Hello guys! How is everyone? I bet a lot of you are excited about the weekend with it being the Fourth of July and all. I know I've always looked forward to this weekend as far back as I can remember. The Fourth of July weekend has always been fun, but now I look forward to it for different reasons. I still like to set off some fireworks, but the real fun is heading back to Daytona. Right now, there isn't any place I'd rather be preparing to race at.

There isn't anything much cooler than fireworks, and man did we use to have some fun when we were back in Kansas. My family lived on a large pond (the residents called it a lake, but it was tiny) and we would always have a bottle rocket war with our neighbors. The water was just far enough across that we could hit their yard with a well-aimed bottle rocket, or artillery shell. It got a little wild, but we never burnt a house down, and nobody ever got hurt...too badly. Haha! One particular story sticks out. One year my brother Andy had a broken leg from a motorcycle crash and my brother Casey and I decided we would get back at him a little. He was on crutches and was lighting fireworks from a lawn chair so we sat a big string of "Black Cats" under him and watched him fall out of the chair. He was pretty pissed off and tried to chase us down, hopping on his crutches. He finally gave up and just threw one of them and almost got us. Almost.

Yeah, Fourth of July was always fun for the Bowyers. But, now it's time to get serious.

I'm frustrated with how Loudon turned out. We are making some big improvements on our cars at RCR, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We easily had a top-10car, and for the second time at that track, rain ruined our finish. Seems like the rain has bitten us every time. But, hey, that is the way racing luck works out. I mean, I would be talking about how awesome we were if it worked out in our favor! But now, we're heading to Daytona and I'm excited about it.

You can look at Daytona as a place that can hurt you or help you. Anyone can get into the wreck, but I'm going there looking to take advantage of the fact that RCR has awesome speedway cars, and I really like that place. One of Richard's quotes that I like to remember is, "The best victory is when preparation meets opportunity." My team is prepared and we are heading down there ready to make the most of the opportunity. We'll be going to the front no matter what. I'm going to be careful as always, but even if I get swept up, that's ok. Our cars are getting fast and they can't hold us back forever.

Ok, I'm out of here. Happy Fourth of July, guys!

-Clint Bowyer #33