It was terrific weather and my husband and I had fantastic seats in Turn 1 at Dover for the MBNA America 400. I was so pleased that Derrike was going to be in the race, and the fact that he was determined to be in it (and using his own money) so that the car with the paint job designed by Seneca Tedford would have a chance to be in a race. What a great guy! The car did look beautiful, too.

A few laps into the race, Derrike did a great job of saving the No. 37 when he made contact with the No. 74. It happened right in front of us at Turn 1 and, when the Caution came out, his crew was on the radio asking him if he flat-spotted the tires and needed to come in to the pits. He didn't know, and the crew chief mentioned that there were only 5 sets of tires for the entire race, so they were hoping not to change tires. DC did come in to pit and his crew chief told him when he got back on the track that the tires indeed were worn down to the cords so it was a good thing he came in. In fact, his crew chief asked him if he hit the No. 74 or if the No. 74 "lost it." DC replied that the 74 "lost it."

DC did a great job of hanging in there and staying high on the track whenever folks on the lead lap came by. He was doing everything right all day. In fact, when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was leading, DC's crew chief told him he was keeping pace with the leader, but he was unfortunately down about 3 laps at the time. Towards the end of the race, I noticed DC's car had tires with red paint on the rims, so I guess the team bought some sets from one of the teams whose day ended early.

By the time the race was over, even though DC was seven laps down, on the radio he congratulated his crew and told them what a good job they had done. His spotter also did a great job getting him around the track. I enjoyed this race thoroughly because Derrike was in it and finished the race. Of course, Ryan Newman won, but it was a victory in a lot of ways for Quest Racing.