Up To SPEED

The Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship

We’re deep into the second half of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and closing in on the Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship. We’ve got a couple of tough races coming up in the next couple of months that will be crucial in our hopes of returning to the Chase.

One thing that we’ve been doing a lot over the past couple of weeks is testing in preparation for some of the races that we’re running later in the season. This means a lot of extra travel for myself and the M&M’S® Racing Team.

Travel is obviously a huge part of our schedule by being involved in this sport. I typically only spend about six weeks of the year living at my home in Emporia, VA, and that is during the off-season from Thanksgiving to the first of the year. The rest of the time is spent on the road and in my apartment in Charlotte.

Although we travel quite a bit, we typically visit the same cities year-in and year-out. We all have our favorite hang-outs and restaurants that we like to frequent. Thursday or Friday nights is usually when we get together as a team or just get together with a couple of friends and find something cool to do.

Some of the cities coming up on the race schedule have many of my top restaurants that we make a point to visit each year. My favorite is Fogo de Chão, which is a Brazilian Steakhouse with locations in Dallas, Hous-ton and Atlanta. If you’ve never been there, it’s worth checking out. It is a meat eater’s paradise, and it’s an all-you-can-eat place on top of that. It’s a little expensive, but not when you look at what you receive.

I’ve listed some of my other favorite spots to eat while out on the road, so if you’re ever in town, stop in and try them for yourself.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway—St. Elmo’s; 127 S. Illinois St. Indianapolis, IN; phone: (317) 637-1811.

Watkins Glen—Crooked Rooster Pub, 223 North Franklin Street, Watkins Glen, NY; phone: (607)535-9797.

Michigan International Speedway—Jerry’s Pub and Restaurant, 650 Egan Hwy.

Brooklyn, MI; phone (571)467-4700.

California Speedway—Dave & Buster’s Ontario Mills Mall; phone: (909) 987-1557.

Until next time,

Elliott

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Deadline: Oct. 1, 2005