This is for Jim.
(...who we all know works very hard at those IHRA drag racing events).

I'm also doing this because the radio station this hottie works for (101 WRIF in Detroit) has requested these photos. And hey, they're really good photos. Jim shot these at the IHRA race in Milan, Michigan in August.

So I'm sharing... for all to enjoy!

So, here I am... somewhere over the Canadian Rockies, chasing a late afternoon sunset. It's the fist leg of a long "red eye" scheduled to get me home in the morning.

I've been gone a week... again. Not complaining mind you, I'm just looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, mowing my own grass, chasing my dog around the yard and my wife around the bedroom.

This isn't about my to-do list really. It's more about stopping to smell the roses, enjoying the moment. Or, maybe it's just about nice people who work for nice companies. Does it really take that much to be nice?

After another long week of being on the road, I'm looking forward to making my way home.

From a press release...

NORWALK, Ohio (December 14, 2006) -- IHRA has retained Jim Walczak and his marketing team to manage advertising sales for the company's in-house publication DRM.

Source: IHRA.com

Every now and then I've got to jump on my soapbox and make a little noise. Maybe rattle a few cages or something.

As many of you know I do some PR and marketing work from some drag racers. Melanie Troxel is not one of them. For those that don't know who Melanie is, spot me 100 words or so here and you can have a chance to vote for her to win an ESPY.

Melanie is the pilot for the Skull Gear, TORCO Race Fuels, top fuel dragsters racing out of the Don Schumacher Racing camp. Mel has dominated NHRA Top Fuel Drag Racing this season. According to CompetitionPlus.com , she set an NHRA record for the most consecutive final-round appearances (five) to open a season in Top Fuel. She's also the quickest (4.458 seconds) and fastest (331.04 mph) female racer in NHRA history. Should she finish the season first in points, she would become just the second woman to win an NHRA Top Fuel world championship title. Legendary Shirley Muldowney earned three during her driving career.

Maybe I shouldn't be revealing my age, but I can remember when staying up late on Saturday nights was... well it wasn't really "late" back then.

I also remember that "LIVE From New York - It's Saturday Night!" was an anthem that always brought a smile to my face.

But, it's been - what? A decade or more since SNL has been worth staying up for?

Thank God for XM Radio!

Last night I was on the first leg of another "all-nighter" returning from a drag racing commitment. XM has kept me on the road and awake on more than one occasion.

Last night my choice was MLB on XM. After all, there's not much Cleveland Indians coverage on TV in Tennessee (at least my buddy Neil is lucky enough to be a Cubs fan -- he gets TV and XM).

But, I digress. During the game, Indians announcers Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan made comments that even hardcore fans would question.

When Ronnie Belliard made an outstanding play to end the inning, they said that it was one of the best plays they had ever seen in baseball. In fact, they even said that they know it's an overused statement -- but they're sticking with it.

When I got home, I decided to check it out myself.

Now, you can be the judge...

Yes, it's timely... being the 4th of July today. But I'd have to say that the song "4th of July" by Shooter Jennings is my own personal anthem.

In fact, Shooter's dad, Waylon Jennings, was the first "superstar" we spotted when we moved to Nashville.

Not only is July 4th my favorite holiday... I can tell you PRECISELY what I was doing on any given 4th of July!