CONCORD, N.C. -- While many Hendrick Motorsports team members traded shop uniforms and tools for sand and salty waves over the off-weekend, this week's final installment of #HendrickSummer focuses on one teammate in particular who headed west instead.
WESTWARD BOUND
Kevin Hamlin, spotter for Kasey Kahne in the No. 5 Chevrolet SS, made a trip to Nebraska with his family on his weekend off.
"My wife and I are from Seattle but her whole family is based in Nebraska so we go back there whenever we can just to catch up with everybody," Hamlin said.
The spotter said his family makes the roughly 1,200-mile trip to Nebraska every couple of years.
Hamlin's wife's mother -- Granny J, as she's called -- is the matriarch of the family and her house has become the hub of all activity during these visits.
"We just kind of hang out," Hamlin (far right in above picture, with his family) said. "All the aunts and uncles and cousins and everybody just kind of hang out there. It’s a big family so it’s relaxing but there’s a lot going on at the same time because it’s a lot of people."
A RELAXED TRIP
"It's a real sleepy town," Hamlin said of Humphrey, Nebraska.
However, the big family had no trouble finding activities to keep them occupied.
The town has a nice nine-hole golf course surrounded by corn fields that they played at. They also shot clay targets on one of the uncle's farms.
"You know, typical Midwest stuff," Hamlin said.
The families also participated in Humphrey Days, an annual festival that takes place at the park in town. Hamlin said his youngest, 2-year-old Blair, particularly enjoyed the petting zoo.
FAMILY TIME
Hamlin said the trip was a special one for his three children, who, unlike their father, don't get to travel often.
"They had a blast," he said. "Taking a trip to the airport and getting on an airplane is a cool deal for them. My wife’s a stay-at-home mom and she’s really busy with all the kids so for them to be able to go out and travel, it’s a really cool time for them."
For Hamlin, the weekend off and the opportunity to make the trip to visit family came at the perfect time.
"It was real nice," Hamlin said. "The schedule that we do on the Cup Series is a grind, it’s the longest in professional sports. With the tests that they throw in there it’s hard so it’s really nice to just take a week and basically just try to unplug as much as we can and just kind of do nothing."
TEAM STORE SUMMER DISCOUNTS
In this week’s final edition of #HendrickSummer guide, you can receive a special discount on a Kasey Kahne Burnout Hat in both the team store and the online store. To receive 10 percent off your hat, use the code HENDRICKSUMMER at checkout.
