualified 7th which was a good qualifying effort but he ran 4th in his heat so he was not able to draw for the dash. That was a bummer because track position meant a lot and he would have to start 13th in the feature. Joey was able to finish 10th so that wasn't so bad. A good top 10 finish is definitely better than blowing a tire like the weekend before. So, sometimes you just gotta be thankful for a respectable finish.

After a long day of driving and a late night of racing we left the track and drove until 6:30 a.m. We followed the team and that helps Joey stay awake, but I couldn't hang the whole time. I think I made it until about 4 a.m. and then I hit the couch. I can't say that I really slept because I felt bad for Joey and I worried about him keeping his eyes open but thankfully we made it to Haubstadt safely.

It was a beautiful day and Joey and I were looking forward to seeing Reece who was riding down with his cousin Riley. Reece had a soccer game that a.m. and he scored 5 goals!!!! We are so proud of him and I'm just thinking keep with the soccer Reecey....PLEASE!!!

Before I opened the trailer and before Joey went to the pits we were greeted by a very nice man named Rick, his wife and friends. (They are friends with Steve & Dana Kinser). Rick was cooking up quite the feast! He gave us ribs, chicken, shrimp, steak, mushrooms and my favorite strawberry shortcake. We could have eaten for a week on all the food he gave us. I would really love to see him traveling with the WoO full time! We really want to thank Rick for being so kind to us and for feeding us. Although, I wasn't thinking happy thoughts about him at Aerobics class this a.m. All I could think about was the five pounds of strawberry shortcake I ate throughout the night...lol.

I opened the trailer a little earlier because the crowd was lined up in front of the trailers waiting to buy their tickets and I was busy, busy, busy! It was a fun night to sell and it was also nice to race in our home state of Indiana where Joey is blessed to have a lot of great fans.

Reece showed up with Riley,Jim & Amy (Joey's sister and our brother-in-law). I was so happy to see him but he didn't hang with me for long. He wanted to watch daddy race so off he went to the stands until after the heats and then he returned to the trailer with his cousin and Ella and Ethan Hart (Rob Hart's kids). They of course raced their sprint cars in the back of the trailer. It was a fun night for the kids.

Joey qualified 2nd and ran 2nd in his heat after starting 4th. He then drew for the dash but drew a nine out of ten...ugh! He finished 9th in the dash so he would have to start 9th in the feature. Other than the dash Joey had been fast all night. After some red flags and yellows Joey and Jason Sides had a drag race coming to the checkered and Joey was able to finish 2nd. It was an exciting finish! It was a good night for the #9. Another top ten finish and Joey was able to move up to second in the points.

We have learned in this sport to take it a race at a time because things can change quickly from good to bad and vice versa. I have always said this life is like a roller coaster ride because one second you are up and the next you are down. Hopefully Joey will continue to finish well, be consistent and be rid of the bad luck (blown tires). I think that this season can be the best ever for the team but it's a long season and a lot of things have to go their way. All they can do is continue to work hard and do their best and put themselves in the right situations. Everything else is out of their control.

So, we are now home and enjoying a few days, getting things done before we head out again. Kasey is coming into town and we are going to dinner and hang out for a bit. It will be nice to share a nice evening with him and all the guys. He's pretty pumped up with how the team is doing. I know he is proud and we are grateful to him for this AWESOME opportunity.

I get back to you all after this weekend at Huset's and Knoxville. Looks like it's going to be a bit chilly but hopefully not rain in the forecast.

Enjoy your week~Shannon

 

4 . 28 . 09

I wanted to put this on my blog so I could share with Joey's fans.

We are so blessed to meet and hear from such wonderful people. When I get frustrated with some of the things that happen in this crazy life of racing I stop and think about what it has brought to our life. Aside from the satisfaction of winning and being able to travel and see so many amazing places on this earth there is a much more important thing we have been blessed with and that is the people that we cross paths with at and through racing.

We have met so many people and actually made some of our best friends through racing. The attached video was sent to me from an amazing little boy named Sam Peck who is a big Joey fan. He has touched our hearts and I wanted to share this with all Joey's fans.

Thank you Sam for your sweet message and for supporting Joey. Thank you also for letting me share this with everyone. You have been through a lot and I know you must be one tough little boy. We are so grateful to you and we wish we could see you to give you a big hug! We will look forward to the day that we will get to meet you in person. Until then and beyone may God bless you and your family.

Shannon & Joey

 

4 . 20 . 09

Mother nature won on Saturday and caused the cancellation of the race at Pevely, what a bummer. We drove all the way to the track unhooked the apparel trailer and 15 minutes later here came the rain. We hooked back up to the trailer and headed home.

We made it home around 7:00 or so and decided to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Brownsburg. We really wanted to go pick Reece up, but he was planning on staying the night with his cousin and he made it clear to me that he still wanted to stay when I called to tell him we were on our way home (It's so nice to be missed).

So, after a nice dinner we went home and relaxed, which was kind of nice for a change. Sunday was much of the same thing, it rained all day so there was no need to really even leave the house.

I'm hoping the rain will stop soon so I can get out and work in my yard. Everything is so green and the trees and flowers are blooming, it's my favorite time of year. I'm totally addicted to planting flowers and maintaining my landscaping. The one thing I will truly miss this summer while I'm on the road again full time will be doing these things. Joey knows I'll probably be kind of grumpy about this as silly as it sounds but it's the simple things that truly make me happy. My flowers are one of those things.

Well, nothing much else going on other than being nurse Shannon again except this time it's for Joey. He isn't feeling well and he a has some crazy eye infection that has caused his eye to swell (almost completely shut) especially in the mornings. If you see him at the races this weekend looking like I popped him one I swear I didn't Hopefully it will be fine by the weekend.

Friday morning will be here before I know it and we'll be back on the road again. So, I'll just enjoy the few days at home. Hope you all have great week. I'll be back to write about the weekend of racing.

Thanks~Shannon

 

4 . 17 . 09

Happy Birthday to Kale Kahne and Julie Medeiros today!!!!!

This week at home flew by so fast! We got home late Sunday night and Monday morning came too early for me. It always seems like when I leave even if it's for two days or two weeks I spend a week getting caught up on things at home. This time would be no different.

Reece had an Easter party at school on Monday so we went to Walmart before class and picked up some things for the party in record time. Reece and his classmates had a wonderful day celebrating Jesus Resurrection. I myself love helping in his classroom and I'm so blessed to be able to be with him on these days at school. Reece and I both looked a bit sleepy eyed I must say when we rolled into the school but that's OK we were just glad we made it home in time.

The rest of the week was filled with catching up on my Internet orders which I have to say keeps me so busy, so thanks to all of you fans who buy from Joey's web site...I am always amazed at how many people buy online. It's AWESOME!!! Reece had soccer practice, which was fun to watch as always. Joey was able to be there for the first time since early last fall and he was so impressed with how well Reece was playing. I had told him last year how good Reece had become (because Joey didn't get to see any of his fall games) and I think he just figured I was exaggerating or something. Well, he saw it with his own eyes and he was so proud. I myself just keep thinking just keep playing this Reece and don't even think about driving some darn racecar...lol.

I got a lot done and of course we had our dreaded tax deadline and that's never fun so I try to put that out of my mind. Before we knew it we had to leave for Paducah.

We left home Friday morning and drove down to Kentucky, without Reece which was totally strange for me. He had school Friday and a soccer game Friday night as well as Saturday morning (he's playing as I'm writing this). Reece is staying with his Grandpa and Grandma and loving it! We didn't want to take him away from school and soccer because that's just not fair to him. So, here I am feeling like I've lost a limb and feeling like some terrible mommy for missing his games. I've never missed anything of his so I'm struggling a bit but I also know that I have to be out on the road to work our trailer. Soon enough Reece will be out of school for the summer and helping me in the trailer again.

I did receive a phone call last night from my precious little boy telling me he had scored two goals and won his game! He was very excited and I'm just so proud of him. Oh wait my phone is ringing and it's Reece, oh yeah!! He scored three goals to tie the game. He's happy as can be. Now off to his cousin's to stay the night, so Daddy and I are the furthest thing from his mind.

I opened the trailer and started work, it wasn't as busy as it has been but a nice constant flow of sales so no complaints there. I was able to do some things in the trailer to get more organized so that was nice. I was also waiting for my friend Jan McMahan and two of her friends to arrive because Paul was racing and she wanted to see him. We had a very short but nice visit, which will be one of few this season and I'm so bummed about that. Jan is one of my best friends and we help each other laugh and support each other when things are tough. She's one of my few friends who knows what it's like to be married to a sprint car driver and we lean on each other a lot. So, not being able to spend the summer with her on the road is going to be so hard for me. I'll stop with this now before I get all emotional or something...lol.

Joey's night of racing started out great, he set quick time with a new track record. He ran fourth in his heat, but because he was quick time and transferred out of his heat he was able to draw for the dash. Joey drew a six and quickly worked his way up to second. He was running his preferred top line to pass cars and he was a rocket. He started outside front row of the A but fell back to fourth at the start, his motor was not taking off well in the feature but he was able to get going and he starting passing cars and he got back up to second. He had started running Jason Meyers down in lap traffic and then a yellow came out. On the restart Joey went to the bottom and Schatz passed him and I was like what are you doing Joey?? Hello??? It's always easier to race from the stands of course. There was another yellow and Joey did get back by Donny and he was running second again. Then the red came out which involved Paul McMahan so of course my heart skipped a beat as I'm sitting with Jan, her son Brayden and friends. Paul was OK, so thank God for that. I'm sorry for his bad night.

On the red flag Joey had a hole in his tire probably from running over debris on the track. The team tried to plug the tire but it didn't work so when Joey restarted the race the tire was not holding air and Joey started backing up and then the tire exploded going into turn three causing Joey to brush the wall and he came to a stop. Then Haud and Tim Kaeding came racing into the corner and didn't see Joey and hit him causing him to flip. Joey's car was destroyed but he was fine just frustrated to have such a fast car and to have a tire problem with three laps to go. He easily would have finished second but that's how racing seems to go for him. We are so fortunate to have won five races and to have had a good car last night but when you have these DNF's it's really hard and you just can't have these kind of night's when you are racing for points.

We are driving to Pevely, MO right now and we are hoping to get our race in tonight but mother nature is threatening rain, so we will see what happens. Hopefully we do get to race and Joey will bounce back from last night . He loves racing Pevely and it usually is an exciting track to watch a race.

I'll let you know how the racing goes from Pevely (if we get to race) and I'm hoping I'll be reporting better results.

Thanks for reading~Shannon

 

4 . 11 . 09

I think I must be dreaming and if that is the case please don't wake me up!

I'll have to say that our visit to Texas was fun in more ways than one. After having a great visit with family in San Antonio and traveling on to Kilgore, TX where Joey won Friday it was complete when Joey won again at Baytown on Saturday night. FUN, FUN, FUN.

Joey has never been much of a dancer but it seems he may have done a little Texas two stepping this weekend. If that is the only dancing he ever does I'll be happy with that, I'll leave the other dancing to the folks on Dancing With The Stars.

After a late night of driving after Kilgore we drove until the early hours of the morning to head to Baytown. Of course we stopped to park at our favorite campground AKA Walmart parking lot, (this time it was a less exciting and a safer atmosphere). I was very happy to wake up in the morning to find a Starbucks across the parking lot as well. What more could I ask for, as I have been craving my mocha for weeks. I'm sure the folks at my local Brownsburg Starbucks are thinking I've gone MIA.

Anyway, after loading up on my coffee fix we drove onto the racetrack. We got settled in there, did some cleaning in the Motorhome and then the apparel trailer. I then gathered my sidekicks Reece and Bandit and off to work we went.

Things stayed pretty busy for me in the trailer again, but I was happy to get a little break for Reece's sake so we could make a trip to the concession stand for the first time since we've been on the road. We also had to stop to buy some new race cars to add to Reece's collection. That is ever so important as he performs full on races in the motorhome and preferably on the ground anywhere he can make a dirt track. He usually will perform a replay of the previous evenings race for me, with play by play action. I think that Johnny Gibson (voice of the WoO) may have some competition some day.

Anyway, while we were doing our thing Joey started his night off pretty good. He qualified seventh which put him on the front row of his heat. He was running second until the last lap when he slid Steve Kinser to win the heat. He then went on to the dash which he had drawn a sixth place starting spot to finish fourth. I thought he looked pretty good all night but he later told me that he/Team didn't really feel that good all night. They made a lot of changes throughout the night and by feature time they seemed to have got it right.

Joey started fourth in the A. There were a couple of restarts and on the third restart Joey came out running third and then a lap or so later passed for second. Joey was running the top and he looked really fast as he passed Johnny Herrera for the lead. Joey worked the top of the track for most of the race getting around and through lap traffic nicely. I was starting to get a little worried myself though because I could see the track was taking rubber and the guys behind him had found it. Joey didn't realize it because he been running the top. If the cautions had not come out Joey would have been checked out with several lap cars between him and second but the yellows fell and with that because of the WoO rules the lap cars go to the rear of the field and the rest of the drivers would be right behind him on the restarts. Joey pulled away on each restart. One time Craig Dollansky was able to go to the outside of a lap car as Joey went underneath and pulled ahead briefly but Joey waited for the lap car to push up the track and he regained the lead going down the backstretch. The race from second on back was really good with eight different drivers passing for second.

Finally the checkered fell and Joey was the first to take it for the fifth time this season. I ran Reecey down to victory lane so he could hug daddy and congratulate him. Truth be know though he really just wanted to pick up the confetti so he could bring it back to the motorhome so he could then race his little sprint cars and relive the evening. This morning Daddy won again on Reece's little makeshift racetrack and the confetti fell. My heart just melts when I see him doing this.

We are now driving home to Indiana and it will be nice to get back. Joey has been gone for a month and Reece and I for two weeks. Back to reality for a few days for us. Reece will be glad to get back to school which he loves and I back to my other crazy busy life.

Hope to report back to you after Paducah, KY which next Friday. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter with Family and you remember and you are thankful for all your blessings and sacrifices God made for you. I know I am.

Thanks for reading~Shannon

 

4 . 10 . 09

We rolled in Lonestar Speedway in Kilgore, TX on Thursday afternoon and I knew when I saw it Joey would be fun to watch at the track. I didn't tell him that of course but that's what I was thinking. The track was really nice with high banking, just the kind of track I like to watch Sprint Cars on. I love those Cowboy up kind up tracks when a driver has to get his elbows up and race em.

Reece, Bandit and I opened the apparel trailer at about 3:30 that day to start selling and it was a constant flow of people all night. I couldn't believe the crowd and the amount of fans buying merchandise. I have to thank all who support us and keep us going down the highway race after race. If we continue to be this busy I will have to set up a bed in there for Reece to sleep on...lol. I don't think we closed until 1 a.m.! My little man Reece is such a trooper and he's become quite the helper, making change, keeping my bags stocked and modeling children's apparel.

Joey's night began by qualifying third, stared fourth in his heat and won it by riding the top, he was so fast in the heat. Joey drew a four for the dash and ran second. He started outside front row of the feature next to Haud.

Reece did demand that we watch his daddy race the race, race AKA-The Feature. So, I posted a sign on the trailer that I would be back soon and Reece got to watch his daddy race. It seems like Reece is really started to get into this racing thing (not sure if that's a good or a bad thing...lol). He was cheering with his little arm a flying in the air and I had to laugh as I know who he gets that from. He looks so cute doing it and I know I just look like a fool, but I don't care, I get excited what can I say?

The feature starts and Haud got the lead but it was called back can't remember the reason, then another restart and Joey gets the lead only to have another restart. The third time is good and Joey gets the lead and he would lead every lap to win his fourth victory of the season which was a nice Birthday gift to car owner Kasey who celebrated his 29th Birthday today...HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kasey!!! The race was full of cautions and a red (with no injuries) and it seemed like an eternity for the final lap to arrive. The last five laps always seem like they take forever so I tend to have to close my eyes and look down. Reece is yelling and then he looks down at me and says "mommy what's wrong?" I said I'm nervous Reecey and his reply was "mommy don't you worry my daddy is winning this race, don't you know this is just his kind of track?" I thought I would crack up. He had it figured out at five years old what kind of tracks his daddy favors....lol. I told him not to be so sure that anything can happen and never take things for granted. We should pray to finish safe and that's more important.

Well, I'm glad Reece was right, his daddy won and so I ran Reece down to victory lane so he could give his daddy a hug and get some pics taken with him. I just love seeing my boys so happy, I couldn't ask for anything more really. My life is so blessed and not because of winning but because we are able to spend time together and just be happy. Reece told his dad that this was the happiest day of his life. Joey told him well Reece there will be much happier days for you ahead and winning races won't really be that important. Reece is just so sweet if I do say so myself.

I ran back to the trailer to find a line of people waiting to buy and I sold to some really nice and patient fans. My friend Anita stepped into help for a bit, so thanks to her.

Finally the night was over and we loaded up to start another drive, but before doing so I had to put on my nurse hat and this time it was for Joey who busted open his elbow. He had been banging it on something in the car when he was racing. He was hitting a rut pretty good in turn three about every lap and it caused him to have this happen. He needed a few stitches but no time for that, had to get down the road again to Houston (Baytown), TX where will race Saturday night. I'm hoping to report good things from this event as well.

Thanks for reading~Shannon

 

4 . 9 . 09

Well it's been an interesting couple of weeks for the Saldana's. Let me start by saying that I had forgotten how fun it is to drive across the country...lol. I guess the older I get the harder it is to do it. I have often thought to myself I don't know how Steve and Dana Kinser have done this for so many years.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining because I'm not. I really do feel blessed to be able to travel and see the beatiful places that I have because racing has taken me there. I also know how fortunate we are to have a ride on the WoO tour, especially when it's driving for Kasey Kahne. Racing has been and continues to be very good to my family.

So, let me tell you about our travels since Phoenix. We left Phoenix after the races and headed to San Antonio to visit Joey's Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Bill. We arrived at her house on Monday afternoon after a day and a half of driving. We were really happy to be able to visit her because we usually only get to see her at the Knoxville Nationals once a year.

We spent Monday evening just visiting with the family. Reece was so happy to be able to play with Joey's cousin's son Alex who is almost five. They played with Reece's sprint cars and they ran around and had a great time. On Tuesday we ran some errands with the boys and let them play some more.

Then come early Wednesday a.m. Reece woke up with a very high fever and for five days he was sick (AGAIN) with a virul infection running fevers as high as 105! We took him to the doctor and the ER only to be told to let it run it's course. That is a very helpless feeling to watch your child feel so sick and it's especially hard when you are living in a motorhome away from home. I really do have to thank Aunt Jeanie though for helping us and driving us all over town to the Doctor and ER during later hours of the night. She is just the sweetest women on the earth!

On Friday we decided to go ahead and drive about 3 hours south down to Port Aransas/Mustang Island, TX so we could just relax in an RV campground. We thought that if Reece started to feel better that he would then be able to go to the beach because that is all he has really wanted to do. For two days Reece just laid in the motorhome, poor boy was so pitiful. On Sunday Reece's fever broke and he wanted to go to the beach. We spent an hour and a half walking the beach and shelling. It didn't take too long and he was wore out so we went back to the motorhome again. Even though we didn't spend much time on the beach I'm glad Reece was well enough to spend a little time there.

Monday we headed back to San Antonio to Aunt Jeanie's house and we had two more great days there. We went to a Wild Animal Drive through Safari where animals walk up to your car. We fed Zebra's and Ostrich's and all kinds of other exotic animals. It was AWESOME!! Then on Wednesday Aunt Jeanie, Alex, Reece and I went to The River Walk and Alamo in San Antonio. It was an amazing thing to see. We loved every second of that day for sure.

Thanks to Budweiser and Kale Kahne who helped line up some tickets to the San Antonio Spurs game, Joey was able to take his cousin Barry and his son Zach to the game. They had a great night watching the Spurs play. It was a fun thing for the boys to be able to do. Thanks to Budweiser for the hook up on the tix!

Thursday rolled around and back on the road we went. We had about a five hour drive to Kilgore, TX where we would race on Friday night.

Although, our trip (Reece's Spring Break) was plagued for the most part with him being sick we were able to enjoy some great fun with family and we are so glad we could make the trip and hope we will be able to go back there again next year.

Thanks to Uncle Bill and Aunt Jeanie again for their hospitality. We love you guys and we appreciate everything you did for us.

I'll blog again about the races. Thanks for reading.

~Shannon~

 

4 . 1 . 09

Our first night in Phoenix was an interesting one. Joey had picked us up at the airport and we were off to find a Walmart so I could pick up some things (like food) since Joey doesn't seem to keep too much in the motorhome when we are not with him. We also like to park in their parking lots because Walmarts are always kind about letting us do so.

So, I get my shopping done and then head back to the motorhome where we settle in for the night. Reece, Bandit and I were soooo tired because we were on east coast time so it must have been like 1 a.m. or so.

After sleeping for a couple of hours Joey and I awoke to hooting and hollering and screeching tires. We look out the window and there are cars doing doughnuts and drifting in the parking lot just 50 ft. away from out motorhome. It was actually scary because we were not in the best of areas although the shopping center was nice and new. So, we put the slide in on the motorhome and quickly started up the mh and off we went. We just drove to the track and hoped we'd be safe there. After that bit of excitement and interruption in sleep I'm still tired and hope to get caught up on some rest soon.

Saturday came and it was race day. The last WoO race at Manzanita Speedway was taking place because the track is being bulldozed. It was sad to see after a long history of racing there but all things come to an end I suppose. I'm just glad we could be there one last time.

Now onto the racing. Joey's night started out descent, he was the first car to qualify and he timed in 3rd overall. Joey started 4th in his heat and ran third after getting sideways trying to pass Lucas Wolfe. Fortunately there were only three heats and the top three finishers were able to draw for the dash. Joey drew and eight and ran seventh. After starting seventh in the feature Joey spun coming off of turn four on the first lap. Driver error on this one, Joey should have just settled in as the track was taking rubber and he would have had a top ten finish. This wouldn't be the case on this night. Joey went to the tail and was able to come back up to eleventh. He salvaged a descent finish and this was good for overall points.

I myself didn't get to see one lap of racing (which is unusual) and that makes me sad but I had to work in the apparel trailer and I really didn't want to close it up at all. It's a funny thing because I took my computer to listen to the race. How crazy is that? The track is literally 100 ft. away from my trailer and I didn't even see one car make a lap. I'm sure I'll be able to Atlas get to watch the features during future races.

Reece and Bandit were real troopers all night long, it's hard on them to stay in the trailer for 8 hours or so but they did it and I'm grateful to have them with me. Reece made some beautiful artwork of which he plans to sell out of our trailer if anyone is interested, you never know he may be the next Picasso...lol.

I have to say thanks to all the nice fans who support Joey and for those who stop by our trailer to buy merchandise. You make it possible for us to be out on the road with Joey and you are a big part of our lively hood. There are no better fans than Sprint car fans!!!

Until next time~Shannon

 

 

3 . 30 . 09

Happy Spring to everyone, I'm sure you all are ready for some nice weather like I am.

Reece, Bandit (our puppy) and I have officially joined Joey out on the road for again at least for a couple of weeks. We left Indianapolis on Friday after Reece finished school and what an adventure it has been thus far. I was slightly stressed going to the airport with my huge bags, two 30 lb. backpacks and Bandit in his little carrying case, who BTW was supposed to be sleeping with help of some meds that the vet gave me, no such luck there.

With Spring Break starting for most of our schools around Indy the airport was pretty busy so that added to the chaos of us trying to get checked in but with a lot of patience and some clever maneuvering of bags I got checked in and off to security we go. Now it was time for the fun to begin.

I felt sorry for people who were behind us going through security because it took me quite awhile to take of shoes, take out the computer, the DS and the dog out of his little bag so we could run it all through X Ray and then of course I would set off the security as I was walking through, so off came the earrings and the dog collar from Bandit of course. Thank God one of these was the cause of the alarm so now I could get everything gathered up and put away and off to board the plane.

As I was walking to the gate I saw Johnny Gibson (voice of the WoO) and he was like I saw you going through Security and I said oh I'm sure you did, how could you not notice the frazzled crazy women with dog in tow. How embarrassing!!! I wouldn't be surprised if my experience was videoed by someone and ended up on Youtube...lol.

Soon after arriving at the gate we were able to board. I made sure when I booked the flight I reserved the back row of seats so we could be close to the bathroom because a child always has to go and of course this would be the case as soon as we boarded the plane. So, I put the dog under my seat and to the bathroom I take Reece and as soon as we shut the door in the spacious bathroom I hear my dog start yelping and crying and then the flight attendant lets out a scream. Everyone is looking around like what was that noise. I of course wanted to run off the plane but had to fess up that oh sorry that would be my dog and he's just a little scared. I know people were thinking of great we have to deal with a crying dog the entire flight.

Finally, things settled down and Reece and the dog fell asleep and I was able to relax for about an hour and half of the almost four hour flight. We arrived safely in Phoenix and I was so thankful we hadn't been removed from the flight because of my sweet little puppy's crying and carrying on.

Reece and I were so happy to see Joey's smiling face when we heading down to get our bags. It had been sevemteem days since we had seen him which isn't' all that long of a separation compared to a lot of our other times but it had been long enough and now we were together as a family and excited to spend a few weeks with him.

We are looking forward to a little racing and a lot more fun while we are in Texas visiting Joey's Aunt. I'll keep you posted on our fun times and of course the racing.

Hope everyone enjoys their Spring Break if they are having one. Thanks for reading my blog.

Shannon

 

3 . 23 . 09

Hello, I'm back after a very long and stressful week of taking care of my sick son. My poor little guy spent eight days fighting a very bad stomach virus but now he has finally overcome it and he's back to his happy and healthy self. I then caught it but I was fortunate to only have it for a couple of days. So, now we are both gearing up to head to the races this weekend in Phoenix. It is definitely a much needed vacation for both of us.

Joey raced in Tulare, CA this past weekend and it was a successful weekend of racing. The first night of racing Joey timed in 7th qk., he ran 4th in his heat. He didn't make it into the dash so he would have to start 12th in the A. I believe it was Lucas Wolfe who should have started 10th in the A but because he was late to push off for the feature that would move Joey up to the 10th starting position. Joey passed a few cars then fell back to 12th at one point then he passed two more cars again to finish 10th in the A. Joey said his car was tight, which seemed to be the case for a lot of the other drivers on this night. This night wasn't the best night of racing for the #9 but all in all a top ten finish is respectable so they would take it and move onto the next night of racing.

On Saturday night Joey timed in 14th qk., this would put him on the front row of a heat which he won. Joey was then able to draw for the dash and he drew a starting spot of 6 and finished 3rd in the Dash. So, he lined up 3rd in the A and set out to win his third feature of the season. At the start of the feature Joey came out running 3rd and he would run in that position until the tenth lap. Joey then slid Sammy Swindell and started chasing down the leader Terry McCarl. Joey was then able to slide McCarl for the lead on lap 14. Lap traffic was heavy and this made for some awesome but nerve wracking racing. Terry actually passed Joey back and then Joey got him back. The race was full of slide jobs and slicing and dicing through lap traffic.

Listening to it on the internet was crazy. Kasey and I were texting throughout the night and he was very excited. The race was delayed on my computer so when he text me a big wooohooo I was relieved and I could actually breath while I listened to the last two laps because I knew the outcome. Win #3 for the season was in the record books....YEAH!!!!

I'm very happy for the KKR team and for our sponsors. There was definitely a lot of Budweiser being drank in celebration late into the night after the races or should I say early hours of the morning. Wish I could have been there to celebrate too but I'm hoping there will be some more celebrating to do after Reece and I fly out this weekend. BTW Joey and Team the trophy girl from Tulare won't be at the next race...lol sorry to disappoint, maybe she should be at all the races because you would probably win them all...lol.

I'll keep you all posted on how our trip to Phoenix goes. I'm a bit nervous to travel because we are taking our new puppy Bandit with us on the plane...this could make for an interesting blog in itself.

I want to thank Julie, Steven (AKA-Bill), Darren, Gabrielle, Ernie, Donna and Big Ernie Gomez for the support of Joey and for helping me with the T-shirt sales. Steven I will try not to let you down when I return to selling this weekend and I will do my best to keep the trailer tidy and organized to you your liking. You all are great friends actually more like family.

As always, thanks for reading and for support Joey and the KKR #9.

Shannon

 

3 . 16 . 09

Sorry for the delay with my latest blog but my life has been very hectic since Saturday to say the least.

Well, after the highest of highs from Joey's win on Friday night at Chico everything began to go down hill on Saturday.

On Saturday morning our son Reece started feeling under the weather and by Saturday night he was really sick. He nor I slept at all Saturday night because of this and by Sunday afternoon I had to take him to the Emergency room because the poor little guy was so dehydrated. I can honestly say that when your child is sick it is the worst feeling in the world. My heart was just breaking seeing him so sick and there was nothing I could do to help him feel better. I just wish I could trade places with him.

When things like this happen in our lives that is when this racing life gets hard. I know it is hard on Joey and he worries so much about Reece and me. I tried to reassure Joey that Reece would be fine but when I had to take Reece to the hospital on Sunday he knew things were serious.

Reece was released from the hospital but unfortunately he is still sick. I'm trying to keep him hydrated with the help of medicine but at this point he's still very sick. Hopefully he will feel much better tomorrow and with each new day. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Now onto Saturday's races. Things certainly didn't end up any better for us as far as racing is concerned.

Joey had another great qualifying run and timed in 2nd. Joey started 4th in his heat and finished 2nd. He drew an 8 for the dash and ran 5th which was pretty good since the track was becoming hard to pass on due to the fact that it was taking rubber. Bad weather was moving in so the track was not able to work on the surface (they certainly would have otherwise) so every driver would have to prepare to race on a rubber down track which is never fun for the drivers and certainly isn't enjoyable for the fans to watch in most cases.

Come feature time Joey lined up fifth and got a good start actually passing Steve Kinser but Steve was able to get back by him. Joey settled into 5th while running in the rubber on the bottom of the track. On the third lap Craig Dollansky got a run off of turn two running the top he then drove up on the outside of Joey in the middle of the back stretch. Then suddenly Craig changed his line turning down on Joey and hit Joey's front end. Evidently Craig was trying to get down to the rubber but Joey was there and had never changed his line. Joey said he did hit his brakes and if he had not he probably would have flipped. When Craig hit Joey it broke several things on the front end, steering gear and also caused him to get a flat tire. Joey had done a few 360's before he came to a stop.

Joey did go to the work area and the team changed the tire and a drag link but they were unable to change all the other parts that were broken because the WoO only allows two minutes in the work area. So, Joey had to just try to do the best that he could. Joey did get involved in another crash with Bobby McMahan which brought out the yellow flag. Joey then restarted again at the tail and spun out all by himself because of the front end damage and steering problems. The WoO did allow Joey to restart again. I know people were upset that they let Joey restart again after being involved in three cautions but as I understand the rules state if a driver is involved in two unassisted yellows (all by himself) then he is not allowed to restart the race. Therefore, Joey technically was only involved in one unassisted yellow.

Anyway, after all of that Joey salvaged a 19th place finish which is very disappointing considering how fast his car was. Joey and the team feel they had a top 5 car and it was unnecessarily taken away but that's the way it goes. The guys will put this weekend behind them and roll on down the road to Tulare, CA. They have had success there in the past and look forward to a great weekend of racing.

I'll be blogging after the races at Tulare and hopefully it will be a much more cheerful blog to read. More importantly I hope that I will be able to write that Reece is feeling like the happy and cheerful little boy that he usually is.

Thanks for reading ~ Shannon

 

3 . 14 . 09

I was hoping when I blogged about this weekend's racing that I could tell everyone Joey had won and I'm thrilled to write that Joey did win the opening night of Mini Gold Cup at Chico.

I wish I could have been there to watch in person but at least I was able to watch on Dirtvision.com.

The feature was a long and nerve wracking race because there were 13 cautions and 2 red flags (fortunately noone was hurt). The track had some large ruts which were part of the reason for the cautions but otherwise the track was in good condition (especially since they have had a lot of rain) according to Joey and other drivers in post race interviews.

Joey started the evening by setting quick time which was a new track record with a 10.918 which broke the 50 + year 11 second barrier. I was thinking to myself then that it was going to be a good night even though it was Friday the 13th! Joey started 4th in his heat and finished 3rd. Joey was eligible to draw for the dash and he drew a 5 for his starting position in the dash. Joey finished where he started-5th.

So, Joey started 5th in the A and he was able to pass Jonathan Allard in the opening lap of the race. Joey then passed Donny Schatz for third and went after Terry McCarl for 2nd. Joey would pass McCarl several times only to have the yellow come out so Terry would regain his 2nd place postion.

Finally, Joey made the pass on McCarl and the began to chase down his teammate Craig Dollansky. On lap 26 Joey passed Craig in lapped traffic and went on to win the race but not without several cautions which of course made me crazy nervous.

As nervous as I was watching the race on my computer it was nice to have my friends Steven and Darren Gomez texting me updates especially since the race on Dirtvision was a bit delayed. I actually found out that Joey had won the race before it was over on Dirtvision and this made watching the final laps less stressful for me.

I'm so very proud of the team and Joey. They have been working so hard to get their motors figured out. The team even drove all the way back to Indiana from Las Vegas so they could work with the Motor builder and Tim Engler. They then drove back out to California to race this weekend. I know they are glad that they did as it definitely paid off by getting this victory.

Kasey text me after the race and he was a very happy car owner and that is always a good thing!

Tonight is a new night and hopefully the team will have a repeat of Friday night's race. I'm hoping for another win because today is Joey's Birthday and maybe he'll have some Birthday Luck!

Well, I'll be back after tonight's race. As always thanks for reading my blog!

Thanks to all of you have been reading and for giving me your kind feedback.

Happy Birthday Joey!!!! Good Blessings tonight!!!

Shannon

 

3 . 9 . 09

Well, its been a little over a week since I last blogged and I thought I would update everyone on what's been going on in our world.

Joey flew home last Monday evening because the race at Watsonville, CA was canceled. It was great that he was able to fly home because it was a busy and exciting week for our son Reece and Joey wanted to be here to be a part of it.

We had signed Reece up for a three week wrestling program through a local high school and it was a busy and crazy three weeks. Reece had never wrestled before but he really wanted to give it a try. I have to say I was nervous about letting him do it and I soon realized that it was the most exciting but nerve wracking thing I've every watched personally. (Watching Joey race did not even compare to watching my 5 yr old 40 lb son wrestle...ugh!).

Reece did AWESOME!!! His team finished 2nd overall (out of nine teams) and he finished 3rd in the individual meet. We were very proud parents especially since Reece was one of the few boys who had never wrestled before. Joey was so glad he could be home to watch Reece and it was interesting for me to watch Joey as he watched his son. Joey had wrestled in school so he could really appreciate how hard Reece was trying even at his young age. I could not believe Reece's determination and competitiveness he showed with each match....it was intense! We are proudly displaying Reece's trophy, medal and ribbons among Joey's racing trophies and we hope there will be many more to add to the collection in the future.

Wrestling may be over but things will not be slowing down around here as spring soccer will soon begin. Unfortunately, Joey will be racing for most if not all of Reece's games and that is tough but it is a part of our life and we accept that. Reece is amazingly understanding for a 5 year old and that makes it easier to deal with. His phone calls to daddy telling him how his game went or how many goals he scored are always special.

Well, I have covered pretty much everything that we have done this last week and now we are preparing for Joey to leave and that is never fun. The days that Joey leaves are always sad days for all of us but we focus on the next time we will be together and I'm happy to say that at the end of the month Reece, our new puppy Bandit and myself will be flying to Phoenix and we will get to see Joey race there as well as in Texas. We will do some fun Spring Break things and I'll be sure to blog about them when we do them.

I will most definitely be blogging after this weekend's racing at Chico and I'm hoping it will good news!!!

I also would like to give a shout out to our great friend Steven. Thanks Steven for running the T-Shirt trailer for us since I'm unable to be out on the road at this time. You have taken a huge load off of me and we are so thankful...YOU ROCK!!

Thanks for reading~Shannon

 

2 . 27 . 09

My usual race night routine when I'm unable to attend the races is staying up late listening to Dirstvision.com which is so nice to be able to do. Unfortunately listening and being there are not quite the same because obviously you can't see exactly what is going on and if Joey is not being mentioned my mind tends to go a little crazy wondering where he is running or if something is wrong? Everything imaginable goes through my mind. I tell myself it is best to just wait until I receive my phone call from Joey so I can learn of all the evenings events however, it's not always that easy.

Well, I received my post race phone call and it is not exactly what I wanted to report back to you fans. It turns out that Las Vegas was not so lucky for Joey and his #9 KKR Team.

The Team had some motor issues last night causing them to have to change a motor after the heat race. Joey was able to win his heat from the pole which allowed him to draw for a starting position in the Dash. Joey drew a nine and was able to finish seventh in the dash. After the dash the team had to thrash to change a U-Joint. Next thing you know the horn was blowing indicating it was time to line up to push off for the feature.
Therefore, the team had to hurry to get out to the push off lane and because of this there was an issue with the bleeder in the wheel (which helps regulate the air in the tires). Joey said he felt his right rear going down on about lap five so anytime he would get a good run going the car would roll over on the right rear causing his car to be too tight. There were moments when he was pulling wheelies down the straightaways.

So, finally on I believe lap twenty-six the tire finally blew and the crew was able to make the quick change so Joey could push back off. Joey had to go to the rear (which moved him back to 16th). In a few laps he was able to get up to eleventh and that is where he finished.

Considering all the bad luck it was good that Joey was able to get back on the track and finish the race. The thing about our TEAM is that they NEVER give up and that is something Joey is proud of. There will always be those bad nights but you have to work through those and not get discouraged. It's a long WoO season so you just have to keep working hard and stay positive. (A little luck is always a good thing too!)

Well, I better get back to my mommy business...time to get Reece to school. I hope you all have a great weekend and thanks for reading my blog.

Shannon

 

2 . 26 . 09

I just want to say thanks to all of you fans who have given me feedback regarding Joey's new site. We are so glad to see so many people logging on and checking it out.

Also, thanks to all of you who have placed orders for Joey's new merchandise. I couldn't believe how many orders I received within minutes of the site going public. Wow, I'm just so thankful for all of your support!!! I'm definitely going to have to stay on my toes if it continues this way and hopefully it does.

Well, after a busy day at home in Indiana going here and there trying to get errands run and taking Reece to school and then wrestling practice and doing homework it is time to start settling down so that I can listen to Joey race on dirtvision, which (settling down) is totally what I will not be doing while listening (for those of you who know me). I am looking forward to listening tonight but more than likely I will end up making my laps around my living room or perhaps my driveway...lol which I have been known to do on occasion when the racing really gets nerve wracking. I'm just sure my neighbors think I'm nuts! Anyway, I'll be listening until the wee hours of the morning since I live in the eastern time zone and Vegas is 3 hours behind me. I'll be praying as always for a safe and successful night. GOOD BLESSINGS AND GO JOEY!!!!

I'll be blogging again after the races. Thanks for the support~Shannon

 

 

2 . 24 . 09

Hello, I'm Shannon (Joey's wife). Thank you for checking out my new blog. I wanted an opportunity to keep fans updated on how Joey is doing racing and share a bit of what goes on in our fun but crazy life of World of Outlaw Sprint Car racing.

I'll be honest, this is a new adventure for me so I hope I don't disappoint. I will do my best to blog as often as I can but I will probably get behind from time to time as I will be keeping busy selling merchandise out of Joey's apparel trailer at the races which is a full time job itself, but more importantly I will keep busy being a mommy to our son, Reece.

I hope I will keep things interesting and I really hope to be posting Joey WINS quite often. So, thank you in advance for reading my blog and more importantly for supporting Joey and the #9 Sprint Car Team.

Shannon