Under the Arch

First off, let me say that I was Ridiculously Proud of Kevin all doggone weekend. The first time he pulled under The Arch, I was tearing up. I took this picture later that night:


They say you can tell a person's character when they're dealing with waitresses, lost luggage or tangled Christmas lights. Well, Kevin's character was clear all weekend. He was so self-deprecating and funny about the whole experience.

He went out first round on Sunday, as we expected. We were the slowest qualifier in the class but we didn't care. We were racing in Vegas Baby! We lost to the #1 qualifier and the guy who ended up winning so that's all good. His name is Mike Demaio and is a really, really nice guy.


Kevin introduced himself to Mike Demaio on Sunday morning before eliminations with a cheery handshake and "Hi, I'm the guy who's ass you're going to beat in about an hour."

As we were waiting to run, we were chatting with Mike's crew chief. Waiting was the word of the day at this point. The crew chief mutters "Gosh, it's going to be a long day..." I just smiled at him and said "Not for us!!!"

Someone mentioned that a cameraman was all over the car during one of the qualifying rounds. (turns out it was a friend of ours) Kevin casually mentions in response: "I didn't know I was so cool!" The guy literally said "Wait, what? Did you just say that?"

He just makes me laugh. He was a winner after all.