This is the Statt Mann Baby!!  Time to Scatt a little bit.

We spent the weekend in the Heartland at an off-road race in Missouri.  Man those are some good people!!

I can’t tell you the people who wanted to feed me; from our Lucas Oil hosts at Lucas Oil Speedway to the lady behind the counter in the snack bar.  She even spotted me a buck when I didn’t have enough correct change for a cool drink on an oppressively hot day.

Of course these are the people that Carl Edwards always thanks when he gets the camera and microphone after a Nextel Cup win like he did today in Dover.

Carl came from this part of the world where dirt tracks out number health spas and drivers learn to drive like Dalton, a 13-year-old I met who runs at or near the front in several of those modified programs.  And he still finds time to play with his buddies and shake an old man’s hand from L.A.

I also met Will and Willa, a couple who’s been married a long time who could tell you how many bolts are in a dirt modified or late model but they’d never seen an  off-road race but were willing to try one on for size.

And, yeah, there were some Confederate flags and the people who love them but nowadays you can find both in Beverly Hills.  And few people there will give you a cold drink on a hot day!

Whenever you get the feeling we’re all headed down a bad road in a hand basket, stop in one of the flyover states.  It might change your mind.

If not, maybe you’d better check the mirror and find out who’s carrying that basket anyway.

Peace.