Bittersweet to Say the least.

What a day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After being towed from Georgetown Road The night before, I was stressed to the max about getting my car from the tow lot, paying the fine at the Police station, getting my car, and making the race. After little to no sleep, I decided to worry about my car after the race, and the 165 dollars it would take to get it. Traffic was horrid, but luckily we made it to our seats in plenty of time to cheer for Dan Wheldon and Tomas Scheckter. Of course, Dan took the win and Tomas finished top 8, this had me in a great mood and I quickly forgot about the towing disaster.

After the unpredictable finish, as Wheldon crossed the stripe and the reality of his win set in, I got a bit emotional. It was great for him, Dan is an excellent guy, surrounded by excellent people from his crew, family and his friends. He was patient all day, and the disappointment of the last 2 years is now gone.

Hats off to JR Hildebrand for a great drive. Sitting in 3 he had been off the throttle for the last 2 laps saying fuel, I'm not 100% sure but I think he ran out in T4, what a finish and glad everyone was safe.


I decided to try to get down to victory circle seeing is I knew a few people close to the team. I ran into friend Bayleigh who is very close with Dan, I talked up the yellow shirt and we got in ( I'm sure someone would have gotten us in anyway, but hey, I felt like a BA) It was a blessing to be in victory circle with Dan, and some friends. As I stopped to remind myself that this may be a once in a lifetime moment that thousands of people would kill to have, I took a breath, fist bumped Mr. Wheldon and shed a tear.  What a race, what a great, and what a great deserving champion.

Breaking Down the 500

As the 100th anniversary of the 500 nears, I thought I would take a stab at handicapping the field, who has the best and worse odds to win, based on starting position, crew and past experience in the race. As we all know the 500 is the hardest race and for that matter hardest sporting event to predict, but hey, its worth a shot so here we go, I'm putting all my fan hood aside on this..

2-1 Scott Dixon
3-1 Will Power
4-1 Dario Franchitti
5-1 Townsend Bell
6-1 Helio Castroneves
7-1 Dan Wheldon
8-1 Alex Tagliani
9-1 Ed Carpenter
10-1 Buddy Rice
11-1 Oriol Servia
12-1 Ryan Briscoe
13-1 Tomas Scheckter
14-1 Tony Kanaan
15-1 JR Hildebrand
16-1 Vitor Meira
17-1 Graham Rahal
18-1 Paul Tracy
19-1 Justin Wilson
20-1 Marco Andretti
21-1 James Hinchcliffe
22-1 Danica Patrick
23-1 Bertrand Baguette
24-1 Davey Hamilton
25-1 Simona De Silvestro
26-1 John Andretti
27-1 Alex Lloyd
28-1 Takuma Sato
29-1 Ryan Hunter Reay
30-1 Ana Beatriz
31-1 EJ Viso
32-1 Charlie Kimball
33-1 Jay Howard
34-1 Pippa Mann

Pole Day Qualifying

As I did last year, and probably failed miserably, I am going to attempt to predict the 33 starters for the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. I said it last week, and I will stand by it, their are 13-15 legitimate contenders to win this years Indy 500, but drivers still have to run the first race, and that's 4 laps, 10 miles around the worlds greatest race course. So here we go.

I'm going to take Scott Dixon for the pole. It would be Dixon's 2nd pole position at the Brickyard, but really you can take all the Ganassi and Penske Guys, throw them in a hat and pick one. Filling out the front row, ill take Helio Castroneves and Will Power. Lets run through the rest of the 22 starters that will be locked in as of 6pm tomorrow.
Row 2- Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti Townsend Bell
Row 3- Graham Rahal Alex Tagliani Ed Carpenter
Row 4- Dan Wheldon Bertrand Baguette JR Hildebrand
Row 5- Vitor Meira Marco Andretti Davey Hamilton
Row 6- Buddy Rice Oriel Servia Tony Kanaan
Row 7- Takuma Sato James Hinchcliffe Tomas Scheckter
Row 8 Danica Patrick Justin Wilson and Paul Tracy

There is my top 22- this leaves,  Ana Beatriz, , , Alex Lloyd, Jay Howard ,Ho Pin Tung, Pippa Mann ,EJ Viso, Bruno Junqueira, Ryan Hunter Reay, John Andretti, Ralphael Matos, Mike Conway, James Jakes, Sebastian Saavedra, Simona De Silvestro and Scott Speed to qualify on Sunday. Who knows if Speed will last, and I hope to see Sarah Fisher Racing turn out the 57 car and get in. Hope everyone enjoys Pole Day as I know I will.

The 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. Opening Weekend

Although the rains dampened the afternoon yesterday and all day today, it was a great opening weekend at the worlds greatest race course. Saturday got off to a delayed start, not by rain, but a sprinkler on the backstretch. Hope this isn't a sign of whats to come with the weather, as today was a wash, and the next 6 days have rain in the forecast.

32 drivers logged laps at the Brickyard yesterday with local Ed Carpenter taking the top speed at 224. 786. Ed shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. He has ran well at the speedway, leading laps two years ago at the 500, and making the Top 11 in qualifying last season. The Surprise should be in Sarah Fisher Racing. SFR has made significant strides in the off season, and with an experienced driver in Carpenter, along with long time engineer Nathan O'Rourke. Rumor is Buddy Lazier could be in line for the #57 ride with SFR if Ed makes it safely into the field on Pole Day.

I think this will be one of the most competitive fields in recent history. I feel their are 17 drivers that have a legit shot at winning, I guess I should back, in no particular order. 1. Dan Wheldon 2. Helio Castroneves 3. Will Power 4. Ryan Briscoe 5. Scott Dixon 6. Dario Franchitti 7. Tomas Scheckter 8. Tony Kanaan 9. Graham Rahal 10. Justin Wilson. 11. Marco Andretti 12. Mike Conway 13. Ed Carpenter 14. Paul Tracy 15. Ryan Hunter Reay 16. Townsend Bell 17. Alex Tagliani.

Right after that list there are a few that wouldn't be shocking, such as Danica, Simona Oriel Servia, Buddy Rice, JR Hildebrand, Bertrand Baguette and Alex Lloyd. There should be a good battle for Rookie of the Year as well, with James Hichcliffe, Scott Speed and JR Hildebrand, not to mention a few others. Not that I have crazily said that half the field could contend, Ill be back Friday for my pole day predictions.

It was great to see familiar faces at the speedway all weekend, and hopefully more to come. Ill continue to be that guy that roams around the pits by himself, taking pictures like an Asian in a parking lot, but I'm OK with that, this only comes around once a year, got to soak it up while I can.