To put it mildly, my season-opening trip to Florida was a pretty good one. Last fall, my brother, Scotty came down for the Winter Series races and had one of the best weeks of his career. After two runner-up finishes as the Division 2 points meet in Orlando and a big Super Comp win at the Gatornationals, I guess you could say that this was one of my better weeks as well. I didn't like losing in two finals in Orlando, but at the same time, I was very grateful to be in two finals and it certainly didn't hurt me in the battle for the Super Comp or Stock championships, which obviously is my main goal for 2000.

It's funny how things work sometimes. In Gainesville, I couldn't even open and close the door right in my E/SA '94 Camaro, but in my Ben Worthy-built Super Comp dragster, I could do no wrong.

My final round race with Larry Ericksmoen was one of the best finals I've ever been in, period. We both ran 8.902 and I had him by two thousandths on the tree, .416 to .418. It was really an amazing race. Obviously, neither of us knew who won until the win light came on in my lane. It was one of those races that you hated to see someone lose because Larry deserved to win it as much as I did. He's a hell of a nice guy and a really tough racer. In fact, I remember him from the early days when we used to go to Byron Dragway in Illinois because that was the only place where you could run for big money in bracket racing. Larry used to have a green Vega called Easy Money and he won one of the original Cash Nationals events at Byron.

The Gainesville win really helped and if I can do some good at the next couple of events, I figure I'll be in good shape. I've never started the year off with a national event win, event the two years that I won championships, so I feel like I'm ahead of schedule right now. My new BorgWarner/Rydin Decal dragster is probably the best racecar I've ever owned and I like the Camaro I'm driving in Stock as well.

This week, my plan is to take it easy and get plenty of rest. I'm going to need it. My game plan is to go to the Division 2 race at Silver Dollar Dragway in Reynolds, Ga., this weekend and then make the 2,200-mile tow to Las Vegas for the new Summitracing.com Nationals. It's going to be a grueling trip, but it's one that I'm looking forward to. Since my BorgWarner Automotive teammate, Jason Lynch is staying home with his wife, Tina, to await the birth of their second child; I've called in some reinforcements to help me make it to Las Vegas in one piece. My buddy, Lonnie Grimm is going to help me get the rig across country. I'm sure that no matter what I do at Silver Dollar, I'll be tired as hell when I get to Las Vegas, but I don't want to miss the first race there. It should be plenty exciting. Besides, now that I've won a race in Gainesville, Las Vegas is one of the few nationals events I haven't won. The others are Bristol, Sonoma, Indy, and Reading and before I'm done, I'd like to get all of them. That would be the ultimate. I don't think anyone has ever won every NHRA national event. So far only Warren Johnson has done it, and for a sportsman driver to do it would be amazing. I know David Nickens has come close but it gives me something to shoot for, especially the Indy win. That's the one race that I'd really like to win before I retire.

I still find it hard to believe that I've been fortunate enough to win 39 national events. I still say Scott is a better racer and if anyone is going to someday challenge John Force and Warren Johnson for the all-time record, it might just be him because he's young and he's really hungry this year. Oh well, I'm off to Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Ky., for the first Tenn Tuck race of the year this weekend, then it's off to Silver Dollar and then onto Las Vegas. They call Vegas "Disneyland for Adults" and I'm sure I'll have plenty more stories to share when I get back from there. It should be fun. Stay tuned.