Return To Pole Day

I took my son to Pole Day this past week. We drove for nine hours to get there and enjoyed the track on Friday and Saturday. It was great to be back.
Strolling around on Friday through the pit area, I caught sight of Paul Newman and felt a lump in my throat — not because of his film achievements, but because of his years of contribution to open-wheel racing and racing itself. To see him and Carl Haas back at IMS was a defining moment for me personally.
Indy-car racing is finally headed in the right direction. I tip my hat to all of the players involved in the reunification, most of all to P.L. Newman who has taught me through the years by his example to “walk the walk, not talk the talk” in all aspects of life.

Shades Of Danica

I just read the latest Public Forum and came across a letter from Gus in Illinois ragging on Danica Patrick for, as he put it, her “huge ugly” sunglasses that she wore during her interview on “Wind Tunnel.”
Let me be the first to say to him, dude, get a life!
This interview came on the heals of her win in Japan, so it is safe to say that she was running herself pretty ragged, going from interview to interview. Maybe one needs to consider that maybe she was trying to avoid people seeing how worn out she was. The bottom line is, what is the issue here, man?
It just seems to me that in one way or another people want to rag on Danica, but to imply that she lost fan support and that she was rude over wearing sunglasses is about the most ignorant statement that I have heard to date.
I, for one, am not concerned about her sunglasses as long as she gives her all on the track. That is what counts. I am a loyal fan — and as a side note to Danica, you do your thing, girl! Us real fans love you and have your back. Good luck at Indy.

Go, Gus

Congrats to Gus Miller for taking Danica to task for wearing those stupid-looking sunglasses. The top models do not hide their beautiful faces behind ugly glasses.
Get with it, Danica.

What Is Indy?

Indianapolis. For one month a year, it isn’t a city. It’s a location. It’s a noun. It’s an adjective. It’s a sentence. It’s 16th and Georgetown. It’s 11 rows of three. It’s the Purdue band. It’s the Armed Forces on Bump Day. It’s 500 miles from immortality. It’s the drink of milk. It’s Donald Davidson on the radio. It’s “the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” But what does that mean? What does Indy mean?
To me, it means more than a race. Indy means family. It is Dad letting you skip school on the Friday before Pole Day. It is Mom making roast-beef sandwiches on Bump Day. It is your little brother, who is there to watch the “wacecaws” with daddy and his “big bwother,” carrying his binoculars, disposable camera and stopwatch. It is the cannon at 6 a.m. as the sun comes up on race day. It is breakfast with the photographers in turn three.
Little Al said, “You don’t know what Indy means.” Maybe he is right. But we all know what Indy means to us. It is just a little different for each of us. It is family. It is racing.
It is Indianapolis.

Open-Wheel Steps

In 1978, the founders of CART began the movement that resulted in two open-wheel series the next year. 1978 was the year Al Unser won the Indy 500 for the fourth time, the year after A.J. Foyt won for the fourth time.
For many of us, it has represented the high-water mark of open-wheel racing.
CART soon established that speed was more important than safety. With cars that had virtually no protection for the drivers’ feet, the “Indy shuffle” became common. Drivers became less important than the team owners, who ran the show.
The 1980s became a period of transition with Penske, Lola and March fighting for supremacy. Now, we are seeing the results of cost escalation with even Formula One adopting some spec regulations.
I really do miss the innovation and technological advances that Indy used to provide — Novis, turbines, four-wheel drive and radical designs. The only good part of the current spec formula is the increased emphasis it now places on the drivers, since, except for the paint jobs, that is the only difference among cars.
We are now starting to see drivers and their personalities promoted at Indy, which may eventually cause open-wheel interest to creep up on NASCAR marketing. I sure hope so, because it has been a disappointment to see the Indy 500 take a backseat to any other series, especially the taxi cabs.

Darlington ‘Discussion’

It was refreshing to hear Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds engage in an actual disagreement during the Cup race from Darlington.
Kyle Busch was incessant in his criticism of his car during the early stages of the race. Busch constantly derided his car for being — and I quote — “pathetic.” He was leading the race, brake rotors glowing cherry red, and his car is “pathetic.”
Jeff Hammond and Larry Mac criticized Busch for his criticism of his crew. Not smart, they say, to chide your crew on the radio, especially when you are leading the race. DW puts his nickel in the pot by supporting Kyle because Kyle’s the driver, and the driver is… well, you get the picture.
Larry Mac takes exception and jumps down Darrell’s throat. I loved it. Two strong opinions, both with merit and no NASCAR script. An actual heated discussion between two actual racers who know what they are talking about. They calmed down pretty quick, but it was enlightening to hear an actual discussion.

Bashing Busch

Kyle Busch, you bug-eyed, buck-toothed pencil stick, you made two bad mistakes at Richmond — one, going up to the Wallace’s car after the race, then the remark about if he messes with the bull, he would get the horns.
A piece of advice: Stay away from Steven Wallace. He would knock your head off. What are you Cup drivers doing in that series anyway? The second mistake was bumping Dale, Jr. out on purpose — and don’t say it was just hard racing. Me and six of my friends, who were watching the race on my big-screen TV, replayed the tape of the race seven times of the hit on Dale, Jr. in slow motion and all came to the same conclusion — you did it on purpose, and two of the guys were your fans.
NASCAR, when are you going to keep the Cup cars out of the Nationwide Series?

Petty’s Time Has Come

To Kyle Petty: At Richmond you were four laps down and finished 27th, which was called “a solid run” on Fox. Do you know any racer who would feel good about that? I would bet any other racer would say, “Solid run? Are you nuts?”
You said on “Tradin’ Paint” on Speed, “Us drivers are bull-headed and crazy.” Is that why you will not step out of the No. 45 car and continue to bury it? At Darlington, you finished 41st, just one more in a string of shameful “efforts.”
Bobby Labonte is reduced to essentially a one-car team. How has that worked out for Furniture Row Racing? BAM Racing? The Wood Brothers? And Robby Gordon? Will the No. 45 car still have Wells-Fargo or Marathon next year? For that matter, what sales pitch do you use for a car out of the top 35, sliding deeper every week and not making races and not on camera.
Kyle, you and Patti are living angels to sick children with the Victory Junction Gang Camp. You are what Americans should be. But with that said, you must now do what is best for the future of Petty Enterprises; what is best for Bobby Labonte if he re-ups with P.E.; what is best for Chad McCumbee and future developmental drivers. Step aside, please. Stop damaging Petty Enterprises and your own reputation. Step out of the No. 45 car.