Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Welcome, One and All

As the punk in the parking lot with the Marlboros is saying, "everybody's doing it!" I'm jumping on the bandwagon of racing blog-dom and seeing if I can make something of it. Likely, I'm just gonna post a bunch of stuff that no one will read. But I'm going to know it exists, and that will feed my self-indulgence to a degree that...my other blog kinda does when I post to it.

I'm an avid fan of almost anything that goes fast on wheels: Indy Cars, Formula One, motorcycles, touring cars, prototype sports cars, USAC, and even (gasp) a few select NASCAR races. I try not to be partial to any particular driver (though I'm certainly against several). I simply enjoy the sights and sounds of motorized vehicles going fast around a racetrack.

As the title of the blog implies, I was indeed one of those wonderful, happy-go-lucky fellows that told you where you could and couldn't go when you visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In fact, I was an traffic yellow shirt in the infield. So, if you were forced into the Turn 3 parking lot at any point during the 2005 season, chances are I waved you by, or forced you to stop with my mighty yellow shirt whistle or told you to stop walking in the damn road or...well, you get the idea. I was never happy about the ever-ubiquitous yellow shirts before 2005, and I know I wasn't the only hater out there. But I appreciate much more what they do now, and I realize that, without them, the Speedway would quickly dissolve into unimaginable chaos.

Anecdote warning: the 2005 U.S. Grand Prix was, for a brief moment, one of the scariest moments of my life. When the six cars set off the grid and we could hear the chorus of boos following the cars around the track, the supervisors came over the radio and just said, "everybody get inside!" The Marion County Sheriffs set up camp all over the infield and I saw them escorting a none-too-pleased Mari Hulman George out of the facility. Luckily, everyone stayed cool for the most part, and our fears were misplaced. But we thought for a while that it might get dangerous.

Oh, I suppose this is mildly important too: I'm based out of Bloomington, IN. That puts one of the best 1/4-mile dirt tracks in the land right down the street and puts me within easy striking distance of IMS, IRP (or ORP, if you're a sellout), Chicagoland, Kentucky Speedway, Michigan International (I want my IRL race back!), Mid-Ohio, Gateway (I want my IRL race back!!!), Cleveland (you get it by now) and an insane number of the best local ovals in the country.

Cheers, folks, and I'm looking forward to seeing the IRL retake to the track this weekend.