Hey HotLap.com readers! Hope everyone is having a good week. It was a long one for me. I did the drive from Texas to Charlotte with my fiancé, Kris. It was a long 17 hours, but we finally made it out here late Tuesday night. On Wednesday, I got the chance to visit both the Nationwide and Truck shops. It’s great being able to spend time with the teams because I don’t get to do it outside the track all that often since I live in Texas. Everyone at both shops work so hard to give us the best equipment out there and it is always nice to be able to support them like they support us every week.

This weekend is going to be really wild. I race with the Truck Series on Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This is a huge weekend for us since it is everyone who works at Turner Motorsports home track. We are really hoping to have a strong Exide Batteries Chevrolet and to be able to be there at the end with a truck contending for the win. Racing at Charlotte is always intense, there are always tons of people and everyone wants to win at home. It should be a really exciting night on Friday. I can guarantee it will be great racing.

Right after the race ends, I am going to jump on a plane to head to Iowa for the Nationwide Series race. I am going to be missing some practice on Friday, but my buddy Bandon McRenyolds is going to fill in for me. He is a great driver and I trust him to work with the guys on getting the car dialed-in before I get there on Saturday.

I’ll get up on Saturday morning and we will have one final practice session and then qualifying that afternoon. We race on Sunday, which is going to be different. I’ve never been to Iowa in a Nationwide Series car, but I have been there twice with the Truck Series. I was really successful last summer there in the truck, so I am hoping I can use that experience in the car this weekend. This is another place that no one has ever raced at in the ‘new car’, so again, I feel like the playing field is a bit more even. The Nationwide Series has only been there twice and I have been here twice with the trucks, so that experience helps, too.

This weekend my team will have the support of the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE). The FOE logo is on all Turner Motorsports cars and trucks every week, but I am excited to be able to spotlight them in Iowa. In 2008, the Eagles partnered with the University of Iowa in a five year, $25 million commitment to fund diabetes research. Since 2008, the Eagles have made more than $10 million in donations, all of which will go towards research at the recently named ‘Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the University of Iowa’. The major research center is currently under construction at the University’s Iowa City campus. It is a great cause that affects millions of people across the world and the Eagles are making an impact on the debilitating disease. The FOE members are some of our best and most supportive fans and I can’t wait to represent them on the track in a huge way at Iowa Speedway.

Make sure you catch the racing action from Charlotte on Friday night on SPEED and the Nationwide Series action on Sunday on ABC. Keep an eye out for myself and all my Turner Motorsports teammates. Hopefully you’ll see us in victory lane on Friday and Sunday!