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.

Sonoma Musings, Day One

Right, so day one as an official RACER Magazine staffer at the track and to call it whirlwind would be an understatement.

For starters, Infineon Raceway is a much nicer (and hillier) place in person than on TV — I would definitely recommend a visit just for the drive out from the airport if nothing else, with the race as gravy. The track is outstanding for a road course in that you can see most of it from the turn three hill.

Secondly, you really need a detailed look at the entry list this weekend. Martin Plowman’s in his second start, Ho-Pin Tung his first, and Giorgio Pantano’s racing for the first time in six years. Then of all things, Simona de Silvestro runs into customs problems and gets bogged down to where she isn’t her, and the new IndyCar super sub Simon Pagenaud gets here at the 11th hour from Spain to fill in.

Third, a series of interviews produced some great bits. Props in particular have to go to Charlie Kimball who had a lot of good things to say, and to Andretti Autosport — whose hospitality was not only a great place to sightsee (it’s up on the hill overlooking turn 3) — and when I was interviewing Marco Andretti, Mario Andretti comes up and gives him the fist bump and introduces himself to me.

He said simply, “Hi, I’m Mario.”

You don’t get to meet your heroes everyday and it took a stroke of luck to not blurt out “OHMYGOD IT’S MARIO FREAKING ANDRETTI, THE GREATEST DRIVER ALIVE!” I got out a muted “Pleasure, Mr. Andretti, I’m Tony,” and got on with chatting to Marco. Thank God for composure in a moment I can’t believe I actually handled … a class act from Mario.

Finally, talk about being in the right, or potentially wrong place at the right time. I was going to stroll pit lane right before practice started and see where everyone was stationed.

At the exact moment I left the media center, I see Dario Franchitti walking out and signing autographs. So I run to catch up with him and we chatted for a bit (I've known Dario for a few years and he made what I would call the best story of my career so far, my Greg Moore retrospective in '09).

Suddenly, who walks up behind me, unbeknownst, but DANICA. Danica and Dario embraced for a second, Dario putting his arm around her as I was suddenly thrust into the role of media bloke walking alongside the series’ two biggest names.

Inevitably the photographers swarmed as we got onto pit lane, suddenly there were five or six of them in like 10 seconds as they stared each other in the eyes and discussed a proper sendoff for Danica as she prepares to depart for NASCAR in 2012 (see last entry). And there I am as the random person who’s photo-bombing what is bound to be a popular photo.

Alas, I found the shots online this evening. They certainly reveal the embrace between Danica and Dario and me filling space. Goodness me.

It’s still part of the learning process to separate work from the natural fan reaction at this stage. Plus, I have the added pressure of being the youngest one in the media, so I’m more widely scrutinized and have to continually work to prove myself as someone there on merit and with a deep knowledge base, not a “kid media PR stunt.”

For one day at least, it was fun still playing both roles and being caught up in a fantastic moment of pure bliss that neither the fan nor reporter in me will ever forget.

Onto tomorrow, and out for now. Cheers.

A few images below, of Pagenaud, Tung, and Infineon Raceway:

Oh, She's Gone

Our yearlong wait is over.

The economy can begin its turnaround.

The flirtation is over. She has decided to commit to a new entity.

With today's press conference the GoDaddy girl is gone, officially, from IndyCar.

Danica Patrick heads to NASCAR full-time in 2012 in the Nationwide Series.

There's no real news to this announcement, other than confirmation of something that has been a yearlong soap opera and one of the worst kept secrets in sports, let alone in auto racing.

A far different send off from me to her leaving as opposed to Patrick Carpentier.

It's been ... interesting. I'll leave it at that.

I leave it to Hall & Oates to serenade the driver whose tenure in IndyCar was far more polarizing than outright successful.

And here's what she'll be in NASCAR ... even though she denied doing it "just for the money."

Carpe Driven - Patrick Signs Off

I'm not sure if I'll get the chance to share this in my new job, so I'll drop a line on it here first. Quietly but gracefully, Patrick Carpentier retired from active auto racing competition this weekend after a not-so-graceful exit from his final start. That bit was not of his own doing, but we'll get to that later.

The first year I started following motorsports in 1996, a young and studious Canadian wiped the floors of the Formula Atlantic championship. That was Carpentier, who won nine of the 12 rounds that season, including the last eight.

He made his CART debut in 1997 and in particular starred on the short ovals, Nazareth and Gateway, for the Bettenhausen Motorsports team.

In 1998 he moved to Player's/Forsythe Racing, where he stayed the remainder of his CART/Champ Car career. He didn't star as frequently as his teammate, the late Greg Moore; few did. That said, he still had his moments of brilliance with poles again on short ovals in Nazareth and Milwaukee in '98 at simply stupid fast speeds (185 mph average around mile-ovals) and a handful of strong finishes.

Some rather unfortunate injuries knocked him out of competition for a couple races both in 1997 and again in 2000. It seemed the affable and personable Canadian - one of my favorites growing up - wouldn't get that lucky break he needed to finally score his first win.

Then Michigan 2001 happened. Engaged in a thrilling battle on the 2-mile oval where speeds regularly topped 230, admittedly aided by the Handford device, Carpentier seized the victory from an equally game Michel Jourdain Jr. and Dario Franchitti for a popular first win. It was a long time coming and one he certainly deserved.

A breakout 2002 included a pair of wins and third in the CART standings with the unloved, by that stage, Reynard chassis. It also included his most memorable win when at Mid-Ohio, he ran the track draped in only a checkered flag post-race. Further solid if unspectacular seasons followed in 2003 and '04, the latter as a last-minute third entry for Forsythe when he had originally been replaced by a sponsored driver.

A 2005 switch to the IndyCar ranks with Cheever Racing and Red Bull bore little fruit other than an overdue Indianapolis 500 debut, something that had not been afforded to many of his contemporaries during the split.

A hodgepodge of NASCAR starts followed from 2007 onward, but his was the least heralded or hyped of those at a time when Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr. were also making the switch. Carpentier scored a pole in the Cup ranks and several top-five and 10 results on the Nationwide side. While none of their results were exemplary in NASCAR, Carpentier lasted a little longer in a desire to make it stick, like a Max Papis for instance, whereas Franchitti had had enough and returned to his open-wheel roots come 2009.

One final, brief, open-wheel appearance presented itself at this year's Indianapolis 500. Carpentier was a last-minute, bump day replacement to replace the possibly disinterested Scott Speed in the underwhelming second Dragon Racing entry. A bad scenario at first glance. Still, in less than 20 laps Carpentier had eclipsed Speed's fastest laps, but in doing so exceeded the car's limits and crashed hard at turn one. A valiant effort, but short for the driver whose speed was never given its proper due.

Then there was his final race on Saturday, the Nationwide Series' event in Montreal. Running in a top-10 position, Carpentier got speared by Steve Wallace (who hasn't), and was done a few laps later with transmission problems. A very unfulfilling ending.

He sat solitary at turn two after bowing out, but not before emerging to the raucous cheers of the Canadian crowd, all applauding and screaming in appreciation of his career. The Canadians are among the smartest and most passionate pure auto racing supporters (far more than in this country, for instance). To see them send Carpentier off with such a response indicates the type of person he is, besides a driver.

I don't know Carpentier very well, in fact barely as well as some of the other current IndyCar pilots. But even just bumping into him at Long Beach this year, he remembered me and thanked me for coming to some of his races in the past. Those who know him better will probably have countless stories about his character and his always upbeat attitude, as well as his undoubted ability behind the wheel.

Speaking on SPEED's "Wind Tunnel" this evening, Carpentier showed that innate drive of a racer, saying the "start-and-park" tactics employed by some of the bottom-feeding Cup teams didn't placate his desire to keep driving. Wanting to not be on the road as much and take care of his family shows a commitment to things beyond racing at this stage in his life.

There aren't that many drivers who I can think of since '96 who have signed off too early rather than too late. Perhaps Rick Mears, but he had retired when I was three.

In contrast to his countryman in the Nationwide race, Jacques Villeneuve, who seems to be clutching at straws for any opportunity while running his mouth every other month on some random F1 topic, Carpentier bows out still at the top of his game and with as much class now as he did when I saw a young, bespectacled 20-something make his CART debut in the same rookie class as Franchitti (whom he beat for rookie-of-the-year honors).

Salut, Patrick. Merci for the memories.

(That's what's called Fren-glish).

Out for now, ahead of what promises to be a busy week in the office. Cheers.

Surreal start in the OC

I’ll admit a guilty pleasure in starting this brief post. I watched “The OC” with my three guy roommates for a semester during my junior year of college.

(Praying that doesn’t revoke my man card…)

At the outset, when Ryan shows up from Chino, he is welcomed with little fanfare and the rather rough line of, “Welcome to the OC, bitch.”

Reflecting a little more than a week after getting here, and a full week of work, I think I can say with confidence that my intro to this polar opposite of Milwaukee didn’t go off quite like that. In fact, far from it.

Within the week, it’s been a whirlwind of interviews, events, tasks and getting integrated into my new job. The fact I’ve been so busy has provided a nice deviation from the concern I might be missing home or family, purely on my own and going through life without anyone else for the moment.

Without going into too much more detail, other than this picture taken from the skies (teaser alert!) so far work’s been a helluva ride and — this might sound weird for a job — pretty damn fun. I hope it keeps up.

***

Some other thoughts …

My professional obligations might present some conflicts in revealing my full opinion following the Loudon IndyCar restart fiasco. So, simply, I think Brian Barnhart is the only person who could have even remotely thought the race should have restarted how it did. Everything that follows from here hurts more than it helps as a whole.

***

Football is back. YESSSS. I’m holding out some hope of getting tickets to the Packers-Chargers game in San Diego in November, but that seems remote at the moment.

***

Jersey Shore is back. NOOOO. This year, our batch of eight fine feathered and tan guidos, guidettes take their schtick and fist-pumping to the motherland. When this was announced in February, I was none too pleased. The odd thing is the show is like a train wreck, I hate it, but I can't take my eyes off it. Two episodes have set the scene for another season of more of the same drama. Same crap, different continent.

***

I don’t have to go back to college? There’s probably going to be a post about that in the near future. Hope all my former colleagues among those working at the Marquette Tribune this year go out and dominate.

***

More later, out for now. Cheers.

Closing the Mil-Town Door For Now

In two days, I embark on the next chapter of my life - in parts daunting and exhilarating alike. Friday marks the start of what should be a four-day road trip from Milwaukee to Irvine/Orange County, California, about as diametrically polar opposites in terms of culture, attitude, atmosphere and weather as you might get. It's all to start what is, basically, a dream job straight out of college.

Myriad laptop woes that have plagued me for the better part of the last month have meant working from a hodgepodge of computers. That should be rectified once I arrive. But what that also means, is I'm not sure how likely a series of road trip blogs might be. Hopefully they happen, but if not, I know I'll be tweeting from the road at twitter.com/tonydizinno. I'm sure some sort of humorous anecdotes, sarcasm or photos will happen from there.

For now, that means shutting the door on my time in Milwaukee - a place that has always been a second home to me and one that I've come to love even more during the college years.

Rather than go into excruciating detail about every little thing that happened along the way, here's a few things I'll miss about Milwaukee, in no particular order:

-Mom (she moved back here) and other cousins/family members
-Marquette in total
-Marquette basketball
-Winters (at least initially, until it's 60 in January/February and I can rub it in)
-The food vendors (Pita Bros., American Euros, Tigerbite and The Fast Foodie, among others)
-Packers football/Lambeau Field/post-game and local sports
-The summer festivals (Festa Italiana > Summerfest, but both still awesome)
-Greendale and Ferch's
-Kopps' and Sobelman's (Sobelman's gets the edge on my favorite burger)
-Road America (although, I hope to be back in 2012 if IndyCar and ALMS could have a double-header weekend)
-Marquette friends, notably the Tribbers and Zahn twins (probably the coolest set of peeps I met at MU)
-Caff's, not so much Murph's
-Brewers games
-Being so close to Chicago
-The light traffic
-Spotted Cow and Leinie's Summer Shandy

There's more for sure, but those are some of the ones off the top of my head. It's a great city and highly underrated on the U.S. scope of such great cities, being in such close proximity to both Chicago and Madison. With a couple cousins still in college here, as well as family still to visit, there's no question I'll be back - but now is about the turning the page and seeing what comes next.

In two days, that journey begins.

Out for now, cheers.

Eurotrip 2011: The Aftermath

As the 24 Hours of Le Mans race actually happened and then the rest of my time in Europe passed, the urgency of updating the blog took a backseat in contrast. A few random thoughts:

***

Le Mans was another epic race. There's no way of putting into comparison how close only 13.5 seconds separated first and second place overall after 24 HOURS. After writing off two of its cars, one because of driver error (IMO) and one where traffic played an unfortunate role, to see Audi topple four Peugeots with arguably its least heralded lineup of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler was a fantastic effort.

Me being the racing nerd I am, I've known of Lotterer's career for almost 10 years beginning when he made a one-off Champ Car start in Mexico City in 2002. The German never got a proper F1 chance, although he was Jaguar's reserve driver after Tomas Scheckter got canned for "kerb-crawling." Lotterer and Treluyer have both raced in Japan most of their careers and are good friends, which gives them great chemistry that translates well to endurance racing.

My first Le Mans in 2009, each of them stuck out to me for different reasons. Lotterer starred in a customer Audi R10 TDI driving as one of two drivers in his race debut (their third was ruled out after he injured himself on the way to the grid). Treluyer, meanwhile, wrote off a customer Peugeot 908 for Henri Pescarolo, and undoubtedly redeemed himself with this performance.

An additional shout-out to Tommy Milner, who drove the race of his life along with Antonio Garcia and Olivier Beretta to avenge the bitter disappointment of 2010 for Corvette Racing. The team fell a lap down after an unscheduled pit stop about nine hours in (picture), and fought to recover.

***

London is AWESOME. Doing the usual touristy attractions, seeing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and going on both a bus tour and boat cruise provided enough of a venue to witness this majestic city. It's a lot like New York, it's bustling and an international melting pot hub, where you get a mix of nationalities, ethnicities and languages all flowing.

They "get" two things really well: fashion and public transportation. Rarely did I see anyone sloppily dressed, all were in high fashion and good shape as well. Plus, whenever my dad and I needed to catch a "tube" (subway) or bus, if we missed one, another came within 10-15 minutes on the dot.

It's upscale and historic without being arrogant, and the Brits were unfailingly nice whenever we had a question. Getting to see such sites the second day ranging from the juice bar/health spa where my cousin works as a chef to Abbey Road and various English pubs highlighted the trip.

I'd go back in a heartbeat.

***

France was weird to return to for me, because of what had happened to my dad the previous week and also because I didn't have that same "first time" feeling of going there as I did in 2009. The important thing was my dad loved it, and was really struck by seeing the Eiffel Tower in person.

Returning to the U.S., actually the first thing I noticed was how much more obesity there is, and the lack of concern for outward appearance. I never thought of it that way before, but both really stuck out to me.

***

Link time! Following the Milwaukee IndyCar race, I didn't offer the usual race report type story but instead went to one of my journalist/blogger colleagues to ask her if it was the right place for a guest blog. The content was good, although I was severely short on the vulgarities required that usually make up a post on Meesh's site ;-) Here's the link.

My mom asked to read everything I did in Le Mans, and to be honest, I don't remember much of what I did either! Anyway, a recap of my Motorsport.com articles is below:

-GTE Final Race Report

-Robertsons Make Le Mans Debut

-Sorting out the "Alphabet Soup"

-DeltaWing comes to Le Mans

-A Look at the New GT Cars

-Level 5 Team Preview

-Scrutineering Wrap-Up

-Scrutineering before Audi, Peugeot

-Michael Waltrip Meets France

Articles I wrote in conjunction with my colleague Tom Haapanen, where he did LMP coverage and I did GTE:

-Two-hour, Six-hour, 12-hour, 20-hour race updates

-Provisional and Final Qualifying

Out for now, cheers.

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was your night?"

This blog’s headline is posted as such for good merit and I will explain why in a few words. I don’t think the headline needs an explanation — at least I would hope not.

To call today a roller coaster is a drastic understatement. I could not have envisioned it shaking out as it did.

I lost an hour this morning between various directional and shopping delays, and while frustrated in the moment, it was thanks to some calming philosophy from my friend and colleague Paul Ryan (no, not the Wisconsin Congressman) for some necessary perspective. Little did I figure how much I would need it later in the day.

With a few blog posts and photo galleries put online on the Alley blog and a major story complete breaking down the acronyms at Le Mans for Motorsport.com, I headed out to the pits about 2 p.m. for the day’s pit walk. Fun times and a lot of good pics which I will upload later.

I made the decision to really soak up the rest of the day with my dad, without worrying about work. Too much of this week has been spent in the media center with my nose to the grindstone that I hate to admit I haven’t been able to enjoy too much of it, so that was the plan for the day.

The parade was in Plaza Jacobins in downtown Le Mans, which I have been to now several times but navigating with a lot of traffic in my dad’s rental car was always going to be a challenge.

When entering a roundabout about 2 or 3 miles out, it all went completely wrong. We merged into the lane but unfortunately lost sight of another car stopped in the right lane going the opposite direction, and rammed right into the car’s rear bumper. We weren’t toast but it was a mess of a time trying to get it all sorted from there. Suffice to say more, other than it was not a good situation.

About an hour later we valiantly fought onward in the attempt to find a parking space for the parade. Oddly that wasn’t the worst part. When in the scrum to get on a tram, my dad was the unfortunate victim of a pick-pocket on his backpack. His camera was stolen. It became a worse situation because it was quick, stealthy and neither one of us noticed.

We held out hope it fell out in the rental car, but alas, this was not the case. We got confirmation when we returned from dinner, which in and of itself nearly made up for the two major faux pas of the day.

Culture is an interesting one here — you can plan for it and suddenly after three hours eating, talking and drinking at dinner you find you have met new friends. That overcomes the angst and frustration of the downsides. In this case, someone I had met briefly at scrutineering stopped by, and my dad and I met some French fans who spoke very good English and did everything they could to improve the mood.

Put simply it was a day where things just went wrong more often than usual. I could say more but it just brings up greater frustration. At least no-one was hurt from the proceedings.

A more pleasant note to end this on is that this relative day of frustration occurred on my grandparents’ 72^nd wedding anniversary, June 10, 1939.

I guess I’ll always remember June 10, 2011 in that vain as well, if not for all the wrong reasons. But to quote the two mottos of the trip: in France, it’s not supposed to make sense, it just is, and secondly, it could be worse.

Off to sleep and get more than four hours before race day tomorrow … it’s going to be tiring but fun. Later.

Whirlwind Day, Week So Far

Because I’ve been doing so much writing for Motorsport.com and additionally a decent amount on the MichelinAlley.com blog, I’ve been rather knackered when it comes to updating the personal blog (the British I’ve met and/or reacquainted with here are wearing off on me).

There have been four monumentally cool moments since I blogged last. First, on Tuesday night, the track shut down in the evening to view Steve McQueen’s “Le Mans” on the circuit’s front straight, with chairs set out for the length of it. Seeing the start of this movie on the front straight can only be described as epic.

On Thursday, following the joint ACO/FIA press conference whereby the new World Endurance Championship was confirmed, I got to tour the Le Mans museum for a second time and it is just as worth it.

My dad arrived this evening as well—and getting the chance to see him here when he has never previously been to Europe, much less this race, is a personal highlight that will be difficult to eclipse.

Finally, there was the Mazda rotary engine starting up in advance of it running on track 20 years after winning here overall. I didn’t see Patrick Dempsey when he arrived but did see Johnny Herbert, who will run the car for a demonstration run on Saturday before the race.

There have been so many more highlights — even had run-ins with Ben Collins, the former “Stig” on “Top Gear,” along with NASCAR star and commentator Michael Waltrip in the paddock. Today’s been a heavily-packed news day so much so it has been difficult to keep up with everything.

And that didn’t even include the final two hours of qualifying yet! It’s already gone way too fast.

Out for now, cheers.

Attempting to Avoid Puns About Anthony Weiner

Considering I just wrote more than 1,000 words for a story to go online later this morning (1:45 Tuesday a.m. as I am posting this), I guess, I really don’t have much new to add here.

Scrutineering today went off without a hitch or any rain interruptions to speak of, and the crowd turnout looked sizeably bigger than yesterday (left). That's saying something when today is a Monday and a work day, even if the heavy hitters made their appearances today. Lunch was probably the best meal of the trip so far, an excellent fresh baguette with ham and cheese for only 3 Euros. That is probably the best food image to sum up the spirit of Le Mans and scrutineering.

Apparently the other news of the day back in the U.S. is that disgraced U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, whose last name is a running joke to begin with, admitted he indeed sent a scandalous pick of well … yeah. Again, the name says more than I need to here.

This proves stupid knows no boundaries and when your last name is Weiner, even you can commit a boner. I should stop before I make too many other additional double entendres.

Scrutineering Day One

We’re one day into the week at Le Mans. A needed nine hours of sleep helped alleviate some of the drowsiness I felt on Saturday and scrutineering got the juices flowing of adrenaline. It’s the first sign Le Mans race week is well and truly underway.

Much like 2009 when I was here for the first time, there was one star greater than any driver or team — the rain. Again, periods of sun and clouds interrupted the deluge from the heavens. I would have thought this level of rain would occur when I went through the U.K. to get to France, not actually in France after the locals have said it hasn’t rained that hard in two months.

Two things I take away from today:

-The adoration of the locals. Michael Waltrip is the big star from a North American and media perspective, but for the locals, it seemed as though Henri Pescarolo nor David Hallyday (right) could go anywhere without being mobbed. The pair who fly the “tricolor” are legendary for different reasons. Pescarolo, who drove F1 in the 1960s, has been a local icon as a team owner and driver the past 30-odd years.

Nothing special to the rest of us, but the French are infatuated with the man. After a year’s absence, Pescarolo is back in 2011 with a pseudo-new team, the renamed Pescarolo Team, instead of Pescarolo Sport. Secondly, Hallyday is the son of French singer Johnny Hallyday, who I learned today from Daily SportsCar’s Graham Goodwin is the French Elvis if you will, and the comparable example is Priscilla Presley in the U.S. Wonder what she would do behind the wheel of one of those prototypes …

-The dedication of the locals. Despite the rain, they were utterly devoted to coming out. So many people had their rain gear, their umbrellas and their cameras—just clamoring to even get a glimpse of their favorite car. And mind you, this was the short day, before the two major heavy hitters come on Monday, Audi and Peugeot. Tomorrow promises to be another packed day for the fans in downtown Le Mans.

It’s pushing 12:30 a.m. here local time, now Monday morning, so will have more to post later including links to stories. Today I have a blog featuring Waltrip running on Motorsport.com which is not yet live, and have also posted Rick Dole’s first batch of images from scrutineering on the MichelinAlley.com blog site.

Out for now, cheers.

All told, it could have been worse

I wrote this at 5:24 p.m. Le Mans time, on Saturday afternoon, 6/4. Just posting now as this is the first time I've had Internet access.

To expect perfection on what was my first ever solo international flight was surely a bit naïve and overly optimistic. Yet, when all was said and done, the hardest part of the travel day was actually getting out of the Paris airport several hours later than anticipated, by my own lack of planning.

I guess it could have been worse.

Here’s how it went down. You can plan for almost anything in making sure you have the right amount of clothes and necessary items, electric converters, things of that sort. What you can’t plan for, however, is when an hour before you’re supposed to board after everything had gone swimmingly to that point, a gate agent reads this unfortunate message:

“Attention passengers of the flight to Paris. We are experiencing some technical issues with your plane, and this flight is now canceled. We will make every effort to accommodate you.”

Great, I thought. As, I’m guessing the other 200-plus passengers did that were equally screwed.

Considering my last international trip back to the U.S. was a mess, even as I can laugh about it now, I have to thank that experience for keeping me level-headed when immediately I wanted to resort to weaving a tapestry of expletives.

So the announcement comes. Rather than panic, I just joined the queue in line, after hurriedly packing up my laptop and other equipment I had been working on. Some dropped out, some were scurried to another gate, and finally my turn comes up after about 20 people and 30 minutes.

The couple in front of me has been booked on a flight that will leave the same time out of Chicago, and mind you, I’d already taken a bus down from Milwaukee. So I’m already a bit flustered. They’re off to Manchester, U.K., and I figure this is a reasonable alternative and shouldn’t get me into Paris too much later.

Frantically, the gate agents wondered if it was possible for me to fit. I hadn’t checked any bags, so that wasn’t an issue, but finding a seat was. Luckily, I made it into the last seat on the plane. Ordinarily I’d be groaning at the thought of middle seat purgatory in the third-to-last row, but alas, I was just happy to make the flight.

The American Airlines plane, however, was substandard for an international flight. You pick up on the little things like how it’s one aisle instead of two, the TVs are centered leaving the customers one option only for the crappy movie(s) de jour, and they serve a dinner that includes a salad when they know there has been a nasty E. Coli outbreak in northern Germany.

I passed on the salad. And the movies. Getting out of the aisle proved especially challenging with an aisle seat hog who was bobbing his head all over the place as he slept, so it was almost if I needed to perform a high-wire trapeze act to get to the restroom.

We arrive in Manchester at roughly quarter of 8 a.m. local time. The connecting flight to Paris leaves at 9:40.

The gates in European airports are much different in that you come in and go through a series of hallways before actually getting to the terminal. It’s not like the U.S. where you get off at Gate X, where the next batch of chaps is ready to board once you’re off. Sometimes it takes a good while, you try to follow the signs and eventually you end up where you’re supposed to, even if it takes precious time. Keep that bit in mind for later.

At Manchester, “the connecting four” (the couple in front of me and another girl meeting her boyfriend in Paris) got on a shuttle bus that brought us from the gate to another terminal, where we then had to get checked in to Paris. Our Air France flight isn’t on the board, so the concierge has to call an Air France agent. Once that was sorted and we went through security again — but not customs — it was nearly a 10-minute walk all the way around to a gate roughly where we started.

I could gripe about that and how we were only 25 minutes early to our departing flight, but honestly the people at Manchester couldn’t have been nicer and more helpful. Once you give the Brits a pass on their teeth, you realize they might be some of the earnest and caring people internationally. It was agony at the time but this went rather smoothly. After Le Mans, I couldn’t be more excited to return to the U.K. in a proper fashion with a few days in London.

The flight to Paris went rather quick thanks to striking up conversations with both a fellow Le Mans-goer and lovely young British girl, I’d guess college age, (although I’m an idiot for not getting a name. Bloody idiot.).

Sorry, mind wandered there.

So I arrive in Paris. My previous trip in was on United, through terminal one, and with two other people. This was solely me, on Air France, in terminal 2E. On the surface you would think it would be easy to get from terminal 2E to the connecting ones, 2A, B, C or D.

I could not have been more mistaken.

A myriad of wrong turns, dead ends and missteps turned what should have been a five or 10-minute meeting with my connection, who had been gracious enough to wait for my delayed flight in the first place, into a bloody hour.

This was just my bad. A mix of being flustered, tired and causing someone else to wait is not a good combination.

All things considered, it could have been worse, had I not got on the early flight to Manchester. From here, it’s set to rock and roll with scrutineering Sunday and Monday in downtown Le Mans and the rest of the week ahead.

Out for now, cheers.

Indy 500 Reflections

I gave it a few days, and I'm still recovering from this year's centennial Indianapolis 500.

Props first to the brethren of the "full-time blogger roll" who make a far greater commitment to their sites. The peeps/tweeps in the IndyCar realm such as Paul Dalbey/Steph Walcraft of MoreFrontWing, George Phillips of OilPressure, Tony Johns/Dale Nixon of PopOffValve, and Bill Zahren, Iowa's own Pressdog, have done a great job of bringing both the fan and reporting aspects to the fore in looking back and recapping the race.

I haven't met George, TJ or Bill other than via Twitter, but all of them bring a healthy and fresh perspective to the table - especially because they have been IndyCar-focused whereas I've had college and ALMS to look at primarily ahead of IndyCar for coverage.

There's so many thoughts, some which involve the pageantry, some the atmosphere, some the sentiment in the media center and some about the future. The thrill was there in full, in all aspects, for my third Indy 500 in total (and in the last four years; only missed 2009).

But they all pale in comparison to the race itself. Billed as "The Most Important Race In History," this year's 500 entered the lore of legendary without that being hyperbole.

A word first about J.R. Hildebrand. He is one of the brightest, most mature individuals I've met in racing - wise beyond his years and well worthy of his chance to drive the National Guard car for Panther Racing. Having known him for a few years as he was coming through the ranks to get his opportunity, it meant a lot to see the rookie in the position to win the 500.

Honestly, I've never felt so sick as when he ran too high through turn four and smacked the wall. He made a mistake, which everyone has done thousands of times over - it just happened in the worst possible place and stage.

This has been called one of, if not the biggest, choke in sports history. Sorry, but I call BS. If it happens at any other point in the race, we aren't talking about it.

If, as rumored, his spotter said the competitors were breathing down his neck and told him not to lift, then he needs to be reprimanded if not axed. JR had at least four or five seconds and could have easily backed off.

One could say Charlie Kimball got in the way when JR was trying to pass, and perhaps he could have moved down to the warm-up lane entering turn three, but finding fault there is an excuse. They're both rookies and they just happened to be going through the final corner on the final lap at the same time. Call it circumstantial more than anything else.

The last bit is that the caution light didn't come on until several seconds after Hildebrand crashed - seconds in racing are an eternity. I don't think you can make the case eventual winner Dan Wheldon should have slowed because JR was three-wheeling his wrecked car to the finish line if the yellow came out and the field was frozen. Any potential controversy was nixed when Panther Racing decided not to protest.

Anyway, JR has shown incredible maturity, class and ownership of his mistake, and garnered a new batch of followers and fans through how he's handled everything. He will come back stronger.

***

As far as my picks went, Dixon could have been in Wheldon's position to win had his team not woefully miscalculated his short-fuel run from his last pit stop on 179. Dixon led often in the early stages but it looked like teammate Dario Franchitti was the one in the Ganassi camp who had the prime position if he had enough fuel to make it as well.

JR gets the moral victory card and rookie-of-the-year honors. Also correct was the pick of Danica as top finishing female.

Kimball dropped to 32nd early but stayed out of trouble the rest of the way - save when JR was trying to pass - and completed a clean run to 13th and out of the wall.

"It was exactly what we needed," a relieved Kimball said post-race.

That marks the second straight year my first pick to wall it not only didn't, but finished 13th. Go figure.

Bell walled it in the only multi-car accident of the day. Oops. Until that point he was looking at another top five or 10 finish, but his results have now trended downward ... unfortunate.

And for the departure time? I can only imagine how late we would have been from our initial ETD. The combo of rowdy fans, temporary closures and the ultimate pairing of ineptitude (yellow shirts and Indiana State Police) made for a near-hour delay in getting into the track once we hit 30th Street coming from Moller, then Georgetown. Still, getting in by 7:30 wasn't that bad, all things considered.

***

I briefly went to the Milwaukee Mile today to check in on some IndyCar teams testing there in advance of their race on June 19, and on Friday, it's crazy to think I will be departing for Le Mans.

More thoughts later. Parting gift is a recap of the articles I worked on while at Indy. Out for now, cheers.

-Lap-by-lap recap with my colleague Allan Brewer

-Rookie preview

-Part-timers seek triumph

-Chevy's 2012 program on schedule

-The Junqueira/Hunter-Reay ride swap

Predictions guaranteed to go wrong, 2011 Indy 500

Oh hey. Since the last time I blogged, I joined the ranks of the officially unemployed (cue the running joke this week at Indy after graduating on Sunday), moved out of my apartment and have arrived in this town where the meteorologists get to have a field day because it rains. A lot.

It's taken this week to realize a few things in a world where I now have left college, but more on that next week. For now, there's the matter of forecasting the Indy 500 for the centennial edition.

A few predictions, then, guaranteed to go wrong. The reason I know this - look no further than what I attempted to call last year. A solid golden horseshoe, 0-for-5 last year.

***

Win: Scott Dixon. I've been to this race twice and both times a Ganassi car has won - Scott in '08 and Dario last year. Has the perfect combination of optimal starting position, speed in race trim, experience, pit crew and race strategist in Mike Hull. He only loses it if he beats himself at some stage, which, given his "Ice man" moniker is unlikely.

Rookie-of-the-year: JR Hildebrand. A tough call between he and James Hinchcliffe, the Mayor of Hinchtown. Both are with upper-tier midfield teams and while their respective veteran teammates figure to play into the overall equation (Buddy Rice and Oriol Servia, respectively), Panther has shown better at Indy since 2008, when Newman/Haas returned from their time in Champ Car. JR has been smooth and relaxed and is on board the same car which has finished second here three years running. Keep it smooth, get a solid top 10 if not top five.

Top finishing female: Danica. She goes out with a bang, in some capacity. Poor word choice? Oh, well. This is likely the last we see of her in a full-time IndyCar ride and invariably Mikey's team will seek redemption from its piss-poor qualifying run and promote Danica to an off-sequence pit strategy that will move her to the front. Hey, when Briscoe hasn't taken her out, she's still pretty damn good at this track with five top 10s from six starts. If she could come from 24th to sixth last year, she can do it again, easily.

Dark horse: Townsend Bell. Hard to pick just one of the one-offers and part-timers, but two reasons why I'll take Bell. Maturity and patience are vital to success here, and given he's improved a tantamount level from his early years in CART/Champ Car, Bell is the most likely to hang with the leaders all day. Also, he's mastered the one-off role the last two years with part-time pit crews running in the top five most of 2009 and '10 with a fourth place result in '09. He would have equaled it but was called for a questionable blocking call. Bell's got the Sam Schmidt mojo of the month working for him (Schmidt's teams are a perfect 3-for-3 so far with both the Indy 500 pole, Tagliani, and an Indy Lights sweep of the pole, Bryan Clauson and win, Josef Newgarden) and enough experience to bring it home.

First crash: Charlie Kimball. You were expecting EJ Viso, right? He has to make it to at least lap 139 (his finishing total in each of his previous three 500s) before he wads up one of the KVRT-Lotus cars. And actually, to be fair to Viso and that entire team, they've had a wreck-free two weeks of May. Props. This is not a slight at Kimball whatsoever - but something will happen around that area of the grid (PT, Danica, Marco, Graham and RHR are sandwiching the rookie) that might send the Californian into the wall. You hope it isn't him - or anyone for that matter -but that's an odd hunch.

Time of departure: 6:30 a.m. My colleague Allan Brewer, who has so graciously hosted my stay in Indy, and I have gone back and forth about when we are actually leaving tomorrow morning. Conventional wisdom says go as early as possible, say 5 a.m. or so, but with backups for when the track opens to fans we might get stuck and not be able to get into where we need to go. Leaving later might be taking a chance, but we're going for it ... at least until we don't.

***

When these are all wrong on Monday, I'll be writing about how tough the crow tastes. Sorry in advance for four of these five - but I'm guessing Kimball will feel vindicated if he can mirror my first crash pick last year, Mario Romancini. Romancini finished ahead of Simona as the top rookie finisher, although Simona received ROTY honors.

With that, a rare pre-11 p.m. bed time is on tap given the early start. What a great, if long day, tomorrow promises to be.

Out for now, cheers.

Now what?

The hob-nobbing and delectable eats of another Easter over, now comes the actual thinking this is the last month of college. Forget the school work - which has to be done regardless - what happens from here?

You get the same old questions - how are job prospects, where do you want to be, what do you want to do, etc.

Plus, 11 days have passed on a break from Long Beach and then has taken me to Phoenix, Sun City (grandparents) and San Diego to visit some other cousins. We got a bit of bad news with my great aunt on my dad's side passing away at age 98 on Saturday, and with my grandparents 95 and 98 I hope this is not the last time I see them. Milwaukee's been far away during this stretch - it feels like it's been a while.

It's a very unnerving time of mixed emotions, with some really exciting prospects and some questions about how it will all unfold. Suffice to say, the real roller coaster ride begins now ...

Another Long Beach in the books

At 21, it's not often you can say you've been to something and it stretches onto a second hand. But for me, that's the case for going to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The just concluded weekend in 2011 marked my sixth appearance at the April weekend in sunny SoCal, and it never disappoints.

Some brief thoughts:

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The economic crisis has affected everyone in some way, from those left out of work, to those searching. It felt like every time I turned my head around there was another ex-CART/Champ Car, Indy Lights or Atlantic driver in street clothes actively pounding the pavement. Names like Patrick Carpentier (pictured), John Edwards, James Davison, Dillon Battistini, Dan Clarke, Arie Luyendyk Jr., Katherine Legge, Jaques Lazier and the list goes on, I'm sure. I doubt many of those are household names but they all have talent and don't want to give up on their dreams just yet. There is a tendency to critique and be overly cynical about motorsports, but given the number of people who love it and aren't involved at the moment, it does make you really stop, think and appreciate when you do have an opportunity.

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ALMS weathered its miserable combined P1/P2 prototype count for this weekend and still turned in a more than respectable race - a far better showing than IndyCar, in my opinion. The GT battle was scintillating and gut-wrenching at the same time. BMW has been both fast and smart this year en route to two wins. Both the Corvette at Sebring and Lizard Porsche at Long Beach were in with a sniff of the win but lost out due to making mistakes. We're now into the "81 days of darkness" before Lime Rock the second weekend of July ...

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Much like Monaco for F1, Long Beach is a historic and great event for IndyCar, but not a great race. Strung-out, straggly starts have been mostly the norm at Long Beach but it seems this year's was even more spread out. The double-file restarts were nonexistent. The penalties called (or not called) raised eyebrows for a fairly obvious lack of consistency. And it's not off-the-mark to suggest Helio Castroneves has lost a step or two, and is overdriving and missing his braking points by substantial margins to make up for it. Helio's incomprehensible punting of teammate Will Power may have done the Aussie irreparable damage to his championship charge. Yes, Helio has won three Indy 500s for "The Captain," but his leash is shorter now than it probably ever has been in 12 years in the team.

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In another perfect piece of symmetry, Mike Conway can now say he's won at both Monaco and Long Beach. Conway won a GP2 event in Monaco and completed a comeback both from an earlier slow pit stop and his devastating accident at last year's Indianapolis 500 to score a popular first win - even if he was more modest and humble than a piece of pie. While Versus' coverage and its announcers have been solid this year, we didn't even know Conway was in the picture until restarts from about 20 laps to go.

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The end of this weekend leads into the great unknown. In a little over a month's time, I'll have graduated from Marquette. There are a couple very exciting opportunities in the days and weeks to follow after that point, but after that is still wide open. I know I'll be at Indianapolis for the centennial of the '500,' and I hope to share more details soon. As for now, I'm out. Cheers.

When insomnia strikes ...

Blame Pepsi Throwback for this one. Drinking a can of it has prompted a bout of insomnia that can only be cured by putting fingers to keyboard and offering a few random thoughts:

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The first time I heard Charl Schwartzel's name, I thought it was an anagram or the physical spelling out of a person choking. Actually, it turns out the dude killed it on Sunday at The Masters with a couple hole-outs on the front nine and four birdies in his final four holes to take the green jacket. Add his name to the latest of one-hit wonders winning majors in golf. On another note, now Jim Nantz goes into hiding for a few months with the soundtrack from Augusta as finished as the college basketball season and with the NFL lockout threatening its season, possibly into the fall as well.

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Are Brewers-Cubs outings baseball games or tailgates where they happen to have a number of people playing baseball thrown in for hangover entertainment? I'm more inclined to think the latter after going to two of the three games in the NL Central rivals' weekend series. And yes, I think there were far more cans of beer and dozens of brats consumed than innings played. Neither team's fans ever will win an award for class, but I'll give a slight edge to the home crowd's backers for slightly less and more playful vulgarities.

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Senioritis doesn't yet have a prescription drug that any of the pharmaceutical companies can exploit. You know, like restless leg syndrome - the bastion of diseases and most common problem that people bring up at doctor's appointments.

But they should - I'm guessing I'm one of many second semester seniors who wouldn't mind coughing up a few bucks to discover a magic pill could force us to do our papers, study for tests and make group projects go away. When you have to worry about job-hunting and enjoying both your extracurricular and social activities away from the classroom, figuring out a solution to this as yet undiagnosed condition would be a task I would not mind seeing GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and others take on.

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Sebastian Vettel and Will Power are SCARY good. Moving on ...

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Count me among those thrilled to see Newman/Haas back and moving up the grid again in IndyCar. Oriol Servia - very underrated - has a ninth and fifth (second in the non-Penske/Ganassi class today) to his credit already and at long last James Hinchcliffe finally has his full-season IndyCar ride (sans Brazil and Motegi, but alas.) "Hinch" was blindingly quick on debut and got his initiation to the series by getting Viso-ed ...

Additionally, it took four years, but the level of competition is as good as its been since unification, with the so-called "transition teams" (I hated that moniker) almost on level footing. The driver lineup (two or three drivers excepted) is stacked. Simon Pagenaud had a mega debut as well, finishing eighth in his first IndyCar start and first time in open-wheel since 2007.

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Next week is chance two of the new ALMS TV deal, and sadly, the tape-delayed broadcast will air simultaneously as the IndyCar live broadcast from Long Beach. This was narrowly avoided today, not by much, but the supporting Rolex Sports Car Series race from Barber nearly pushed into the same timeslot as IndyCar today. And after this weekend, ALMS disappears altogether for 81 days until Lime Rock.

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The notoriously fickle Wisconsin weather has given us in the last 24 hours: 55 and 80 degrees, sun, rain, tornado warnings, thunderstorms, and wind gusts approaching 70 mph. Needless to say I'm stoked out of my mind to be in Long Beach Thursday night and Phoenix the next week for the first time in nearly a year to catch up with the fam in my last pre-graduation jet-setting experience.

I should probably get to sleep. Cheers.