The checkered flag in the Pennsylvania 500 nearly two weeks ago signaled the end of the 20th race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series schedule. The weekend of July 29-30th signaled a much needed week off for the teams that compete on the 36-race Nextel Cup Series schedule.
The months of June and July, or the "summer swing," of the Nextel Cup schedule can be a particularly grueling stretch of races, with the series visiting locations as far West as Sonoma, Calif., as far north as Loudon, N.H., and as far south as Daytona Beach, Fla. After crisscrossing the country several times during the course of the last eight weeks, members of the Nextel Cup Series took advantage of the last break in the schedule before the season finale in Homestead, Fla., in late November.
Members of the #88 UPS Racing Team, in particular, welcomed the break and took the opportunity to unwind from what has been a tough summer. The team has experienced bad luck and handling problems that have dropped Dale Jarrett from 12th in the point standings right before the Coca-Cola 600 on Labor Day weekend, to 25th after the completion of the Pennsylvania 500.
Many of the UPS Team members took the opportunity to catch up with family members in the form of family reunions, trips and visits. Crew chief Slugger Labbe was one such individual.
"My wife's family always has a big family reunion," Labbe explained. "It lasts like 10 days and this year it was in Gatlinburg, Tenn. My wife and kids went over while I was in Pocono and I caught up with them after we got back and did some work at the shop."
Brian Dantinne, car chief of the #88 UPS Racing Team, actually took a pair of trips during the week, catching up with family in his hometown of Wallace, Mich., before embarking on a trip with his wife and two boys, Kenny and Billy.
"I flew home to Michigan to visit my family for a few days," Dantinne explained. "I actually flew out the Monday after Pocono. Then my wife and I took the boys to the Smokey mountains for a few days just to do something fun with the four of us."
Front tire changer Cory Quick also made a trip to visit his family, which still lives in Auxvasse, Mo., meeting them at a halfway point in Kentucky.
While families occupied much of the time for members of the UPS Team, other commitments also took up a portion of the week. Bradley Sutton, for one, spent the weekend at the wedding of a friend, who planned the ceremony on the occasion of an off week just to make sure those who work in auto racing could attend.
It wasn't all play for members of the UPS Racing Team. A couple of the guys found themselves working in different capacities. Jason Burdett, assistant crew chief of the team, spent the weekend moving into the new home he and his new wife Rachel purchased and had been awaiting completion of.
While Burdett was dealing with the move into a new home, another team member had plans of going to a race track despite the break in the schedule. Jeremy Vandersleet, who only recently took over the rear tire carrier duties for the UPS Team, also pits the #90 CitiFinancial Ford fielded by Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Busch Series.
"Yes, I got to go to St. Louis last weekend," Vandersleet said, explaining that the Busch Series visited the 1.25-mile Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis while the teams of the Nextel Cup Series enjoyed a break in the action.
While many team members made the most of the weekend, others just took the opportunity to enjoy a relaxing weekend at home, preparing for the grueling final 16-race stretch of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series schedule.
