WOW..............What an incredible and exhausting thirty-two days. I was sitting in my apartment watching "House" last night when I got to thinking about everything I had experienced so far. On January 19th, I packed all my belongings in a U-Haul trailer, said good bye to a great deal of amazing people and drove east to seek my fortunes in North Carolina. After two days and several empty Mt. Dew bottles later, I pulled into Huntersville, N.C. and started moving into a new apartment. Two days later, I went in and began work in a field I had little to no experience in. Two weeks ago, I took off for 14 action packed days in Florida. I don't know whether it was the mileage, the lack of sleep or sheer nerves but by the time we rolled back into North Carolina on Sunday night, I was more tired than I had ever been in my life. Despite my lack of energy, I still had a huge smile on my face. I get to do what I love and that's be in the motorsports industry. While in Florida, I handled PR, shot videos, worked on websites and got to do some announcing. I met some great people who really showed me the ropes and have began to teach me how to succeed in this business.
I was able to take a little bit of time yesterday and get my bearings straight once again before I take off for Mississippi and Texas this weekend and VEGAS next week. Life on the road never stops I see. That being said, I have learned a few tips already:
Cell phone chargers are among your best friends while on the go.
Ordering pizza late at night not only takes care of dinner, but usually breakfast the next morning.
Remember to remove all ink pens from pants pockets before washing to avoid the "simulated tye dye" effect.
A elevator full of drunks is not a great place to be in at 3 am with only your swimming trunks on.
I also learned that in Florida, you can have sunshine, tundra like cold and tornadoes within a 15 mile radius of a race track at the same time!
With Florida in the rear view mirror, I'm looking to getting back out on the road and proving myself. We started doing more videos and podcasts so keep your eyes peeled for those. Also, make sure that you tell the people in your life how much they mean to you.
This was delivered to my apartment while I was gone. It contains 5 pounds of Twizzlers (my favorite candy) from my girlfriend Maegan. She's really sweet and puts up with me so she is a pretty special (and insane) person. And, in case you are wondering, YES she did get flowers on Valentines Day from me. The sad thing is, I screw up so much that the florist keeps a punch card with my name on it near his register. I believe I'm only 1 or 2 screw ups away from a free bouquet!
Yes that's not a type-o. Shawn, Erin, Kellen and I all rode to the race track topless this morning. It's amazing what kind of results that Peach Valley cafe and a mix up at the rental car place can yield.
As you can tell, we really looked like tourists as we rode with the top down in 50 degree weather....
At the track, we once again settled in for another night of World of Outlaws Sprint Car racing action. I'll be honest with you. I knew that I was getting thrown straight into the fire last night since it was my first night. However, I did not expect that my rearend would get as thoroughly charred as it did. Night two was a rousing success though. I was really able to get a feel for what I was doing and it was a great deal of fun. My hats off to Craig Dollansky though. The man has been fast all week down here in Florida but has some of the worst luck. Tonight marked his third blown motor and he flipped in last nights feature. I keep hearing that this will be a great year for him and I have to agree. Steve Kinser pulled off another victory to make it two for two on the year. I'm going to keep this blog short and sweet but I do have to say thanks to all the fans who have come out. The support has been amazing and is very well appreciated by the drivers, track crew and sponsors. Fans are the backbone of this sport and allow us to come out here and do what we love to do.
I have only been to Florida once in my life. As a youngster, the family took a vacation to Disney World, met the mouse, snapped some pics and enjoyed Space Mountain. The one thing I always remembered was the sunny, warm weather that was ever apparent in our week long excursion. Coming back to Florida 11 years later, I am seriously wondering where all that sunshine went. For the most part, we have had to contend with rainy conditions during our time down here in Florida. One bright spot was yesterday when the sun came out and we enjoyed some of the best weather I have ever seen.
We kicked off the racing portion of the 40th Annual DIRTcar Nationals by University of Northwestern Ohio on Tuesday. The UMP modifieds took center stage as the 410 sprints were allowed to take some practice laps around the 1/2 mile oval. The night went amazingly and the track was a bit choppy but still produced some great side by side racing. Austin Dillon, a rising NASCAR star, took the checkers and I was lucky enough to get the chance to handle the post race festivities on the UNOH stage. Austin is a great kid and certainly has a huge future ahead of him.
Another thing I discovered was a delicious entree called "Steak on Stick." I have to thank Steve the cook for the hook up.
We kicked Wednesday by heading down to a local Shell station to film a few web commercials with Kenny Wallace. The Herminator was in rare form so check out the commercials below.
Wednesday was another night of non stop, extreme racing action as Sammy Swindell showed he can still outrun any field and NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer won the UMP feature. Interviewing a fellow Kansan on the UNOH Victory Stage was a really cool experience.
Getting to help announce the DIRTcar Nationals has been a dream for me and its where my passion truly is. Getting out there and interacting with the crowd is a great deal of fun and I can't wait for the nights to follow. Coming up tonight is the final night of racing for the O'Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions and another UMP Modified feature. Starting tomorrow, the World of Outlaws kick off their season long march to the World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte. It's going to be an exciting season and be sure to check out worldofoutlaws.com for all the details and info.
The past 24 hours have been........................interesting and enlightening to say the least. Yesterday, Chris Dolack, Kellen Burns and myself took off from not-so-sunny North Carolina for an 8 hour road trip to the sunny landscape of eastern Florida........or so we thought. We pulled into town on the strength of Slim Jim's, a hilarious Altima joke and Jerry Seinfield on the radio. After checking into our rooms, we settled down to watch Aaron Rodgers systematically pick apart the Steelers defense. I was pulling for the Steel Curtain but Rodgers truly delivered an All Star performance. More enjoyable than the game itself was new Mini commercial. I'm very sure that "Cram it in the Boot," will be burned into our minds for the remainder of the trip. (In case you missed this AMAZING commercial, I have posted it here.)
Our first day at the track has been great. There is a ton of work to be done but with everyone pitching in and helping out, its going alright. Work stopped for a bit this afternoon as severe weather rolled into the area.
We put everything away and watched as Mother Nature came in and huffed and puffed for awhile. The rains saturated an already muddy track and pit area. Thankfully, most of our banners remained intact and are ready to go. Supposedly a tornado passed through the area too. As I write this, we are all in the tower, busily working on lap tops and scarfing down some much needed cheeseburgers and fries from the Golden Arch's. On tap for tomorrow? Race cars and STEAK ON A STICK!
You know, I really do hate the cold. Nothing works right in it. Not truck doors, car washes, laundry machines, playground equipment and even yours truly...... Before we get any further, let me introduce myself. I'm Kyle "Gump" Luetters. Originally from Garden City, Ks. I recently moved out to North Carolina (a.k.a racing heaven) from Lawton, Ok. During my time in Lawton, I loved and lost, sampled great BBQ, took several cream pies to the face, made Danica Patrick mad and graduated with a Bachelors in Communication. While attending and snoozing in school, I produced an award winning documentary and was the Creative Director and On Air talent at K-LAW 101. I loved being a country music DJ and the best part of my job was that I wasn't on until 3 so I could sleep in and I got off at 7 in the evening so I had plenty of time for other shenanigans.
Ever since I was a youngster, racing has always been a huge passion of mine. My Mom often said I had the talent and ability to become a Doctor or even President but blames my Dad for taking me to a race track at a young age. I was hooked from the get go. The sights, sounds and smells all hooked me and from then on, I was the biggest little race fan you ever saw. The cool thing about being on the road with the Outlaws is that I actually get to work with some of the drivers that I grew up admiring.
It was odd moving across country. I had only lived in the Midwest and have always been just a quick drive from home (you can never beat Mom's ability to call out for pizza. Man, that woman can dial the digits.) The move out here was scary, between dragging all of my earthly belongings in an old trailer, riding at breakneck speed through a mountain tunnel and the overbearing winter storm I was trying to out race. I am happy to say I made it all the way here and nothing broke and I beat that storm by about 23 minutes (Note: the storm got me back when it came time to unload the trailer.)
I started my first day of work with a printer paper box full of my belongings and was about as wide eyed as you could imagine. Eventually, I got settled into cubicle life and the complicated desk phone that goes along with it. One of the things I am looking to working on the most is my writing. I either tend to write to little or ramble on like my Grandpa after Thanksgiving when he starts telling stories about when he was MY age. The other thing I am looking to bring to this venture is Podcasting and multimedia services. Lets face it, everything has already moved to the Internet including all the bugs (no pun intended.) I'm hoping to bring more fans to our newly redesigned websites through Podcasts, video casts and more interactive features like this blog. That being said, feel free to comment on this blog and send emails to kluetters@dirtcar.com
Since I've already talked about what I want to do in my role as PR Coordinator a little bit, lets talk about the blog. I intend to use this blog as a way to document my unique opportunity in being with one of the greatest motor sports tours in the world. The places, people and thoughts will all be captured and saved here. It's also a way for you to get to know me. Despite being relatively young (seriously, I tell people my age in dog years so they will allow me to purchase "adult beverages") I do have quite a bit of experience in the game of life and a ton of hilarious stories to go along with it.
Speaking of funny stories, you are probably wondering why my nickname is "Gump." I'll be honest with you, I've had a few nicknames over the years and most have been rather embarrassing. I probably will not share those unless I take a blow to the head or I am black mailed into spilling the beans. "Gump," came from my new boss and a new co-worker. For the purposes of this story, I shall refer to them as "Tenacious D" and "Special K." The office was busy at work trying to come up with the nickname for me. "New Guy," "Newb,""Meat," and more were being kicked around. I told the story of how I used to be well known for my ability to race up the steps while track announcing at the Lawton Speedway, which prompted the crowd to shout, "Run Forrest RUN!" It was at that point that "Tenacious D," had a lightning bolt moment and turned to "Special K," and myself and proclaimed, "He shall be called GUMP!"
Funny stories aside, I really am looking forward to the amazing opportunity that I have been afforded. Since I am a racing fanatic, I can think of no better career path than that of living, breathing and sleeping racing. Several folks know that this is my passion and the reason why I came out here. That being said, I look forward to a tremendous season and future with the Outlaws. I also look forward to sharing my thoughts, observations and stories from the road as we travel this great country and beyond. I hope you enjoy the blog and will check back often. As I type this, "Tenacious D," and "Special K," are debating what will be on the iPod as we travel down to Florida to kick things off with the 40th Annual Dirt Car Nationals presented by University of Northern Ohio. Check back as we update from sunny Florida!!!!
This was delivered to my apartment while I was gone. It contains 5 pounds of Twizzlers (my favorite candy) from my girlfriend Maegan. She's really sweet and puts up with me so she is a pretty special (and insane) person. And, in case you are wondering, YES she did get flowers on Valentines Day from me. The sad thing is, I screw up so much that the florist keeps a punch card with my name on it near his register. I believe I'm only 1 or 2 screw ups away from a free bouquet!
