It should not be so hot, and I should not be so aggressive with my pace as I go from task to task. Yesterday, I was running around, doing what I always do, and I became somewhat overheated — I think I cooked my 9’s, and if you get that reference, we can be friends forever.

I wasn’t feeling my best, but towards the end of the day, kinda right around the time I realized I was the hottest I’ve probably ever been in my life, someone I work with smiled at me and said, “How can you be so nice after this many years out here?” It was meant to be funny for sure, but there is a little bit of truth to that. We work HARD out here – all of us. This is not the business for lazy folk. It’s exhausting. We burn out. Some of us hang around only to become sour as a pickle. Maybe that’s coming for me, I honestly don’t know.

But after that conversation, I was writing Pro Stock stories while also watching Sportsman final rounds. Joe Santangelo came so close to doubling up in Stock and Super Stock, Frank Aragona Jr. reached the final in Comp and was shut off on the line for a heartbreaking loss. Al Kenny won the Top Dragster trophy (his 10th Wally) when Karma Hopper was a no-show after a blow up in the semis. First time winners! We had first time winners! THIS IS ALL SO EMOTIONAL. My heart cannot take the joy and the anguish, the vibrant energy that surrounds each of these stories. Guys. I can’t take it.

This place holds so many memories for me, even outside of racing. Fireflies, corn that’s knee high by the 4th of July, and of course ice cream for a dollar a pound — plus the most extraordinary Friday night fireworks that blow away any show I’ve ever seen.

I don’t think it’s hard to be nice when you’re happy about what you’re doing, especially when you’re in a place like this. It’s all about alignment, right? Actually ~doing~ what your heart tells you you’re supposed to do. Being where you’re meant to be.

So I guess the message for today is this: find your happy. It’ll probably make you a nicer human.

Bonus message: hydrate. Don’t cook your 9’s. Okay? See you out there.