Indycar Season Finale

This blog begins with an entirely random picture. Yeah. A tenderloin. Random yum.

Life? It’s okay. I’m not going to get in to my recent struggles with worry. I’ll just say that this is something I’m continuing to work on, but it isn’t easy.

Catching up! Let’s see, we went to the Indycar season ending race in Chicago. I was especially upset because of the news about, as Jason calls him, Dario Speedwagon. Dario is fine, he’s not a bad guy (I don’t think), but I was mad last year when he won the championship, and immediately defected to nascar. Then, after a season of complete fail there, he decides to come back. That’s fine; it’s the change reaction it caused that is the problem. Dario wants to come back. Ganassi wants him. Bump --> Dan Wheldon. A good, race winning driver, kinda strange in appearance after his fiancée made him fix his teeth and grow out his hair. He looked better before. So Dan, who has been good for his team, is now hanging out there without a ride. Here comes the pain. Panther. Panther picks him up. Bump --> VITOR. Vitor who has been nothing but classy and never has anything bad to say about Panther, whom he’s suffered slow pit stops with for years. Vitor has taken Panther’s second tier equipment, and consistently put it into the top bracket. Vitor was a big story this year, because he’s never won a race. However, he’s been involved in 3 of the five closest finishes in Indycar history, as the driver who didn’t win by less than a second. In case you haven’t read any of my racing posts, I’ll let you know, Vitor is my favorite driver. I picked him after we met him at a downforce party because he’s a nice guy, and cute in the way that you want to go give him a hug. Or at least I do. So, all of this coming back from napcar (we call it that because it’s good to sleep to) junk leaves my guy dangling. The general consensus is that he’ll find a new, better team (it had better be better), but I’m angry about it all. Back to Chicago.

You know it’s a good race when you cry twice. Okay not really. Vitor had something break, and wrecked in what seems to be his last race with panther. I was sad to see it end that way. But, then Jason (reluctantly) called my attention to what was written on the wall in front of panther’s pits. Bingo, cry number two.

You REALLY know it’s a good race when you crush your husband’s hand. The championship was on the line. It was down to Dixon and Helio. Helio would have to win it and see Dixon finish worse than 9^th to get that championship. Dixon wasn’t having any of that. Various leaders at various times ran three wide all the way around the track. I think even the announcers were scared. They sold me the whole seat, but I only used the edge (I know, terrible). At the finish, we couldn’t tell who’d won. It was the closest finish in Indycar history. Wow. Helio pulled off the win, but with Dixon on his tail, he didn’t get the championship. I guess dancing with the stars will have to be enough for the moment, but he’ll be back on it next year.

We ate at Red Robin on the way home. It was no great shakes! I was shocked. Five guys has way better burgers and way better prices. MMMMMMMMM. I’ll do more catching up soon!

Kentucky, Or Ohio, Or Whatever.

Okay, I’m back. I’ve got a lot to catch you up on, so I’ll just go.

Last weekend we went to Kentukhio. Or Ohtucky. Point is, we were between the two states so much that there’s no good word. The first purpose for you trip was to attend the Kentucky Indycar race. The second was to do all kinds of fun stuff packed all into one day. We left home Saturday Morning and an uneventful drive led us to a holiday inn. There, the computers were down, but the staff handled check ins ably. We went to our room which was no more and no less the standard fare, rested for exactly 27.3 minutes and we were off to the track. The weather was perfect, but the shirt I was wearing wasn’t. I’d had to repair it, and the stitches were itching me. Probably because I used this fishing line thread. I used that for two reasons, one, it was in the drawer when I went looking, and two, the repair is in the middle of a pattern, so I can’t use any one color and have it match. SO, I wanted to go to target to get a new shirt (I hadn’t packed enough to change and still have clothes for the next day) and socks. Mine were wet. Eeew. I left target with a shirt, jacket, socks, skirt, and umbrella. Oh yeah, and conditioner which I’d expected the hotel to have but they didn’t. So, freshly clothed we headed for the track.

Jason had heard that traffic there was a nightmare, and I could see why. There were miles of roads all inside the track. Wow. We parked and headed off to try to find anything. We were looking for Will Call, and the Downforce tent. We found Will call, and after a brush with fear in realizing that the tickets were under my maiden name, we showed them my old insurance card, and were off to find downforce. No-one knew where it was! We must have asked 4 people before we got to guest services and we just got blank looks. When we got there, the best they could do was to hand us a map and say, I dunno, but you need to go to credentials to redeem those. We knew we did. We had pre-race passes. We got them FROM DOWNFORCE. Time was short, so we boarded a school bus that took us to credentials. It was a long ride. We redeemed for some turquoise passes and took the bus to the infield. We had given up on finding downforce.

We wandered the garages and saw everyone getting ready, and Milka running like a madwoman for the bathroom. Jason got some great pictures as the cars were being pushed out. My guy Vitor had qualified 2^nd, so I was really excited. Also, my girl Sarah was racing, so it was double. More on her awesome performance a little further down. We decided to try to go down for pre-race ceremonies without anyone else. We tried to take on the attitude of people who were supposed to be there. We made it! Now, of course that’s not because we faked our way in, but we did, after all, have the right credentials. There were two guys jumping ATVs in the air, and then driver introductions. There were quite a few women running in the Indy Lights Race, and that was cool. We made our way to our seats, and the race was about to begin!

It was a good, and surprisingly (at least to me) clean race. Very few wrecks. Yay. I like it that way. Vitor held on to the top 3 for most of the race, and at least in the first segment, you could tell that he was just playing with them. He had the speed, and was just waiting to show it. In the end, unfortunately, his pit position, is what I think, lost him a win. BUT, he did great. I cheered a lot. Sarah, however had an amazing day. Her car was superquick and she really handled it well. She passed Ryan Hunter Ray and held him off. She passed Helio more than once. But, the scariest and most exciting part of the day, was when she passed Danica. It was for position (I think, correct me if I’m wrong here) and Sarah pulled up beside her and they ran neck and neck for a second. Then they touched wheels. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. We all know how fond of the drama our dear Danica is. Jason switched to her channel. The following is a rough transcription of what we heard:

Danica: What just happened?!?

Crew Guy: Well, you hit her.

Danica: I hit her?????!?!?!?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha . Sarah got around and everything was fine. If she hadn’t had a wheel bearing break at the end, I think she might have had a top 10 finish.

The Indy lights race was good too, but not as clean. More yellows, and a little crying. You know if I’d wrecked, I’d be crying too. I’m not as familiar with the drivers in that series, so you don’t get as in-depth a review.

The real nightmare began when we tied to leave. We figured we’d waited a lot of people out by staying for the second race. Nope. I think it took us 2 hours to make the half hour trip back to the hotel. Ugh. Next: EVERYTHINGPOSSIBLEINONEDAYANDNOWIMTIRED.

Mid-Ohio Anniversary

Last year, as you all know, when Jason and I went to Mid Ohio, this happened.

So when we made our return trip this year, I knew not to expect quite as many fireworks, even though a week earlier we’d be recognized. We were at the Kentucky Headhunters concert and a guy walked up to us, and for a minute we thought there was going to be a fight, but then he said “Didn’t you guys get married at Mid-Ohio?” It was close enough, so we said yeah, and he said cool or something like that and went on his way.

ANYWAY.

We didn’t take Friday off, so we started our drive at around 6pm. That should have put us there around 10, and we’ve set up the tent in the dark plenty of times, so we weren’t really worried about that. What we were worried about was the fact that we had seen the new batman the night before and were really tired. The drive was pretty uneventful, I saw another deer (a strange aside, I’d never seen a wild deer until I met Jason, now I see them, and all kinds of other neat things) and we had to stop for dinner and groceries.

We really arrived at around 11 pm, and were shocked. The campground was PACKED. We usually camp up in the “family” area. It’s near the showers, and the restrooms. It’s supposed to be quiet. We get there and not only is the family area full; it’s full all the way back to the back of the second area! They gave us a pass, and we’d reserved a campsite, but we weren’t sure there were any left. We found one, just a few sites down from a bar (I know) and set up the tent.

It was the fit’s first time camping, so there were some kinks to work out. For some reason, the power inverter in the fit will not inflate the mattress, while it would in the sonata. So, the first night, we slept on sleeping bags on the floor of the tent. Refreshing. Oh wait, not. The next morning, Jason found someone else with an outlet, and he filled the bed there. We were satisfied with camp, made some bagels and headed toward the track. We caught a tram, which I was very glad for. It was a good day, but very, very hot. Vitor didn’t wreck right in front of me, which was a great big plus.

Back to camp for a second, Jason hadn’t seen the place this full since the cart era, late 90’s I’m told. There were so many people! I’m used to kind of having the run of the place, except for on race day, but that just wasn’t the case this year. It was nice that there were so many more fans, but we definitely need to get there earlier for camping next year.

We visited some autograph sessions, and I’m proud to say, that my favorite ALMS team was the nicest. The Ferrari guys and the Porsche guys were just kind of handing stuff off, while my Aston Martin guys asked every single person’s name and were really nice. I smirked at Jason. After autographs, we found a place to sit for a while and watched Indycar qualification. Then we crossed over to our real sets for the ALMS race. I wanted the Aston to dominate, and they didn’t quite, but they hung in there and performed for the whole race, which was more than you could say for quite a few other teams. IT was HOT in the stands, so we picked up a pizza, which is, for some reason, always better at the track and sat in the shade to watch. It was a long race, and we were tired, so we headed back to camp.

We were on the tram again, and got stopped for a while waiting for a pit crew guy to have to be lifelighted out on the helicopter. There was a fire, and he was burned, but I think he’s doing well now. Scary.

When we got back to the tent we rested for a while. The mattress always stretches out after you fill it, so let’s just say it wasn’t on the firm setting for Jason’s nap. There wasn’t a line for the showers so we took out turns, and as I was brushing my teeth, I was very glad I was a woman. I heard one man yell to another in the showers “Hey! [friend’s name] Are you starting at the top or the bottom?”. We cooked dinner, shrimp, chicken, and corn, yum. Corn was the best, even though we didn’t have butter or salt. We went down to another campsite to celebrate a birthday, and the came back up to go to sleep.

Halfway thought the night, Jason gave up on the mattress, and I woke up like this:

We broke camp just as it began to pour. We hid in the car for around half and hour and when it looked better, we made it to our seats. We had just finished out bucket of fries when the skies opened up again. There was no-where to go, we didn’t have any umbrellas or ponchos, and we’re crazy, so we sat there and got soaked. It actually turned out well. The wet kept the sun from baking me as much, and we were kinda dry by the time we left.

As for the race: I was ecstatic when Vitor was leading. If not for yellows, once again, I think he would have really had a chance. I don’t know why, but I don’t like Briscoe. I don’t really know anything about him, but he just rubs me the wrong way. Overall, it was a good race, and everyone in our stands cheered when Milka passed Roth, and then groaned when we heard she had spun it not too long after.

We made it home, and had a great weekend. I’m really a wimp though, with the heat and all of the walking, I felt bad about complaining, and constantly said I was going to quit, but then was right back to it. Jason was completely within his rights to smack me right there, but didn’t. Thanks.

Oh yeah, also, this.

4th Of July Weekend, Sans Camera

We had a great weekend! But we forgot to take the camera to record any of it. So, I've re-created some of it the best I could. You'll see. Trust me. On Thursday, Jason and I went to pick up his new truck! Its an older ford ranger, and it is white. Its in perfect condition and I hope will be a nice car for many years to come. Here's an artist's interpretation. That's smiley Jason. Don't ask me why he doesn't have hair or arms or anything.

We didn't however, take it to go see WEIRD AL! on Thursday night. It was at white river lawn. Last year, we went to see symphonic Led Zeppelin there and it was fun. We brought in food, and even a bottle of wine. So, this year, we planned to take all kinds of stuff. Drinks, and Mom, who awesomely bought us the tickets, was bringing sandwiches! We were waiting at the gate when it opened. Turns out that over less than a year, they had turned into food nazis. They were letting in one sandwich bag and one bottle of water, small, each. So Mom and I trekked back to the car and left most of the yummy there. I was really mad. I'm going to write a really strongly worded letter. BUT, none of that now. The show was great! It was hilarious, and really high energy. I really enjoyed it, and so did everyone else. We walked back to the car and home to bed. zzzzzzzz

The next day, the 4th, started off slow, but we got going. Larson had suggested the Indians game that night. They would have fireworks there and then also, fireworks from downtown, that we could see from our seats. Our seats were on the lawn. I'd never sat there before, but it was really nice! There, we could bring in all kinds of food. The game was good, even though we lost, and it was a pretty night. They brought out the fireworks and I thought "gee that's close". That's our red and black blanket. Then BOOM!!!! The first one went off and it was instant fetal position. They were extremely loud and incredibly close. I finally got used to it, and it was a nice show. The downtown ones were also good, but not quite as three feet from me. We had a great time.

Saturday, both Jason and I had to work. I had my guitar hero tournament, a great success! Yay! Sunday, he worked again and we watched the race. I cried. I wanted to wring E.J. Viso's neck. Vitor was on his way to a win. He was on the right fuel strategy, and set up great. RHR did great though, and I'm happy to see him get a win. There's developments in the garden, look for posts when I find my camera.

Honeymoon day 9 and 10 St Pete!

So, I don't know if I ever said, but this whole honeymoon was really built around 2 races. We thought it would be fun to go to Homestead for the season opener and St Pete, the week after. The rest of everything kinda fell into place after that. The cruise was at a perfect time, the house we stayed in was an awesome gift from someone that Jason barely knows. It was a very generous thing for him to do and it was really great. So, back to the races:

We had been to homestead, and the cruise, and it was time for the race in St. Petersburg. It's a street race there and in the middle is a park, and a baseball field. Jason went down to check things out on Saturday, and I joined him on Sunday. There was a ferris wheel and I think I have my mother's facial expression in this picture.
Jason saw some funny stuff. Like a stop sign on the track, and people sitting in trees to watch. The whole thing was near the strangest looking yacht club ever.


We had grandstand seats, and in front of us there was a giant TV on a truck. It wasn't working. There whole grandstand cheered and jeered when the guy came to fix it, and had quite a bit of trouble at first. The seats were right at a really sharp turn, and we got a lot of action there.

The rain. It rained. A lot. We sat in it. There was no where to run, so why not. We got a little wet, but I was dry again by the time we left. I wish they would have let them run in the rain, but no. So, when the rain stopped the race was on.

We did have good seats. Danica lost it twice right in front of us and forgot she had a reverse gear, and also sadly, while Vitor was doing really well, he got put in the tire barrier right in front of us. I was sad. While it was nothing like his launch this past weekend, it was depressing. We were excited for Graham to win, and after the race we walked back to the buses, they shuttled us to our car, and we went to dinner.

We had seen a restaurant in our driving called Famous Dave's. It was a barbecue place. It was so good. I wrote a long review on their comment card begging them to come to Indiana, and then surprise surprise, we see one coming in just down the street from us. HA HA HA

That's it! Tomorrow, the sponge docks!

Honeymoon Day 2 Homestead

We woke up early on our second day of honeymoon and Jason went to rent our car for the day! It was a Shelby mustang:

Extremely powerful throaty car. You could raise the front end up off the ground really easy. It was fun to drive. When Jason was bringing it back to the hotel, I could hear him a block away. We got in and drove to Miami Homestead speedway.

Indycar season opener! Yay! We had good seats for the race and there was a lot to see at the track. We got to go in the pits. We could really get right up to the cars. Hence, this picture or Jason's carbon fiber ring on the carbon fiber mirror. There were all of these sheriffs on three wheeled segways. We saw one of them try to put it up on a sidewalk by popping a wheelie, and he almost turned it over. Later we saw another and I told the guy that it looked like fun. This is the result:






After that we sat to watch a great race. The highlight for me was when TK said that it didn't matter that one of his wheels was hanging by a thread, he was going to restart. He eventually had to pull in, and the question you're all asking, where did our guy Vitor finish? 10th, not too shabby. The next day, on to the boat!

Still surviving

I'm still all nervous about all of it, I think I will be until it's over, but it's better now. I don't want to spend all of my time talking about it. So!

This weekend we went to the last race of the season in Chicago. To start off with, the weather was PERFECT! It wasn't hot or cold, and we were in the shade in our seats. Vitor was going to come to the pre-race party, but had to have a meeting. He said he'd be at the banquet tomorrow night though. I really hope he has a better year next year. His was the second (after marco) wreck of the day. Something broke on his car, and he hit the wall so hard that he broke the safer barrier. I say that makes him cool. I know I'm out of order, but with your favorite having such a hard season you have to put it out there. So, the race was really exciting. I don't know why it's so much more exciting to me to see the teams running together, but it is. It was cool. We were right there when Dixon ran out of gas sooooooo close to the finish line. This time Dario does "see the checker" and it was cool, but will be much less cool if he goes to napcar (cuz it makes me sleepy) next year.

So, great race. Going to the banquet tomorrow. Last night we chopped up a tree covered in poison ivy. At least that's what we thought it was. We still aren't quite done, but it was really hard work. It's awesome to have such a great fiance. He's handy and hardworking. Now we have a big pile of kindling.