I wrote in the August blog that we were travelling back from Germany on a high, well this time are travelling from California and we are on that high again! Sarah and I are sitting in Starbucks at LAX travelling back from a meeting with Tom at Lucas Oil. Sarah is getting to be a real asset at the meetings and I feel like I always want her with me now in meetings, she has gone from being real shy, nervous and saying "I don't want to come" to being confident and providing good input.

We were so excited about going to see Tom and all the people at the Lucas Oil factory in California, one of two factories which Forrest and Charlotte own the other being in Indiana. Again we had to leave Albert with the best Mum in the world, my mum Molly, and we knew we were going to miss him. We wanted to take him to meet them all at the factory and although he is starting to understand that we have meetings with sponsors and the importance of shaking hands with people etc, it would have been a very long day for him. I decided to write some notes and leave them for him, I gave these to Mum and she put one or two out around the house each day and then he found them. When I spoke to him on the phone each day it was nice to hear him say "Thanks for the notes Dad, only one sleep and you're home".

We landed in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon and after picking up our hire car drove the hour and a half to our hotel which was only about ten minutes from the Lucas Oil factory. That evening we met with our American tuning consultant Jim Brissette and his lovely wife Carol and had a nice meal with them, it was great to catch up with Jim away from the race track. I have learnt so much from him in the short time I have known Jim, he really is a clever man who talks common sense and would be a major asset to any drag racing team at any level. I hope that he will be with us in 2010 but as he is now working as a tuning consultant with Kenny Bernstein's Budweiser Team this may be difficult, time will tell.

On Wednesday after a light breakfast in Denny's we arrived at the Lucas Oil factory to meet with Tom. What a place! Right from the moment you walk into reception you can see the motorsport connection with the walls covered with pictures and racing memorabilia. As we made our way through to Tom's office we were introduced to everyone on the way, "This is Andy Carter our four-time FIA European Top Fuel Champion". Everyone was so friendly. After a short chat Tom said "Would you like a tour of the factory and offices?". "Yes that would be great please Tom" I replied. We started by meeting the rest of the people in the offices and then moved on to the Science and Test laboratory where all the oils and products are tested for viscosity, flash point, consistency, cavitations and many, many other tests and checks. Next it was the studios where all the Lucas Oil shows and adverts are produced, then the design studio where all the labels, merchandise, bottles etc are designed, then it was on to the oil manufacturing dept where the oils are actually made and blended, then on to the factory floor where the oil is put into the containers, caps put on and labelled. It was getting to 1 o'clock now so Tom and Jeff (also from Marketing) took us out to lunch...

About 45 minutes to our flight now and Terry Haddock has just called, we have missed a couple of calls in the last day or two and I had to let him know that the company that I met with after the Lucas Oil meeting decided not to support me at the Pomona race this year. My last ditch attempt at getting a budget to join Erbacher, Joon, Nataas and Neergard at the NHRA Finals had failed. We decided to meet at the PRI Show in Orlando in December and sit down and see how we can go forward. I would still like to do one race at the beginning of the year in America and one at the end, this would fit in well with my FIA European Championship and show schedule. Terry's a real good bloke and although everything back in February was not quite as I liked it, I really enjoyed racing with him.

...then it was back on to the tour. This time Jeff was showing us round as Tom had been called to another meeting. Next was the shipping department where all the oils, greases, problem solvers and Car Care products are put on to pallets and sent out all over the world. Last stop was the clothing department where Sarah was let loose to pick anything she wanted. She was like a kid in a sweet shop, saying "Yes I need two of them, three of them, have you got any Sweats in Small, any handbags (I'm serious)?". After spending twenty minutes with Sarah Raphael, the guy helping us in the department, got down to the serious stuff and picked out my order of crew wear for the team.

Then it was back to Tom's office for a general chat about 2009 and 2010. The great news is that my relationship with Lucas Oil is getting stronger and we will continue to work together in 2010. I'm determined to do better for Les Downey, Forrest, Charlotte, Tom, Jeff and everyone at this fantastic company and I'm gonna work harder than ever.

About one month before our meeting we had sent in a marketing proposal regarding Albert's karting and the other great news is that Lucas Oil have decided to support Albert in his karting career. We called Albert after the meeting and he was jumping up and down screaming "Yea I'm a Lucas Oil driver!". Now we have to make sure we do a good job for Lucas Oil on the karting scene too. Look out for Albert's rebranded Lucas Oil site soon at www.albertcarter.com

Thanks for reading and see you next blog.

(To see this blog complete with photos visit www.eurodragster.com)

Andy Carter

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