First and foremost, I hope you all are doing amazing! This past month has been extremely hectic with traveling and racing, so since I’m on my off week I figured it’s about time that I re-connect with all of my lovely supporters by posting an updated blog.
At this current moment, I’m on the road headed back to North Carolina after spending a week in my hometown Pensacola, FL. Since moving to NC last summer, I always like to come back home and catch up with family and friends as much as possible. This week was a lot of fun. I managed to fit in all of my favorite things while visiting with some great people. Every time I come home I have one tradition, I always pull out one of my most prized possessions, my dirt bike. I absolutely love it. Everyone has something that brings them to a “happy place” and that’s exactly what riding my dirt bike does for me.
I came back home at the perfect time because it was Blue Angel weekend at Pensacola Beach. If you have never been to the Blue Angels air show, then I highly recommend you attending. It’s such a great experience. I have been every year since I was a little girl and it always puts be in awe. It is simply amazing.
Furthermore, this week was a blast, but I’m ready to get back in the seat of the No. 70 ML Motorsports Chevrolet next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. I’m so pumped! It’s crazy because we are already half way in to our 21-race season. It feels like it was just yesterday when I made my Nationwide Series debut at Daytona. So far, I feel like the first half of the season has gone well. I’m my worst critic so I’m never completely satisfied with my performances, but I feel like we are all on the right track especially after having our best races of the season starting at Michigan and then Daytona.
Like most of the tracks that I have visited this season, I had no prior experience at Michigan International Speedway. I showed up with an open mind and a desire to learn as much as I possibly could as fast as I could. It was a fun track. The first half of the race was about logging laps, learning and of course having good track position, and that’s exactly what we did. The ML Motorsports team raced in the top-15 position all day and finish 16th. All in all it was a really good day for us.
Going into this weekend, I have a little bit of extra fuel to continue the progress and momentum that our team has built this season after coming off my NNS career-best finish of 12th at Daytona. I will be honest, superspeedway racing was not my favorite at the beginning of the year, but I’ve grown to like it as I’ve become more comfortable with it. We had a really fast car at Daytona and it showed. However, if I’ve learned anything about superspeedway racing, it’s that you must have friends at the end of the race. As a rookie driver, I’m still working on that! 
Now that I’ve debriefed on past races, let’s look forward! If you all haven’t noticed, the Nationwide series will be making a stop at one of ML Motorsports home tracks…INDIANPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY. I have chills just thinking about it. Not only is it special to be able to get the opportunity to race at one of the most historic tracks in the country, but to be able to do it with the hometown team is even more special. To think that just two years ago my dad took me to watch the Cup cars practice at Indy and now here I am, two years later about to take to the track for the very first time is just unreal. I will most likely be pinching myself all weekend. If any of you are planning to attend and will be watching from the pits, make sure you stop by the No. 70 pit stall. My dad joked that he will probably shed a few tears at the start of the race. That just shows you how special this track really is.
Well, I hope you all have enjoyed my blog. I have a big month coming up with a lot of exciting things in store, so I will make sure to continue writing to keep you all informed. Until then, THANK YOU ALL so much for the continued support. It means a lot!
-JO
