Labonte

While riding in the rental car, on our way to Chicagoland Speedway, I asked my PR guy when our next weekend off would be. After he replied "Thanksgiving," I laughed out loud … but quickly realized he wasn't joking.

Actually, we do have the weekend off before Thanksgiving. But I got the point. We've started a run of 20 straight weekends of competition that'll take us to the season finale in Homestead, Fla., on Nov. 16.

That being said, maybe it was a good idea to take a little time off before the race in Joliet and enjoy some of the sights in Chicago.

What a great city …

Lake Shore Drive, with all those sailboats bobbing offshore and the lunch crowd strolling in the sun … the clock tower on the front of the Tribune building … Michigan Avenue … and the Chicago River that runs right through downtown -- the one they fill with green dye on St. Patrick's Day.

And from 63 stories up, the view was even more spectacular. They still haven't finished that park they were building for the new millennium in 2000, but the day was clear enough to look across the water and see part of the Indiana coastline. I was thinking how cool it was to be up that high, and to still have to look up to see the top floors of the Sears Tower.

Soldier Field sure looks a lot different than it did a few years ago when I was there for a Bears-Cowboys game, but it's still one of the anchors of the city's shoreline. They're modernizing it, but thank goodness the architects left those trademark columns on the outside.

And Oprah (Winfrey) still lives here. They showed us the building where her penthouse is located.

Our day had started with a round of interviews, not only to help promote the Tropicana 400 but the special paint scheme the Kellogg's / got milk? Racing Team was running that weekend. The American Dairy Association and its "got milk?" ad campaign are associate sponsors on our team this year. They're based in the Midwest, so Chicago is a big market for them.

It's a big market for NASCAR, too; the third-largest media market in the country. I was a little surprised at how much interest in NASCAR there was, given the fact that the Major League Baseball All-Star Game was going to be played in Chicago a couple days after our race. The Bears are getting ready to start training camp. In fact, sportscasters were talking about (linebacker) Brian Urlacher's new TV commercial. And no one could believe the White Sox actually lost three in a row to the Detroit Tigers, the team with the worst record in baseball.

But the media made room for us, too. And by the time we finished, I think we saved the best for last: Wrigley Field. They don't build ballparks like this one anymore.

The Cubs were playing a series with the Atlanta Braves. The game attracted a lot of other NASCAR personalities, drivers and writers. Sitting there helped me realize that this is probably the way baseball was meant to be played … on a sunny day, on a grass field, with nearly every seat in the grandstands filled. We kept waiting for Sammy Sosa to hit one over that 368-foot sign in left field, but the best he could do was two singles in four at-bats.

Wouldn't you know it? He hit two home runs the next day, when it was time for us to get back to work.

Being a NASCAR driver has enabled me to meet some really great people through the years and experience things I wouldn't otherwise have had the chance to do … like enjoying a perfect summer afternoon in one of the greatest cities in the world.

For that, I am truly thankful.

Terry Labonte drives the No. 5 Kellogg's/got milk? Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He is providing a biweekly diary to ESPN.com throughout the 2003 NASCAR season. Labonte's personal Web site can be found at www.terrylabonte.net or go to www.hendrickmotorsports.com for team information.