Well we made it though another Knoxville Nationals, the 51st. A top 10 finish for the team was good considering there were 99 participants. Our team, however knows they left a lot on the table. The hydraulic line that came loose in Thursday nights qualifying effort truely cost the team a top 4 starting spot for the 'big show' on Saturday, and the only blame can be placed on human error, (not tightened, or checked properly). Craig had just passed for the 4th position on Thursday after qualifying 6th quickest and missing the top 4 in the heat race when all hell broke loose in the cockpit of his car. For the last 12 laps of the race he had hydraulic oil spraying him in the face, his gloves and suit became drenched and the steering wheel slick with oil. I can only imagine how irritating that was, knowing how fast the race car was and looking at the leaders up ahead. This is the part of the story you usually don't get to hear, because it sounds like an excuse of why you didn't win. As his wife I just think about how dangerous it probably was, to hang on to the steering wheel and not be able to see where you are going. So hard to keep up in the race while getting passed by many of the guys you worked so hard to drive by. It really is a gut wrencher... to top it off, the fluid eventually runs the resevior dry and there is no power steering, thank goodness he's tough (Ironman), because that alone probably took every bit of strength he had left to turn that car around the Knoxville 1/2 mile. When he pulled into the pits the steering wheel came out first, but not in a bad way, it was dropped next to the side of the car like, "Here guys, you try to hang on to this piece of crap." Then out came an upset driver, drenched in fluid and peppered with dirt. He didn't yell, he just said, "That's what happens when you rush to get to the Knoxville Nationals!" I praise him for not throwing a school kid type tantrum when he truely had every right to. From that night on we knew we just had to try our best to have a good run on Saturday night. Like I said, it is over and we have to wait another year to try to win it again. It is a relief at the conclusion of the event no matter the outcome, it is the Superbowl of Sprint Car racing, we just need to get back and finish the regular season strong and hope for the best!!!