Avondale, Ariz. — I love Saturday night racing. This week in Phoenix we start a part of the Sprint Cup Series schedule that is one of my favorites. With the exception of Talladega next Sunday, three of the next four races are going to be held on Saturday night. To me night racing has always been better than racing during the day. I have several reasons why I like night racing better.

I am not sure if my early years in racing have anything to do with it or not, but as I have mentioned in some of my previous blogs, most of us grew up racing on Saturday nights. Most of my teenage years were spent racing on some short track in the Midwest on Friday, Saturday or Sunday night in the summer.

Another reason I like night racing is the race cars just look so good. To me they look like they are always going 200 mph even when they are sitting still. I guess it is the way they glow under the lights or the special decals the race teams use. For whatever reason I think that a race car looks better under the lights.

It is not as important in the spring or the fall, but when we go to Daytona in July racing at night saves us from the brutal heat of the day. Do not get me wrong I love to be out in the sun and I spend every minute I can outside, however it is nice every once awhile to get a break. Racing under the lights helps the track stay at a consistent temperature, this I believe helps a little bit when it comes to setting up the race cars. A race track changes so much during a 500 mile race anyway, giving all the elements rubber, oil, and temperature. Not having to contend with the sun beating down on the track and helping to draw out the oils and heating up the track is just one less condition to deal with.

The main reason I like to race on Saturday nights is the fact we have Sunday off. I think it is great to be able to just hang out with family and friends on Sunday and just relax. I think all of us who work in racing take for granted a nice quiet Sunday afternoon until we get the chance to enjoy one every once in awhile.

I am definitely looking forward to this Saturday night in Phoenix. Our number 99 Ford Fusion will have the Subway colors on it for the first time this year. Hopefully we can put the Subway/Aflac Fusion into victory lane in the Subway Fresh Fit 500. It would be cool to win the Subway race with the Subway car.

Jason