The 25: Speed Rain Darkness Damage Glory
GoRacingTV.com’s Documentary of NASA’s 25 Hours of Thunderhill

Krider Racing, a team that drove its way to success in crap-can racing with both the 24 Hours of LeMons and ChumpCar $500 racecar events, graduated to National Auto Sport Association (NASA) races and competed in the Western Endurance Racing Championship (WERC). The team applied their tried-and-true formula from racing beaters and went on to earn the 2010 E3 Championship title in the WERC series. Cameras followed the team to NASA’s headline-year-ending event, the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. With narration by “RacerBoy” Rob Krider and production from GoRacingTV.com this gritty documentary came to life about what it was like to “Survive the 25.”

Click Here To See The Documentary

Admittedly, most of the coverage I produced was self-centered, egotistical and extremely self congratulatory (a lot like this very post). However, that sort of accidentally happened. The original idea was to bring coverage of amateur motorsports events to Jalopnik. The plan was for it to be real, in-depth coverage, where the rubber actually meets the road. To do this my friends and I would run anything anywhere, see where we finished and I would chronicle our adventures on the site for like minded gearheads to enjoy. That meant being at the tracks and actually competing in the events. Unfortunately, sometimes it meant beating up my friends’ cars (sorry about that guys) because I didn’t own the right type of vehicle for a certain race. One particular borrowed ride was an Infiniti FX 45 that we used at a Rallycross, which, rumor has it, will never be the same. Good thing it was a lease.

Some of the “live” coverage of these events I tried to do wasn’t very “live” at all. This was due to the fact that I bit off a little more than I could chew. With towing cars to race tracks, organizing the crew, setting up the car, learning a new track, attending drivers’ meetings, fixing crash damage, and most importantly, drinking beer, I often didn’t have the few moments I needed to sit behind my computer, highjack some wifi, find a picture that wasn’t completely blurry and quickly put up a post on Jalopnik. Trying to put up the stories quickly resulted in grammatical errors and sometimes stories with major details missing. Most of the time, I just didn’t have enough time. Winning the race was the priority. The blogging would have to wait.

Eventually the race would be over, and if everything went right for my team, we won. Trophies were handed out and victory beers were consumed. After the celebration (and inebriation) I would sit down in the motor home, totally stoked on our recent accomplishment and try to think of something to put up as a post. Feeling good in the moment, inevitably those stories said something like, “Krider Racing is the shiznit!”

After a year of this, many checkered flags were waved, tons of tires were destroyed, and over half a million hits were accounted for on Jalopnik. Those half a million hits included nearly 5,000 comments, with 10 percent of those containing narratives of people calling me a “self-centered, big headed, douche bag.” A comment I can’t really argue with. So, to keep the ball rolling, and so as not to disappoint, here are the Top 10 Things I Accomplished While Contributing to Jalopnik. Get those particular keys on your keyboard ready for the comments section: D-O-U-C-H-E-B-A-G!

NUMBER 10

10. Took a Volkswagen Bug and ran it flat out in the Beetleball Endurance Rally Series from The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, across the desert, touched Arizona, over the Hoover Dam and onto the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada.

The Beetleball would be one of those totally illegal open road races if a VW could actually go fast enough to break the law. Using an air card, I actually covered the rally live while we were racing in the event. My brother still hasn’t forgiven me, because we missed a freeway exit on the route while I was busy trying to get this photo (below) instead of reading the route instructions. “Dammit! Stop blogging for Jalopnik and pay attention!” Even with my poor navigation skills, we somehow won our class anyway. Most importantly, we had an awesome time hanging out with a great group of VW fanatics.

Event Link: Beetleball
Result: Won the Baja Class and finished second overall.
Coverage Link(s): Beetleball Long Beach to Las Vegas, Beetleball Is On!, Checkpoint 1: Amboy, CA, Beetleball Results

NUMBER 9

9. Won Episode One of the show The Forum Wars and set the fastest overall time for the entire first season of the show.

The show was set up to put internet forum nerds on a track and see if anything these guys typed on the keyboard could be backed up by their right foot (spoiler alert –in most cases it wasn’t). The idea was to take two cars (comparatively modified) and two fanboys and have them run head to head in a drag race and a road course shootout. The results of the rivalries were supposed to silence the outrageous performance and driving claims of the losing side. Instead, the feuds actually just started a barn fire of excuses and accusations. Namely one being the fact that I borrowed Steve Kuhtz’s Mustang and ran D.O.T. Hoosier autocross tires, thus giving me quite the unfair advantage -which it absolutely did. The rules for the event said any D.O.T. tire. I chose Hoosier autocross tires while the 350Z I ran against in Episode 1 chose Toyo road race tires. A bunch of other competitors chose stock Goodyears (wrong choice). The rest is history.

Event Link: The Forum Wars Presented by Royal Purple
Result: Won Episode One. I set the fastest road course time, set the fastest drag race reaction time, and had the fastest overall combined time for the entire first season in a nearly stock Mustang against heavily modified Porsches, GT-Rs and Vipers.
Coverage Link(s): GT-R, Viper, GTI? Who Wins Season 1 Of The Forum Wars?

NUMBER 8

8. Took a rental car to Sacramento Raceway for some Wednesday night E.T. Bracket Drag Racing and won the event.

I was in Sacramento on a business trip and I knew they had a local drag strip somewhere outside of town. I picked up a rental car at the airport and headed to the track thinking I could get a few cool pictures for a possible future post on Jalopnik. Since I was there anyway I figured I’d enter the race. Why not? It wasn’t my car. I won my first round and ended up moving through the brackets race after race. Next thing I knew I was in the final and won the Street Machine class. I came home from my business trip with a trophy. My wife asked, “How the hell did you do that? You didn’t even have a car with you?”
“Honey, I’ve told you time and time again, Krider Racing is the shiznit!”

Event Link: Sacramento Raceway
Result: Won the Street Machine 1 Class and put zero miles on my own car doing it.
Coverage Link(s): Running A Rental Car At The NHRA Street Legal Drags

NUMBER 7

7. Set the fastest time during the Targa Trophy Bay Area Rallyfest against Ferraris and Lamborghinis in a borrowed press fleet 2011 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500.

The idea of the rally was to run a bunch of high end cars along a scenic route and end up back at a fancy hotel for an epic after party. During the event accrued mileage and average times would be used to score the cars to determine an overall winner based on an unknown target time and unknown target mileage. It all sounded a bit confusing, although mostly reasonable during the drivers’ meeting. Everything was looking good/legal/safe until I bumped into an extremely well to do Lamborghini owner who told me, “I don’t give a crap about the mileage and the time; I’m going to be the first one to the finish.” I don’t know why, but at that moment I decided he couldn’t be the first one to the finish line in his Italian supercar, because I was going to already be there in a stock American made Mustang. Six hours later, a few traffic laws shattered and way before the actual target time, the Lamborghini sped into the hotel parking lot in San Francisco searching for glory. My brother and I were already at the bar celebrating our victory over the Lambo and thus, coincidentally, our Targa Trophy loss.

In the coverage on Jalopnik I foolishly made a smartass comment about some of the “hippie bicyclists” we sped by on some of the mountain roads along the route. In doing so, I angered an enormous contingent of militant “share the road” bicyclists that comment on this site. Sorry about that boys, just trying to be funny. Bikes are cool too. I just think they would be cooler if they had four wheels instead of two and an engine, but, hey, that’s just my opinion.

Event Link: Targa Trophy
Result: Set the fastest time and thus earned the Bonehead Award from the Targa Trophy staff.
Coverage Link(s): Lambos And Ferraris Let Loose On California Roads: Welcome To Targa Trophy, Photography Of Targa Trophy, Bent Ferrari Suspension, Vomit, Tickets From The Man: Targa Trophy Results

NUMBER 6

6. Was named “Hoon of the Day” by the editors of Hooniverse for a video of me drifting a 2001 Bullitt Mustang at an SCCA National Tour solo event.

I get a lot of questions about the video of the Bullitt Mustang “drifting” around the autocross course. “Isn’t stick faster than grip?” “Why would you drift at an autocross event?” “You’re not a REAL drifter!” The actual reason behind the Bullitt sliding all over the course isn’t all that sexy. The fact was, by the last run of the day, I had completely corded the left rear tire. I didn’t have a backup tire and there was no time to get one. I needed to put one more fast lap down without hitting any cones in order to win the event. I crossed my fingers, hoping the tire would hold together, and headed out on course. I kept my right foot planted to the floor and did my best to squeeze the Mustang between the narrow orange cones while dealing with nearly zero grip at the left rear corner. Somehow (luck mostly) I was able to avoid every cone on course (barely) and win the event. The following video was the result.

Event Link: SCCA National Tour
Result: Won the Sports Car Club of America Solo National Tour at Atwater (F-Stock). Named “Hoon of the Day” on Hooniverse.
Coverage Link(s): Hooniverse: Whip It! Whip It Good

NUMBER 5

5. Got to be a guest judge at the 24 Hours of LeMons.

My team won the 24 Hours of LeMons race at Altamont. In doing so, I set the fastest lap of the race, thus getting the attention of Jay Lamm, the head perpetrator of the event (it wasn’t the type of attention you want at LeMons). At the next LeMons event my team entered we were slapped with a 1,500 lap penalty for racing at LeMons I mean cheating. Our car had some parts that may or may not have added up to $500 or was it $5,000? I don’t remember, who’s counting? Oh, that’s right, Jay Lamm is counting. For the next event Murilee Martin invited me to be a guest judge and help catch all the rest of the cheaters. This was a lot of fun. The best part was hanging out with Jalopnik writers Murilee Martin (now at The Truth About Cars) and Jonny Lieberman (now at MotorTrend). Some fool let us blogger/judges (which included Autoblog editor Damon Lavrinc) cruise in this cool WWII Jeep complete with machine gun. Nobody gave us any lip.

Event Link: 24 Hours of LeMons
Result: Won the 24 Hours of LeMons Altamont. Earned a record breaking penalty for cheating (1,500 laps). Became a judge and caught all of the other cheaters, earning the title of “backstabbing sellout.”
Coverage Link(s): LeMons Winner and Cheating Expert To Bring You LeMons Action This Weekend, Krider Racing Wins The 24 Hours Of LeMons

NUMBER 4

4. Won the ChumpCar L.A. Freeway Enduro at California Speedway

It took five tries for our team to win a ChumpCar event. We had a second and a third at Infineon, eighth at the 24 hour event at Willow Springs (blown head gasket -excuses, excuses), and a second place on the first day of the California Speedway race. We were starting to think we were in some sort of second place rut. Finally, after never quitting, luck fell on our side and we got to sip the sweet taste of victory again. All of the ChumpCar races we ran were a blast and you really can’t beat the racing bang for your buck (and there will be some banging –look at the damage to our Big Sausage Pizza Delivery Machine).

Event Link: ChumpCar World Series
Result: First Place ChumpCar L.A. Freeway Enduro (Sunday) at California Speedway
Coverage Link(s): Krider Racing Wins ChumpCar, Tony Stewart Races ChumpCar –No Really He Did!, Cars of ChumpCar

NUMBER 3

3. Won the 2010 E3 Western Endurance Racing Championship and “Survived The 25″ while covering the series for the National Auto Sport Association (NASA).

I teamed up with Keith Kramer and ran the entire 2010 season of NASA’s Western Endurance Racing Championship (WERC). The racing in this series was incredibly competitive. I learned a ton about night racing, fast driver swaps and strategic pit stops. The multi-class, long race formats of the WERC series were physically demanding and mentally tiresome. Most notably was the year end finale at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, the world’s longest closed course road race. While competing against pro factory efforts from Honda and Mazda we were hit by faster class cars twice and had to do major repairs to our car in order to finish the event. Even with all of that drama during The 25, we still won the 2010 Championship. It was the hardest race I had ever entered. Looking back on it, I realize now it was the greatest race I have ever been a part of.

Event Link: National Auto Sport Association (NASA)
Result: Won the 2010 E3 Class Western Endurance Racing Championship
Coverage Link(s): Series Introduction, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Season Ending Points Battle, 25 Hours of Thunderhill, 2010 WERC Champions, Nissan Team Diary at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill

NUMBER 2

2. Took a 1976 Chrysler Cordoba (yes, complete with Corinthian leather) and destroyed it in a demolition derby, winning a heat at the California State Championships.

I had been watching demolition/destruction/crash-up derbys at the local fairgrounds since I was in diapers riding a big wheel up and down my street. No matter how many races we did, I kept telling my friends, “We haven’t done squat until we’ve done a demolition derby!” We picked up a ’76 Cordoba (the two-door sportscar of destruction derby) busted the windows out of it and welded on it for weeks. We towed it up to the State Championships (yes, they actually do have a state championship for bashing cars into each other). I drove the car like my body wasn’t in it (my neck has never been the same since) and when the horn blew we won our heat and ended the life of a gas guzzling Chrysler.

Event Link: Dutch Holland Racing Promotions
Result: Won a heat at the California State Demolition Derby Championships
Coverage Link(s): In Cordoba I Have What I Need Soft Corinthian Leather And Destruction

NUMBER 1

1. Got to race all over the place and do it all with my family and friends.

It didn’t matter if it was running a course marker/gimmick rally with my dad and my thirteen year old son (Green Rally Challenge: Corvette Vs. Fusion Hybrid), or racing go-karts with my pals (Beer, Girls and Go-Karts in Vegas) or full blown road racing (Can’t Drive? You’re On The Pit Crew), I couldn’t have done any of it without my family and friends.

Racing at any level is a team sport. The grassroots success that Krider Racing has accomplished had nothing to do with fearless driving, because it was accomplished solely by the hard work and commitment of my friends and family. And the best part is we have a blast doing it together (except for the times when we want to kill each other). Sometimes competition brings the extreme aggressive parts out of all of us, and from that, the stress level at races can get pretty high. But once it’s over, we call each other (sometimes it takes a week) and start plotting the next event we should take on. Collectively we always want to win, no matter what the event is, even if it is just tossing around go-karts at the local putt-putt mini-golf course.

Since my friends and I ended up running all sorts of different races, I decided to put together a series of informative “how-to” stories on different grassroots automotive shenanigans -the kind of events that anyone could get involved in if they had a few bucks, a car, and a crash helmet.

Below are links to the different topics (listed alphabetically) that we experienced and I covered in the Racer Boy blog at Speed:Sport:Life (from road racing to the pinewood derby and everything in-between).

24 Hours of LeMons
Autocross
Beetleball
ChumpCar
Coursemarker/Gimmick Rallye
Demolition Derby
E.T. Bracket Drag Racing
Endurance Club Racing
Indoor Go-Kart Racing
NASA Performance Touring Road Racing
Pinewood Derby
Pro Solo
Rallycross
Slot Car Racing
Soap Box Derby
Targa Trophy
Time Attack

Each article has the Racer Boy gauge which gives details on how much it costs to run the event, how much time it takes, car wear, how dangerous the sport is, and the expected adrenaline level. Plus, each article has links to different sanctioning bodies to help find the event nearest you.

GRACIAS

With 2010 coming to an end I want to thank all of the photographers that I came in contact with and stole images from for unpaid use on the site (the photographs were generally far better than the words I mistyped underneath them). I want to thank all of the event promoters for putting on these cool races that my friends and I had the opportunity to enjoy and play in. Thanks to Jalopnik for allowing me to be a complete egomaniac on the site. Thanks to my sponsors for continued support in helping us go fast and win. And thank you to all of the different people I’ve met and raced hard against at various tracks and venues. It’s been a great ride. Till next time, I’ll see you at the finish line.

Rob Krider
Number 38
Douche Bag

Want to race door to door down the corkscrew at the famed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca? Don’t have a racing license to pilot around your BMW E30 that you put the roll-cage in? Don’t worry baby, the Dawn 2 Dusk 500 Challenge is just the race for you. There are a ton of folks out there who love doing HPDE events and have really fine tuned their driving, but they haven’t had the opportunity to run in a real race event. Now there is a place for them to try it along with a few friends during two 3.5 hour enduros at Laguna Seca.

The folks who put on the Your Private Track Day events are the brain trust of the Dawn 2 Dusk 500 and they are holding their first racing event October 10, 2010 (that’s right 10-10-10) for seven different classes. The class line up is interesting because it gives the opportunity for a multitude of teams and cars to compete.

The C-1 class is for cars prepped under $5,000 total investment. This opens the door for most ChumpCar, Leadfoot Rally and 24 Hours of LeMons teams to bring their cars to Laguna Seca -however the promoter would like to see a photo of the proposed cars, they can’t have any extreme damage, sharp sheet metal, or any non-race paraphernalia bolted to the cars (i.e. lighted pizza delivery signs mounted on roofs). Your super cool big ass Pep Boys rear wing is okay though.

The C-2 class is for cars prepped between $5,000 and $10,000 total investment which makes a lot of NASA Performance Touring cars eligible.

The C-3 class is for cars prepped between $10,000 and $20,000 which allows for more high-end NASA and SCCA prepped racecars.

The C-4 class is for $20,000 and up so Flying Lizard Motorsports can come out to their home track and show everyone how it’s done in their ALMS Porsche. I’m not saying they will, but you never know (it is an off weekend for them).

The C-5 class is for Spec Miata which is awesome because that means the rest of the classes don’t have to compete with the formidable little Mazda. Just stay out of their way, they carry the nickname “Smash Pinata” for a reason.

The C-6 class is for alternative fuel and diesel vehicles with unlimited budgets which would work for the SCCA VW Jetta TDI Cup cars or a racecar that runs on McDonald’s fry grease.

The C-7 class is for hybrid and electric vehicles which means you need to start welding that cage in your mom’s Prius now. Don’t bother with the Tesla, the race is 7 hours long (two 3.5 hour enduros with a break in the middle) you would run out of juice.

The event is open to drivers who have at least two HPDE events under their belt or have been in a novice race of at least two hours in length. There is a Your Private Track Day event open for testing Friday before the Dawn 2 Dusk 500 Challenge which will give drivers the opportunity to learn Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. On Saturday Track Masters Racing has a.m. and p.m. test slots open for teams wanting to practice. Cost to enter the Dawn 2 Dusk 500 Challenge two 3.5 hour enduros (for 7 hours total race time) is $1,200.

Even though a racing license isn’t required, a prepped racecar still is. You will need a roll-cage, battery cut-off, 5-point harnesses, nomex, SA rated helmet, neck restraint, the works to run in the Dawn 2 Dusk 500 Challenge. This is a good thing because safety and fun is the name of the game for this event. You can check out all of the rules and regs here.

Proceeds from this event will benefit some local charities (which means you can write your racing off on your taxes!). The Monterey County SPCA-Humane Society and the YMCA Kids to Camp Campaign will both be better off after the event thanks to racers. And if you’re the type who likes sponsoring an event and getting exposure to the automotive market you can check out the series sponsor opportunities here.

So kick the tires on your hooptie, check your schedule, call your buddies and search for change under the couch to make sure your team makes it to the challenge.

It took 5 tries but we finally got the job done. First place by six laps at the ChumpCar L.A. Freeway Enduro. The weekend was epic!

A huge thank you to the crew for winning the race for us: Nick Brown, Andy Bai, Jim Krider and Sara Krider. Great clean driving by the whole team: AJ Gracy, Randy Krider, Keith Kramer (and myself for once). Thank you to our sponsors Atomic Speedware, Carbotech Brake Pads, Capital City Motorsports, T.E.M. Machine Shop, I/O Port Racing Supplies, Figstone Graphics, ST Suspensions, Performance In-Frame Tuning, Piloti driving shoes, HP 234, Circuit Sports, Racing WFO, Car Domain, Bay Ex, Napa Valley Muffler, B&G Tires, Miracle Auto Body and Paint, Napa Valley Transmissions, Bottlers Unlimited, Economy Stock Feed, Kuhtz Diehl Insurance and Financial Services, and C.J. Fix Co.

To see some of the race coverage go to the following links at Speed:Sport:Life and Jalopnik.

Krider Racing has patched up the ole Big Sausage Pizza Delivery machine (again) and has wheeled it out to ChumpCar’s L.A. Freeway Enduro at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. The race consists of two 7-hour enduros (one Saturday, one Sunday) with trophies and prize money for each day.

We will be doing live (sort of) coverage of the event on Jalopnik and Speed:Sport:Life as the weekend progresses. But for up to the minute updates on the team’s progress follow “kriderracing” on Twitter.

Photo by Jeff Balliet.

Rob Krider takes Steve Kuhtz’s 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby GT and represents on the first episode of The Forum Wars.

With the Shelby outfitted with Hoosier Tires, Carbotech Brake Pads and I/O Port Racing Supplies safety equipment, there was no way Krider Racing could lose.

However, it wasn’t that easy. The competition made us work for it. So Cal drifter Richard Seville driving Doug Rodriguez’s 350Z sponsored by Bardabe Performance Development, Gspec, Specialty-Z, and Tokico struts put up a hell of a fight.

The Forum Wars presented by Royal Purple is featured in one minute segments on the Speed Channel and full episodes are viewable online.

Check out Episode One at www.forumwars.tv.

And, of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of our Krider Racing sponsors. Thank you Atomic Speedware, Carbotech Brake Pads, Capital City Motorsports, T.E.M. Machine Shop, I/O Port Racing Supplies, Figstone Graphics, ST Suspensions, Performance In-Frame Tuning, Piloti driving shoes, HP 234, Circuit Sports, Racing WFO, Car Domain, Bay Ex, Napa Valley Muffler, B&G Tires, Miracle Auto Body and Paint, Napa Valley Transmissions, Bottlers Unlimited, Economy Stock Feed, Kuhtz Diehl Insurance and Financial Services, and C.J. Fix Co.

Photo by Jeff Balliet.

The Forum Wars TV show puts different forums and different cars head to head in an all out tire smoking speed contest. The show will begin to air segments on Speed TV April 5th with full episodes on-line. The first episode of the show features Stangnet.com against My350Z.com. Rob Krider, who writes the Racer Boy column at Speed:Sport:Life represented Stangnet in a 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby GT. The Shelby was outfitted with Hoosier Tires, Carbotech Brake Pads and I/O Port Racing Supplies harnesses.

Rob is no stranger to racing or Mustangs. He previously owned an ex-CHP 1992 Mustang 5.0 LX notchback Police Interceptor which he drag raced religiously. Then he owned a 2001 Bullitt Mustang which he won rookie of the year honors at the Silver State Classic Open Road Race in Las Vegas. He also autocrossed his Bullitt at the National level and was known for drifting the Stang at SCCA events.

Rob said he has always relied on Stangnet for set-up and technical advice on all of his Mustangs. For The Forum Wars, Rob drove his friend Steve Kuhtz’s 2008 Shelby which they set up and raced in the SCCA together.

Check out the trailer below and check to see on April 5th who wins the match up. Mustang or Z?

Matt Farah sports a genuine Krider Racing/Big Sausage Pizza Delivery 24 Hours of LeMons team t-shirt in his newest episode of The Smoking Tire. He is the first person to wear a LeMons t-shirt and a Rolex watch at the same time. He’s also the only person to wear a Big Sausage Pizza Delivery shirt to a wine tasting in Santa Barbara. The episode is very entertaining mostly due to Matt’s impromptu sidekick, a French cook named Andre.

Krider Racing/Big Sausage Pizza (and rolls) Delivery 1991 Acura Integra is getting lighter everytime we race it. The Pizza (and rolls) part comes from Randy Krider’s epic last lap roll-over at LeMons Buttonwillow in 2009. This race we kept the shiny side up, although we knocked the front of the car clean off, won our class and finished second overall out of 148 cars thanks to a fantastic crew and some excellent sponsor help.

Thank you Atomic Speedware, Carbotech Brake Pads, Capital City Motorsports, T.E.M. Machine Shop, I/O Port Racing Supplies, Figstone Graphics, ST Suspensions, Performance In-Frame Tuning, Piloti driving shoes, HP 234, Circuit Sports, Racing WFO, Car Domain, Bay Ex, Napa Valley Muffler, B&G Tires, Miracle Auto Body and Paint, Napa Valley Transmissions, Bottlers Unlimited, Economy Stock Feed, Kuhtz Diehl Insurance and Financial Services, and C.J. Fix Co.

To see some of the race coverage go to the following links at Speed:Sport:Life

Pre-race Coverage
Day One Finished
Final Race Results
Pinewood Derby Results

Most car guys are still hanging on to their fifth place pinewood derby trophy that they won in the fourth grade. After getting married, most men find their trophies banished to the garage, or worse, the garbage can. It’s no different at my house. Although, once a year I hold a Krider Racing open house and Daytona 500 party where everyone can come over, drink beer and bench race. This is the one time of year my trophies get to make an appearance and my wife, whom I love, doesn’t say a word about it.