Daytona Beach, Fla. — Hey gang.

When the folks at Team Ford Racing asked me to write this blog, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to find a good topic each week—without just giving a recap of the race. Well, this week there is no struggle for material!

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Yep, we won the Daytona 500! The biggest of the big—the one everyone wants! It’s the race that you literally dream about winning.

Let me take you inside my head a little and give you an idea of what it’s been like.

First, while it was a matter of minutes between the times it began raining until the deemed the race official, it seemed like hours. And Mother Nature sure had a sense of humor by letting the intensity of the rain go from mist, to drizzle, to downpour, back to drizzle and then downpour again. My emotions, well, they changed like the weather.

I really didn’t want to get too excited when it started raining because it looked as though there was a good chance that it wouldn’t last. So, I kept my composure as best as I could.

What you start doing is running all the scenarios through your head. How long will we have to wait for a decision? Will it keep raining? How long is it going to take me to get to victory lane and celebrate with the guys? Well, I solved that problem first.

Since the track was already soaked and would take about three hours to dry, I left the spotters stand and headed downstairs. This allowed me to avoid the crowded elevators and stairways. I actually stood (in the rain) right next to the gate that leads to the track—so that when it opened I could sprint the 300 yards to victory lane—and sprint I did!

When I got to pit road, Matt was just finishing a television interview and was signing some autographs. I walked up next to him and asked for his signature—that’s when he recognized my voice. He turned around and gave me a big hug. His eyes were wet. So were mine. And it wasn’t from the rain because we were both wearing hats. We walked together to victory lane and began the celebration. It was really amazing—it still is.

MY OWN TROPHY
Back in 2003, just four days before we were declared Champions post-race at Rockingham, I got the Winston Cup Championship logo tattooed on my leg. Big risk. Matt reminded me of that day by asking, “How come you didn’t get the Daytona 500 logo tattooed on your leg?” That was all I had to hear.

We landed back in Charlotte a little before noon on Monday. I called my wife and told her that I would be tied up for the next few hours—I’m getting another tattoo. And so I did—lots of pain for lots of gain!

I can’t begin to tell you how much this means to our team, to Jack and the entire Roush-Fenway organization and to Ford. It’s such a huge victory for everyone and I am honored and humbled to have played a small role in it.

This week we are off to Fontana where we the Roush-Fenway Fords have had a lot of success—so we’re really excited about going there and to Las Vegas as well. Our plan: Keep the fire burning!!