Nic Jonsson: Journey to Racing 16.01.2009: I hope everyone is getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. I've had one of the most relaxing weeks in a long time. When I say relaxing, that means that I have spent the entire week at home without having to travel. However I have still b

I hope everyone is getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. I've had one of the most relaxing weeks in a long time. When I say relaxing, that means that I have spent the entire week at home without having to travel. However I have still been busy.

It's been preparation time for the Rolex 24 At Daytona. I'm doing light workouts, starting to load my body with carbohydrates and fluids and get into the right state of mind. We're also getting the new Kinetic BMW E 92 V8 KONI Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport car ready for its first run this week. This is very exciting since we built the car from scratch at Kinetic Speed Shop. The Krohn Racing team is putting the finishing touches on the ProtoAuto Lola cars before leaving next Tuesday for Daytona.

I thought I would tell you one of my stories from when I first came to the United States back in 1994. There was only one goal in my mind: to go racing. I was willing to fight for my goals in life which led me on this journey to racing here in the States. I'll start from the beginning.

I saved up my money for some time and bought a ticket from Sweden to Chicago. I picked Chicago because it was the cheapest place to fly into from Sweden. Part of the money I saved up was to go towards a rental car since my final destination was to get to California and Laguna Seca.

At the time, I didn't know how far of a distance it was from Chicago to California until I landed in the States. Another problem I was not aware of is that the rental car company would not take travelers checks. I tried calling my aunt who lived in Colorado for the past 40 years now, unfortunately she was not home. There I was, stuck with no way of going anywhere.

About three hours later, the same Dollar Rental car shuttle driver that initially drove me from the airport to the shuttle pick up/drop off station spotted me still sitting in a corner with my bags. This shuttle driver asked me what I was still doing there. I explained my situation and he offered for me a place to stay at his home. So off I went with this stranger who opened his home to me.

The scene was just like I had seen in the movies when I was home in Sweden. The driver had this old Cadillac with no rear windows and a trunk lid that would not close. He took me to where he lived and I thought I was going to die! He pulled into one of those old, dark alleys where you would not dare walk if you were in your right state of mind.

 But hey, I had nowhere else to go since I had no money to pay for a hotel. His flat was a pure bachelor place, one with lots of empty pizza boxes from the past week along with a bunch of other crap. He offered a place for me to sleep on the sofa that was located in the kitchen. So I did, the morning came, I woke up and I was still alive!

That morning he offered to loan me his car for the day if I dropped him off at work and picked him up when he got off. Driving around in this old Cadillac in downtown Chicago was an experience of its own. I was happy to be getting around and I ended up staying there for four nights and became good friends with this guy.

I got to experience the most exciting clubs and bars in the Chicago area with my friend but I do have to say, there are certain places you probably should not go if you are from a foreign country and have never been to a big city before.

However, my new friend was a regular at these establishments and looked out for me so everything turned out fine. I finally got in touch with my aunt and she helped me sort out the rental car situation. So, I was finally off and on my way to California. My journey into racing here in the States was both a long and exciting one. I have many more stories to tell in the future, so I hope you stay tuned!

Until next week, take care.

www.nicjonsson.com                 www.kssmotorsports.com                    www.krohnracing.net

Your friend, Nic   also photo