Where we're at

It’s been nearly a month since I blogged last, and that was only to offer an embedded link of Rick Perry tripping over himself in one of the many GOP debates as comedic relief as the Penn State scandal was beginning to rear its ugly head. Oh, politics and collegiate scandals …

Still, December is upon us and with it the end of what’s been a rough couple months for the motorsports industry – I don’t think there’s much wrong with saying there’s a lot of people looking fully ahead to 2012 and leaving 2011 in the past. Being fully embedded within the industry now, it’s clear that although technically this is the “offseason” in terms of on track action, it’s probably among the busiest times of year.

Drivers are busy scrapping together the funding to make deals happen, crew chiefs in NASCAR all seem to have been entered into an organized game of “Musical chairs,” and the Busch brothers are doing their usual apology tour for their latest round of outbursts. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess.

What should happen over the next few weeks is a domino effect within several series and levels of the industry – none of it bad, just cards beginning to fall into place.

IndyCar has its most notable story since the end of the season, with Robin Miller's seemingly jubilant 12:01 a.m. EST post Wednesday morning that his archnemesis Brian Barnhart was being reallocated within the series – but as far away as humanly possible from race control. Terry Angstadt, the other remaining holdover to the IRL era, has announced his resignation. While he’s sometimes received the unfortunate “Talkin’ Terry” nickname, it’s still important to note the acquisitions of IZOD and Apex Brazil as key series sponsors and international street races in Brazil and China, all which seem to be good revenue streams.

I’ll say this for Barnhart. I don’t think he’s anywhere near as bad as he’s often viewed, but do think his mistakes this year were magnified and utterly inexcusable. Barnhart’s removal from race control is the start of the process of overhauling the rulebook and determining clarity, consistency and transparency the series so desperately needs from its race officials, but not the single thing that will fix all that was brought to light in 2011. Still, it’s unfair to paint all of race control – there are other officials in the IndyCar crosshairs – with the same brushstroke. Ideally, we don’t hear from these guys at all, because they’re not seeking the spotlight or having to use the spotlight to defend controversial decisions.

IndyCar is also working to sort out the myriad technical issues with its new car. Its appearance is widely panned, and its performance doesn’t seem to be much better – although Ryan Briscoe was genuinely upbeat from testing in Fontana this week. Scott Dixon struggled to find the positives on day one, but appeared to have a much better second day than first.

In the very short span of three and a half months, the car has to be sorted, a race director named, a rulebook examined and perhaps rewritten, team and driver lineups finalized, and most pressingly, the schedule released. That’s an equation that will keep the news firmly flowing during the period without racing.

The American Le Mans Series, likewise, is in a holding pattern as teams are working to figure out what their chassis and engine packages might include for 2012. As a series, it also has its own more pressing concern, how to respond from the snub of Petit Le Mans being left off the WEC calendar, as a part of its relationship (and partnership) with the ACO.

A substantial number of industry professionals are off to trade shows in Orlando (PRI) and Indianapolis (IMIS) within the next two weeks. These are among the most important business days of the year and meetings can go a long way in determining how and where the money flows for so many different organizations.

Put this way. It’s been a little over six months since graduating, and almost four since I started, and I never expected that it would be still as busy now as it was during the concluding months of the year – but that’s the nature of the beast. You may graduate, but you never stop learning. Out for now, cheers.

Hilarity among a mess

Right now, the sports world is abuzz with the immediate reaction to Joe Paterno's firing and dismissal following the shocking news out of Penn State. That's all I'm going to blog on the subject at the moment.

In the meantime, something rather hilarious happened tonight as well, in something that could have a more meaningful impact on every U.S. resident from this point forward. Of the potential GOP presidential candidates, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's debate performances have been mediocre at best, but this gaffe from tonight's performance might make him, officially, "Texas toast."

Governor, the floor is yours ...

Moving forward, both solitude and community can help

It's taken a couple weeks for me to get back to some small semblance of reality or normality after the shock and devastation that has hit the motorsports world these last two weeks. It's also been a struggle to put together the right words in tribute and in moving forward after Dan Wheldon's fatal accident, because I've felt gutted. Last week at work was the first "normal" week in more than a month, all things considered, as we were back to regular production after closing production on what became the Dan Wheldon tribute issue. By the way, that doesn't get any easier to write.

We'd spent the previous three weeks assembling the program, in painstaking detail, for the Las Vegas IndyCar finale. Then, in the first dozen laps, the mentality changed. We were no longer in a position where we could embrace what we had put together; we shifted into shock, desperation and disbelief as we lost one of the sport's greatest champions.

If there was one thing that was universal in the last two weeks, it was the fact we all revealed how much Dan Wheldon had in some small way,touched everyone he met - mostly with incredible experiences. Mine, as I elaborated on in my official remembrance, was a chance to race him on a simulator for SimRaceway at Infineon Raceway (SEE ABOVE). That he embraced what was, for him, a PR obligation with such a smile, openness and willingness to engage with his counterparts for the time we raced, spoke volumes. That was all I needed to know about the type of individual Dan was.

On top of that, we saw the power of community. One post that hit on it most was a Canadian friend of mine's, Michelle-Marie Beer, better known as "Meesh," who explained how much community was a part of the process from the angst of the accident, to making it through the week in-between the accident and funeral and memorial services, to moving forward.

It's been said racing is a very small but tight-knit community and nowhere was that more evident than at Las Vegas as we all stood and watched the parade laps on pit road. There were embraces with my longtime friends Michel Jourdain Jr., a former CART race winner in his own career, (LEFT, IN PRE-RACE) and a genuine mate in Patsy White - an ace pit spotter. But also, there was the connection established with new people I'd only met within the last couple months - Martin Plowman and his girlfriend Nicole for instance - as we all sobbed, cried, hugged and thanked each other for being there in this time of grief.

As we moved away from the track, we all separated physically. For me, I have to admit, it's been a tough transition since I moved out to California on my own to begin with - and the events of the last two weeks only exacerbated the anxiety. Still, the outpouring of support while on my own from friends back home who saw what happened, or from family members both close in actual proximity or via calls, texts, emails, tweets and Facebook messages, has been immense. It means a lot to know there are people who take the time to reach out, or if you reach out to them, they lend an ear or a few minutes to hear you out.

When you're on your own, you do have moments where you sit down and think about what's transpired, and how you overcome it. You can't sit there and act like seeing someone crash to his death doesn't affect you - that would be rather inhumane and callous. At the same point, you can't wallow in your own self-pity either; you have to pray for the people most closely affected (in this case, Susie, his two children and extended family), and think about what you, yourself can do to improve the situation going forward.

Knee-jerk reactions aren't the answer. Nor are lambasting, self-serving, egotisical and disingenous posts that only serve an agenda - that's the last thing you should be trying to purport when a tragedy strikes. Still, there are those either from the "passerby" national media that otherwise couldn't give a shit but did because there was the "ooooooh" factor of 15 crashing, flaming and four flying racecars. Or, there are those who scapegoat and don't offer any solutions.

As a journalist, and one who's only graduated from college only five months ago, Dan Wheldon's death has struck me in several ways. It's hurt because it was the first time I have ever covered a race - let alone the driver - when there has been a fatality. It's been very isolating because in the moments of anger and frustration away from the track or the office, I haven't had a shoulder to cry on (and I'm not ashamed to admit that).

On the flip side, it's brought me closer to some people I could have never envisioned being closer to, or, rekindled relationships with family members who have been there, witnessed that, and known how much a death hits. It's forced me to think about what I should have said, asked or written in the months since I started my new job - and what I should do going forward to act on the responsibility I have in my work role.

Both solitude and community help in the healing process. Being alone allows proper time for reflection. Having people to talk to, to get out emotions and try to discuss how motorsports moves forward after the last two weeks (where of course, we also lost MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli, Lucas Oil off-road racer Rick Huseman and Iron Man Mike, 6-year-old Michael Wanser) can be therapeutic.

The best sign of the community since the accident, of course, was Graham Rahal's initial offering to auction his helmet to raise money for the Wheldon family - and that of course snowballed into the Dan Wheldon Memorial Auction. The outpouring of support from everyone involved to help the cause has been nothing short of staggering. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my cousin was fortunate enough to shoot the morning after Dan's first Indy 500 win in 2005, and a print he made has been included in the auction.

The mix of community and reflection can only be a positive as we look to move forward from these last two weeks. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

***

As Monday is Halloween, it also marks another eery anniversary - a dozen years since Greg Moore's fatal accident at California Speedway in 1999. Still, rather than cry, Andy Hallbery has done an excellent series of remembrances in tribute. This one is a great interview with Max Papis describing the PlayStation races which may be going on for those who have passed on in this life, and some other great moments shared by the Italian. More of his stories are available on that website.

Devastated over Dan

My emotions have rarely - if ever - been worse after a devastating day at the racetrack as we have lost Dan Wheldon, one of IndyCar's most charismatic, charming, and just damn good racing drivers. I can't find any words to describe the sadness - for the motorsports community, for friends, team members and fans, and most importantly for his family.

It's going to take time before I can recap this weekend and getting to spend a significant amount of time with Dan for a feature I had been assigned.

For now, though, all I can say is goodbye, Dan. The world has lost a great individual this evening.

Work, Wisco sports and conundrums

Myriad thoughts and emotions over the last few weeks, so here they are in a few short notes:

***

Two icons passed away with both Steve Jobs and Al Davis succumbing to health issues at opposite ends of the age spectrum; Jobs a far too young 56 and Davis at 82. It’s more than fair to say the tech world, and for that matter the consumer media market, would not be what it is without Jobs’ innovations and relentless drive for perfection. In the same breath, football wouldn’t be what it is without Davis – the eccentric, occasionally bizarre but loyal and creative mastermind behind the Oakland Raiders.

Both were sometimes perceived as caricatures – Jobs for his grandiose speeches introducing new Apple products and Davis for his constant axing of coaches and players seemingly on a whim during his last decade. I’ve been skeptical of Apple fanatics, but never their leader, and that is still a great loss. I could say the same about Raider fans – some of the most intense looking individuals in football – but they wouldn’t be as devoted without Davis’ edge. Both are great losses for their respective industries.

***

You don’t realize the magnitude of how much you’re working until you’re not. Case in point – we finished our largest project of the year at RACER this past week, a 150+ page program for the Las Vegas IndyCar race that promises to feature amazing quality and be as up-to-date as possible. I should know; along with our tirelessly working editorial staff, we were pushing almost 150 hours worked in two weeks!

When my mom came to visit me here in California – that still sounds weird – for the first time, a four-day weekend provided the first pause in the work cycle. You have to appreciate the work even if it seems insane how much it can be at times. And it’s at that point I realized the magnitude of being here on my own in full, with so many transitions occurring at once … I’m plugging away at it.

***

One of the hardest parts of the transition has been the constant success of Wisconsin sports teams of late. The Brewers are locked in a 1-1 series tie with the Cardinals (baseball, not the pathetic excuse for a football team) after an emotional outburst in knocking off the D-backs in the NLDS thanks to Nyjer Morgan, a.k.a “Tony Plush,” with an RBI single in extra innings and a couple f-bombs to celebrate that and “beast mode.”

My conundrum here is, having grown up and lived in Arizona for 18 years before moving to my second home, Milwaukee, for college, I was at a crossroads of who to root for. Milwaukee fans have a greater appreciation, it seems, for baseball; yeah, they tailgate and get drunk before the games, but that’s part of what makes the experience. Arizona fans, by contrast, are largely there to be seen and have their loyalty blow with the wind. The fact they couldn’t sell out a playoff game says it all, quite frankly – you can’t root for a team whose own fans don’t rally behind them.

Elsewhere the Packers have started 5-0 – the most impressive win in that stretch coming this past Sunday over Atlanta. They rallied from a 14-0 hole to win 25-14, the defense looked strong and Aaron Rodgers put up another phenomenal game – even if I needed one more point to win my fantasy game. (Go figure I have four losses by a combined 13.7 points and the most points this year, but that’s for another post …) The Badgers are undefeated, and while I can’t bring myself to root for them as a Marquette graduate, I can at least acknowledge their success.

***

The IndyCar season concludes in Vegas this weekend, where I’ll be on Thursday following a morning road trip with a couple of my colleagues. It should be a fun weekend. Out for now, cheers.

And, exhale. Scene!

Invariably when you’re writing for work and writing about something you love covering, the last thing you want to do on your moments of free time is write some more on a little blog outlet that serves as the home of these part sarcastic, part insightful and part monotonous tomes.

That was a long-winded way of saying posting here is sporadic.

Or, alternatively, it’s a way of saying that when you’ve been on the road three of the last four weekends — in addition to full weeks in the office when you’re not racking up the miles — you actually do get a bit tired.

It’s all part of the learning process as it’s now been, officially, more than a month in the new digs and new gig.

The first thing I get as a response in catching up with friends via social media outlets when I tell them about traveling for work is, “WOW. That’s so cool!” or something to that degree. And it is. But I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t at least a little bit draining.

It takes a special specimen to be able to keep this frenetic pace up. It’s something I’ve increased incrementally since I first started covering motorsports in 2006, from being at one to three races a year, to five and six, eight or nine, and now into the teens and pushing 20 this year. It’s the same reason why once you meet people in this business, they tend to either stick around because they love it and can handle the constant travel for the passion of motorsports, or fade out altogether.

So the period I’ve just gone through, while exciting, was the first major time frame of being a bit overwhelmed. Between constant travel bookings, wondering where you are and what time zone you’re in, what’s your hotel and do they have free Wi-Fi or not (the same question at airports), you do have to stay focused just on that weekend and you almost lose sight of everything else.

Without even blinking September 11 passed — and because I didn’t really have a clue what to say or wanted to add to the plethora that was already out there (I saw more used for political statements than proper remembrance, anyway, in my opinion) — I refrained from any posts.

Catching up with one friend and former colleague who was out in these parts, and it was the same story. We’re not even six months out from graduating college yet, and the post-graduate life is more work than play. Don’t get me wrong, everyone who has a job — especially the May graduates, and myself included — is pretty damn thankful for that. It’s just handling the adjustments of being away, learning a new atmosphere, and making it purely on your own that can get to you at times.

Yet that wonderful “p” word — perspective — popped up as another ten-year anniversary passed in the same time frame. That ten-year anniversary was a rather dichotomous one, as it marked ten years since Alex Zanardi’s horrific accident in CART’s German race which went on in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 to a mix of various opinions.

Zanardi lost his legs in that accident, but not his spirit. The Italian — the first driver who I really grew an attachment to as a youth (the late Greg Moore and Michel Jourdain Jr. the other two) — puts pretty much everything in perspective.

The man never lost his competitive drive and is now, simply, a paralympic BEAST in wheelchair racing, as I saw in an SI article. He could lament what he lost; instead, he embraces his next challenge and does a damn good job at it.

Worth noting that amidst the political morass and vitriol out of Washington and whatever personal issues may ail you, there’s a guy out there who should give everyone a needed kick in the ass to say, “Be thankful, you idiot.” Although knowing Alex, he’d say it in a classier way and with his wonderful Italian accent.

In other thoughts …

***

The third of four weekends on the road was this past one at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey. Travel issues aside (minor by comparison; I was just tired in leaving a function at 10:00 p.m. after being up since 4 a.m.), it was a very productive weekend accomplishing a lot in a very short amount of time. An otherwise fantastic six hours of sports car racing was slightly diminished, in my opinion, by what P1 champions Dyson Racing did to clinch their title.

Rather obviously, the team pulled in its second car with no apparent mechanical issues late in the going to change positions. That was certainly not illegal by the rules (which actually are printed in ink), but it was also a fairly unsporting maneuver but what is otherwise a very first-class operation.

Team orders exist in racing, and that’s not a secret. But there are crafty and subtle ways of doing it, and how Dyson executed the change was not how it should be done, if it ever needed to be done. Even more annoyingly, they were not going to lose at the next round in Petit Le Mans anyway because they had a near insurmountable gap that Lazarus himself would have been hard-pressed to pull off. For Muscle Milk to overcome the points deficit at Petit, they would have needed to score first place points and had Dyson DNF. Not impossible but highly unlikely.

Chris Dyson seems a decent enough individual and I have to say I have much more respect for Rob Dyson from the time I got to spend with him and three of his co-drivers of years ago, Butch Leitzinger, James Weaver and Andy Wallace, over the weekend. All lovely fellows. But Chris’s unofficial admission of the switch when I asked about it in the post-race press conference said it all. There are classier ways to win a title, especially when you’ve only had one rival all season.

***

One of the other things announced at Monterey was the new Unlimited Racing Championship.

The good: 700-horsepower V8s with a cool-looking car that looks like an old Can-Am car (which was entirely by design).

The bad: The first thing Scott Atherton said when setting up the announcement was, “How many of you are over 45?” If you’re trying to reach the nostalgic demographic of rich amateurs, you’ve succeeded, but if you’re trying to draw in a younger crowd, I don’t want to speak for everyone but it’s hard to be nostalgic when you didn’t grow up in that era. This series screams generation gap.

The ugly: It’s arrive-and-drive, series-run, one-make support series that will add more cars to the already crowded paddock space but will join the litany of IMSA-backed support series without any media interest. Doesn’t that go against the whole point of the term “unlimited?”

***

The Packers improved to 2-0 but lost one of their starting safeties Nick Collins for the season with a neck injury. If there’s one thing the team proved last year, it’s deep, but that’s still a bitter blow. Imperfect timing too with a critical tilt vs. daaaa Bears this week.

Out for now, and actually home for a weekend. Either at Petit Le Mans ALMS or Kentucky IndyCar — or possibly both — the weekend after. Cheers.

Baltimore Musings - This Thing Could Be Big

As one of my friends in racing so accurately suggested to me when she said, “Go to bed lad!!”, I’ll keep these thoughts brief. It has been since 4:30 a.m. EST that I woke up for an 8:45 a.m. flight, and it’s now 8:30 p.m. PST — yeah, you do the math.

Baltimore has mega potential. Sure, there were the inevitable first year kinks—the track wasn’t done on time, the access points for photographers and fans were limited, and there were points of the track that could have been better. But I’ve never experienced a vibe and ambiance at a U.S. race quite like it, especially for a first year event. The Long Beach comparison is not a stretch.

There were really only three major complaints I’d offer. One was rather minor in comparison to the two that happened on Sunday—the in-house timing & scoring for the ALMS race was wrong throughout and I’m pretty sure that’s what the fans saw. It seemed embarrassing but all things considered, a fairly minor flaw compared to what happened on Sunday.

When the IndyCar “morning warm-up from hell” took place, some corner workers were right in the line of fire when the Tony Kanaan/Helio Castroneves accident occurred. Had Kanaan not gone airborne, chances are the corner workers could have been seriously hurt or worse.

Worse still was when a Holmatro safety truck was running at full speed in the opposite direction, on a HOT track, right as the IndyCar race started. The YouTube videos of both situations say it all, really.

A sampling of photos is below. Although at times exhausting and frustrating, the overall take-out from this weekend is that this thing could really catch on as an annual event. If it doesn’t, I’m glad as hell I got the chance to experience this one.

Out for now, cheers.

Gilligan's Island pit lane; KVRT team mgr Mark Johnson helps prepare backup car for TK.

Track went from this on Thurs to this Sunday after the IndyCar race. Pretty damn impressive.