The House Has Been Built

Alright, so maybe the title is a bit corny, but it fits. Ed Carpenter, a veteran of 113 IZOD Indy Car Series races has been building for his first career win, which came in outstanding fashion today at the Kentucky Speedway. Over those 113 races, some have criticized him of not having the talent to run in the Indy Car Series, claiming he only has a ride due to family ties. Those of you who think that, are dead wrong and that was proven today, but to others, such as myself, we have known this day is long over due.

Of course, it does help to be born into, but I would put money that 98% of the drivers in any professional racing series could be charged with the same accusations. Carpenter cut his teeth in the Midwest winning his first USA Midget race in ironically Louisville. In 2003, Carpenter won the Indy Lights race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the inaugural Freedom 100. He then got his chance in the Indy Car Series.

Throughout his career, Ed has be superb on ovals, Indy, Kentucky and Chicagoland in particular. In 2006 he snagged his first top five at Chicagoland. He turned heads in 08 with a 5th place in the Indy 500. Over the next few years, Ed would run well at the Kentucky Speedway. He was on the pole for the 2010 event and had been the brides made the past two years. Today, he cashed in that pole, two runner ups and two Indy 500 Top 10's for his first career victory.

The pieces have been in place for Carpenter, also known as "The Hammer" (At least to me). You could not ask for a more perfect day. A sunny, chilly Midwestern day gave way to a Midwestern raised Butler grad to score his first victory, and honestly, it could not have happened to a better guy. I question anyone's morals who has a bad thing to say about the guy. He is who you want your son to look up after, a family man who is down to earth and does things the right way. Hats off to Ed, and I am excited for Vegas where he and another favorite of mine, Tomas Scheckter will join forces for Sarah Fisher.

Is It Better If It's Your Fault In A Car Crash?

Obviously, you never want to get into an accident, and when you do, you would think that you would not want it to be your fault, well at this point, I beg to differ. If you follow me at all via Facebook or Twitter, you know I was hit downtown a little over a month ago. The Lady ran a red light and came across three lanes of traffic on a one way street to hit me in the driver side door. To the naked eye, it looked like minimal damage. I wanted about a week for the lady who hit me to get back with me, and I still have not heard from here as she had her insurance company get a hold of me. What a nightmare it has been. I'm sure the lady who hit me has already repaired the light damage she has, and has forgotten about the entire situation, while I'm still caught up in the hell and inconvenience of her bone headiness. I finally got my car into the body shop, got my rental set it up, in which I was not paying for, but was suckered into the $70 dollar insurance out of my pocket? I mean, I guess I had to do it, my luck, at this rate I would get into another accident, so better safe than sorry. A week later, I call the body shop to see how the progress was coming along, as I only had the rental 8 days. The guy at the body shop tells me they in house had found some more damage behind the tire so It would be a few more days. OK, no worries, Friday rolls around, and the guy tells me, well we messed up something in house, it should be done Tuesday. Tuesday comes, and the car still is not fixed, claiming Triple A just approved the repair of the new damages Monday. Why wouldn't they approve them, and if they didn't, the body shop should pay for it because it was their mistake! The time table turns to, it should be done by the end of the week. Well buddy ,I have a job like most average Americans, and I need to know when it will be done so I can get my rental extended. So, I go to cash my paycheck today, and realize my balance is about 500 dollars off of what it should be. Whata know! a 455 fee from Enterprise Rent a Car. I'm pissed, and want answers. Turns out, the lady at the rental place didn't tell me that its 18 dollars a day for some BS and 10 more dollars a day because I'm under 25. Why am I even paying for anything? So they took 28 dollars a day out of my bank account, which they had the info for the 70 dollar insurance. So without me knowing, 453 dollars is gone. Fortunately, the lady at Enterprise today was helpful and waived the 10 dollar a day under 25 fee and said I would get the rest back when they got the Rental. Well I'm glad I checked it out, and I'm glad I have emergency money in my account to make sure I don't over shoot my bank account. But if your going to take 28 dollars out a day, I better damn well know it, and why your doing it. Its Friday, and instead of enjoying the week in my Sebring with the top down, I'm cruising a Camry with shitty brakes and no head room. Shake my damn head!!

Driving in Indy.

Now I problem shouldn't complain about driving in Indy when its 10x worse in bigger cities such as New York and Chicago. But what Indianapolis has that most other cities do not is a Super Bowl on the way which leads to construction on virtually every street. It changing virtually every day, one day one lanes blocked, the next a different. Construction slows everything down, especially when they think they are above the traffic and can just walk out on a four lane road and stop traffic to back up one of their trucks.

On top of the traffic, you get your normal people who don't really know how to drive. You know who they are, they want to go 35 in a 45, they turn without signaling, or pull out in front of you with no regard to anyone else on the road.

My 7 mile commute to downtown Indy every morning takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes. Mostly on one way streets that are too hard for some people to handle. Look, I know your dying to find a parking spot, but you can throw it in reverse on a one way street to back up 20 yards to that spot you blew by, sorry buddy, your going to have to take another lap around the block. On these one way streets, city buses just throw a wrench in the mix. They take two lanes to turn, pull out and stop at will, and then their are those people that get in the far right lane to turn right, but don't realize the cars that are ahead of them are parallel parked causing a parking lot on Penn.

There are many other things that drive me nuts, bikers who take up an entire lane, or shoot across the Monon on 52nd without even looking, so If I hit you for not paying attention, it's my fault and now I have a problem, or the lady who turned left onto a one way street on Red, crossed three lanes of traffic to hit me when I was going straight through a green light. Throw in the fact that school has started and school buses add to the chaos of driving to work, making me have to dive bomb to get around them, causing another kamikaze move that I have to make to avoid someone else. Maybe I should bitch, and I'm not saying I am the best driver, all I ask is for people to not do idiotic things, use a signal, and go the speed limit, Thanks!

Opinions, Everybody Has Them.

Look, no one is perfect, we all make mistakes and I am sure I do things that people don't agree with and that's fine. But the bottom line is in this world, you are in control of you, if you don't like what you hear on the radio, turn it, if you don't like what I have to say, don't follow me on Twitter, it is as simple as that. I am a sports fan, and in the sports world, their are so many different opinions on players coaches teams and games. One of the best things about sports is hearing someone Else's opinion and debating it. Put it this way my roommate and best friend of the past 16 years does not cheer for any of the teams I do. We can discuss our teams, and it not get too heated, but at the end of the day he is still my best friend. Some of the best conversations I have had were with friends that have their own opinion, but realize.. we are talking about SPORTS and nothing PERSONAL. Just because my opinion differs from yours, doesn't mean I like you any less as a person. When people start name calling and getting personal, talking about your job and what you bring to the table, that's getting out of line. Act like an adult, and RESPECT each other's opinion. It is that simple.

Life Update

It has been awhile since I have blogged.. but it has been a stressful few weeks. It all started on my normal drive into work downtown when a lady turned left on a red light.. came across 3 lanes to hit my driver side. Pretty hard impact, but  I was OK an fortunately I was able to drive away. Still, the next few weeks sucked getting an estimate, finally getting it to a body shop, getting a rental car and dealing with insurance companies, just a pain in the ass while she is probably sitting not having having to do anything. The Brickyard weekend a few weeks back was a great escape from it all. I was thankful my two brothers and Dad could come down and stay with me for the race weekend. We were fortunate enough to meet a bunch of drivers which made my 6 year brother happy, and he got to meet his favorite two drivers of all time and get his picture with them, Dan Wheldon and Kasey Kahne, if he only knew about his older brother Tony's adventure with Dan the night before. I was fortunate to be able to take a ride around Lucas Oil Raceway in a pace car which was awesome, still sad and bitter to see that place go, but I bet it returns. Very Cool to see Paul Menard win it. The Summer is wrapping up, as the weekend sports show I am on, Indiana Sports Talk starting last week. I don't mind though, work Friday and Saturday night.. get paid, and spend less time at the bars and less money, I mean come on, I get off at midnight, in Broad Ripple by 1230, all the women are already drunk, so I don't have to buy them a drink! Total joke, but kinda true. My buddies and I are planning a trip to Vegas in October for my birthday and the final Indy Car race, so I'm taking any extra hours at work I can get and no time off, not that I have taken any time off at well, its a perk to liking your job though. NFL is finally here, and I'm excited to spend my Sundays (only day off) sitting on the couch, watching games and being lazy, which is what I do anyway, but at least I get the NFL. Doing my best to stay positive in life, manage my money, not stress myself out like I usually do, and remember that I'm 22, all the hard work and dedication will hopefully pay off.

Wanker Free Rankings After Toronto

What a wild and ridiculous race from the streets of Toronto. One of the most historic street courses in open wheel history turned a lot of heads after the Honda Indy Toronto, here's this weeks Indy Car Power Ranking, the Wanker Free version.

1. Dario Franchitti- He also ranks #1 on Will Powers hit list. Both sides disagree on what went down, but everyone can agree, the Indy Car Series can benefit from some trash talking.

2. Scott Dixon- Dixon again ran a solid 2nd at Toronto, but still hasn't reached victory circle this season. He sits 28 points back of Will Power for 2nd, gaining 48 points on Will over the past two races.

3. Marco Andretti (+3)- I know I know, its hard to believe Marco could be #3, but after a 4th place finish in Toronto, coming off the win in Iowa, Marco's 26 team is one of the hottest in the series.

4. Oriol Servia- (+1)- I guess this is mainly due to the struggles of Will Power and Tony Kanaan, Servia had a solid day going but wound up 12th.

5. Will Power-(-1)- 32 Laps led, sat on the pole, Will is slipping as of late when it comes to results, but after his post race comments, who really cares? Hopefully he uses this as motivation and walks the walk at Edmonton after talking the talk after Toronto.

6. Graham Rahal-(+1)- Graham didn't get the break he needed, still a solid day leading 23 laps on the day.

7. Tony Kanaan-(-4) I think the accident with Briscoe was a racing deal, looked like Briscoe's 6 car stepped out and took out TK, either way, a last place finish is never good.

8. Ryan Briscoe-(+1) - I took Ryans side with the TK incident, but this has been a sub par season for Briscoe, three top ten's so far this season, not exactly a good season so far.

9. JR Hildebrand-(+2) JR continues to climb the chart, breaking into the top ten with another solid run at Toronto, bringing home an 8th place finish.

10. James Hinchcliffe(+2) You can take 10-20, put them in a hat, and pull it out and get the exact opposite of what I put, and still be right, Hinch gets 10th because he has to be on cloud 9 with back to back Canadian races.

11. Ryan Hunter Reay- Ryan climbs all the way to 11th with this podium finish. A well needed, well deserved effort for the entire team that has been down down down for a lot of the season, congrats on the marriage as well.

12. Danica Patrick ( -2)- Knocked out in an accident that was not her fault, I'm sure she would have rather been in Kentucky.

13. The #19 car (+5) Sebastian Bourdais returned to the 19 as the road course guy, an impressive 6th place run moves the Dale Coyne Team up after Alex Lloyd had a solid night in Iowa.

14. Helio Castroneves- Problems all day for Helio, it was a horrible, horrible day for anything Penske related in Toronto.

15. Vitor Meira-(+4) Vitor grabs his first top five of the season for AJ Foyt, overall a great day for the 14 team, kept the nose clean, that's the most important part.

16. Simona De Silvestro- Simona climbs back into the power rankings with her third top ten of the season, after what she has gone through, you have to think this is almost a victory for the team.

17. E.J. Viso- Top 10, only car not wrecked for KV, shocked? I am too.

18. Justin Wilson-(-3) - It frustrates me that Wilson has not had a top five this entire season. He should contend week in and week out on road/street courses.

19. Ana Beatriz-Ana breaks in for the first time with a solid 11th at Toronto, her best showing of the season.

20. Takuma Sato- (-12) - Takuma was 8th last week, as I gave him the benefit of the doubt for the impressive pole at Iowa, should really have been 15th or 16th after last week.

Lucas Oil Raceway Loses Nascar Events

By now, you have all heard, The Nationwide and Truck Races have been moved from Lucas Oil Raceway to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway starting in 2012.

From IMS's standpoint, they needed something to boost the Brickyard 400, having all the support races at the same track could bring more people in, and would be more convenient for the drivers, but the decision I cannot agree with. Most drivers who do Nationwide and the Sprint Cup series have no problem making the 8 mile trip on over to LOR, hell, some drivers travel from California to Wisconsin for a double header of racing on both series.

The racing at LOR took you back to the roots of Nascar, and as much as Nascar is trying to grow, they have made it an important topic to stay close to its roots, the beatin and banging, 200 lap under the light feature that LOR put on was a battle of today top starts against new up and coming drivers, who all gritted their teeth on Saturday night short track racing under the lights. Now look, I'm looking on both sides, most of you think that 42 bucks for general admission to a Nationwide is a bit steep, when you can spend 30 and get a ticket to the 400, that may be true, but LOR always sold out, the stands, the hills in Turn One and along the front stretch are always full on Friday and Saturday nights, how is 40,000 fans going to look at IMS for a Nationwide race? Empty.

Now I'm not blaming IMS at all, If your co workers smoking hot girlfriend said she would rather date you, wouldn't you? I blame Nascar for wanting this, I realize LOR may be a hard sell to those corporate sponsors, but that doesn't take away from the product it puts out. Nascar wants Danica and the other up and comers to get a shot at the Brickyard. Maybe Nascar wants to add this to learn for the Sprint Cup Series to make it more competitive, But if you give me 50 bucks and say pick a race, sorry IMS, I love you to death, but I'm heading to LOR the night before to catch the Nationwide race.

I hope LOR gets the races back, even if its a stand alone type event, I also would like to see Indy Car jump on this and put the Lights cars on the oval, and see if it is possible for the Indy Cars to get on the road course out there, to all the fans reading this, enjoy the race weekend at LOR that some have enjoyed since 1982.