Get Rid of this Track! Or not…

Hello again, fellow IndyCar fans!  I’m sure you are all surprised to see a post from me.  I’ve been very bad about posting here, and I could give you a long list of reasons why that is the case, but I won’t.  I will, however, tell you what it is that has led me to make an appearance now.  Some of you will not like this post, and that’s fine.  We are all different people with different thoughts and opinions.  As long as you remain respectful to me (even if you think my opinion is absolute garbage), I have no problem with you.  I actually enjoy hearing from people with different opinions, as life would be very boring if we all thought and felt the same way about things.  We may not change each others’ minds, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still listen.

Last night brought us the running of the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.  I actually enjoyed the race.  There were many great battles, no crashes, many different strategies, and overall a safe, fast race.  It also helped that Marco Andretti, my favorite driver, continued his post-Indy resurgence by finishing P5 and remaining the only driver to complete every lap of every race this season.  (More about that in another blog post to come in the next few days, if life cooperates.)

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Fast is Pretty!

The aero kits are here!  For three (or is it four?) years, I’ve been listening to IndyCar fans, bloggers, media, and even critics, talk about aero kits.  For the past few months, we’ve been anticipating their release, and finally Chevrolet released their kit three weeks ago.  It was met with a great deal of scrutiny, and we awaited the release of Honda’s version.  That finally came last night.  Reaction has been mixed, but isn’t it always when it comes to IndyCar?

Revving the Engines for 2015!

Hello out there!  I know, I fell off the face of the blogger world in the middle of last season.  I don’t really have any good excuses, and I won’t try to make any up.  But today we are less than 3 weeks from the season opener at St. Pete, it’s so warm out I had to open my windows, and things are looking up!

I promise I will be better at blogging this season, with a main reason being that I have been given the honor of being chosen to participate in IndyCar Minnesota‘s Fantasy IndyCar for this season!!  I’m excited to be included with this select group of competitors, and I hope I’m able to keep up with them.

As we get closer to the season, I have some thoughts I’ll share with you.  I’m hoping to attend 3 races this season.  The Indy 500 is definitely a go, and Mid-Ohio is all set except for buying my tickets and camping pass.  I’m also hoping to make it to Pocono, but I’m not sure that will happen.

Thanks for stopping by, and please check back soon for my pre-season thoughts!

Random Thoughts: The Solitude of an IndyCar Race

Late in the evening of June 25, 2011, as I was enjoying the aftermath of Marco Andretti’s second-career IndyCar victory in the Iowa Corn Indy 250, I reached for my phone during a commercial break.  Much to my surprise, I had a large number of Twitter mentions and text messages.  They were all from the same person, a friend asking why I wasn’t “tweeting my head off” over Marco’s victory.  She assumed I wasn’t watching the race, since I hadn’t been posting about it.  I guess she assumed I normally tweeted or posted on facebook during races.

The truth is, I generally stay off Twitter and facebook during races.

Watch this space…

I’m working on a new post, but my air conditioning has been broken for 10 days so it’s eleventy billion degrees in my condo and I can’t concentrate.  Plus my computers keep threatening to overheat if I don’t let them rest quietly.  So, I will try to get it posted tomorrow from my blessedly air conditioned office.  Or else on Friday after my savior Jose replaces the motor and I’m sitting under a stream of cold air again.

Oh yeah, and I’m going to Mid-Ohio!  Seriously can’t wait!  Hope to see lots of you there!

Post-Indy 500 Thoughts: My IndyCar Family

And maybe a little withdrawal…

Where to start?  By now you’ve read a million other post-race articles analyzing the race and drivers and the current state of IndyCar, IMS, and the Indy 500.  People have given their opinions on anything and everything from the new road course race, the new concessions, the new tenderloins, the new qualifying format, Carb Day and its craziness, concerts at the track, Legends Day, this year’s rookies, the red flag after Townsend Bell’s crash, Ryden Hunter-Reay, and a million other topics.  I’m not here to write about those things, though a few may get a mention.

First Two Days at IMS

I arrived at IMS yesterday and it’s been an awesome whirlwind of activity, drivers, and friends since I set foot inside the track.

The Craziness of May

And just like that, I look up and it’s been 15 days since I last posted.  Shame on me!  Being busy is not an excuse, but I have been insanely busy this month.  While it’s been a lot of fun, the unfortunate side effect of being so busy is I haven’t had a chance to watch a lot of IndyCar.

The Continued Evolution of Marco Andretti

As I was perusing Twitter this afternoon, I came across this tweet from @TonyJWriter:

I guess since I’m already complaining, I’ll ask this: Why does IndyCar supposedly NEED Graham and Marco to be successful?

As you can all imagine, his tweet made me think.  I’ve never tried to hide the fact I’m a big fan of Marco Andretti.  If you didn’t know it before, this post from last year left no doubt.  I’m a fan, but I can still be objective.  As I said last year, 2012 was not an easy year to be a fan of Marco.  He had a lot of bad luck, most of which he created for himself.  But, as I also wrote last year, he took matters in his own hands after that nightmarish season, worked on areas in which he needed improvement, and it worked.  He turned in much better results in 2013, and finished a career-best 5th in championship points.

Goodbye, friend

By now most of you have probably read this post from Zack over at IndyCar Advocate.  I had a feeling, when the articles were fewer in recent weeks, something like this would be coming.  I completely understand it–I’ve had other blogs in the past, and eventually they just run their course.  Sometimes it’s because the subject of the blog goes away, sometimes the passion for the topic ebbs, and sometimes you just have to make the right decision for yourself and your family.  It’s the reason I have never established or promised a set schedule of posts for this blog.  Because I want it to remain fun for me, and not something that becomes a chore.