Saturday in Texas

Saturday was a long day at the office for many drivers and teams as two rounds of practice and the Nationwide race was on the schedule. For Robby Gordon and his #7 Jim Beam Toyotoa team, it was a chance to get his brand new car dialed in while entertaining some important sponsors and their guests. It's safe to say that Robby's car isn't perfect, and while he'd like to be higher on sheets from both practices, the rounds served their purpose as the team was able to make a number of adjustments and changes to the car. Even though Robby doesn't run the Nationwide race, it was all business for him and his team as they continued talking car set up and race strategy. Although I think Robby would like a few more laps in the car before the race, he's ready to go. Jim Beam does a good job entertaining guests at Texas Motor Speedway. They have the touring RV pulled up behind a private grandstand area between turns 3 and 4, and have some great food, drinks and music going for their VIP race fans. The view from the Jim Beam Party Deck is hard to beat, and will make for a great spot to watch Robby and his competition on Sunday. Last night Robby took some of his team to the Dallas Stars game at the American Airlines center in Dallas. Robby booked a suite for his team to relax and unwind after a hard day's work at the track. You've really got to admire Robby for looking after his crew so well. It's good to see a team leader, owner, driver, whoever, making sure that his team stay in good spirits and motivation. It's super windy and a bit cool this morning in Dallas. It'll be interesting to see how the teams fare if these conditions hold through the day. I'll be tweeting (you can follow me on Twitter @mojomorris) from the track and will post some videos and pics later today or tomorrow of the day's events.

Friday Night in Texas

The first official night of the NASCAR Texas race weekend got kicked off in fine sytle as Jim Beam hosted a local market appearance with Robby Gordon at Buffalo Joe's in Dallas. The Jim Beam team put together a good show with Robby getting up close with some of his fans. The Jim Beam team had its RV (think macked-out rock n roll tour bus) parked out front of Buffalo Joe's, complete with two NASCAR video games for the would-be racers to test their skills against Robby. Inside Buffalo Joe's the Beam team was giving away hats, shirts and even miniature Jim Beam #7 hoods -- and if you didn't mind waiting a couple minutes, Robby would sign them and ask you to pose for a picture with some of his friends. After the appearance at Buffalo Joe's, Robby grabbed his sponsors, a couple team members and some of his friends and headed out for dinner. The big surprise was when Robby got behind the wheel of the Jim Beam tour bus. I've yet to meet a race car driver who doesn't want to drive himself, but I think his instincts may have had him hugging the walls of George Bush Tollway a bit too close, though! You can imagine the look on the faces of the valets when we rolled up ... I don't think they really knew what to do with us. Today is more practice time. Robby likes his car, and thinks yesterdaya's qualifying isn't indicative of the car's capabilities. Let's hope he and the team can work out some of the kinks in today's practice rounds. Tonight Robby and team are going to catch the Dallas Stars game and then call it an evening to get ready for the show tomorrow. I'll try to post some videos and pictures of today's activities a bit later. And you can follow me on Twitter @mojomorris. All for now ... Mojo