Your link to Northwest Indiana. tm
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From Our Founder
by Robert J. Wichlinski
Back to the
weekend. Time trials were scheduled for Saturday, but the weather did
not cooperate. So the event was moved to Sunday and the qualifying
rules tweaked to accommodate the change in date and the unseasonably
cool weather. Pole qualifying day and "bump day" were one in the same.
I tuned into the television broadcast to watch Danica Patrick qualify
for the race. I so wanted her to grab the pole position. Danica is
young, gifted and American... she also happens to be female. I am NOT
bashing foreign drivers, I just relate better to American drivers and
appreciate it when I can understand what the driver is saying during an
I am an Indy freak. While I don't necessarily follow the IRL racing circuit, the 500 is a part of me... as a Hoosier and a race fan. Some may remember a few years back when our little company here in Northwest Indiana sponsored a car in the race. It was a small sponsorship and it seems like a lifetime ago, but the memories remain near and dear to my heart. It was an experience I will carry with me to my grave. I understand completely what motivates entertainer David Letterman to be a part of the 500 through IRL team sponsorship . He's a Hoosier and he's hooked, just like me. Reporters corner him at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, shove a microphone in his face and expect him to put his emotions into words. He's in the business of communicating, but never seems to be able to finds the words to describe his feelings... even when his team won race... even when he interviewed his winning driver on his late night talk show... he's giddy and proud and humbled and relieved and... well, like I said, the words do not come easily... like trying to describe your feelings when you hold your newborn child for the first time... you are just flooded with emotion... you mouth opens and nothing comes out... a smile is all you can manage. Through the remainder of the month there will be more practice on the track and one more session of qualifying to fill out the remainder of the field (the "grid" in racing lingo). And over memorial day weekend, there will be a race... just as there has been for 88 years... the 89th running of the Indy 500! Granted it won't be like it was, but neither was golf after Arnie, Jack, Gary, and Lee retired from the sport. That is, until Tiger came along. Danica and Gentlemen...no, sorry... RACERS start your engines! As always, I can be reached via e-mail at b@219.com |
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interview.
Its difficult to take an interest in someone who you just cannot relate
to. NASCAR has refined driver-relations to an art form. Interest in
the sport is dervied from interest in the people who participate in it.
Patrick single-handedly rekindled my interest in the Indy 500. She
worked hard, dedicated herself to her profession and had a real shot at
making history by winning the pole. Could she be the Tiger Woods of the
Indy 500 and the IRL? She certainly gave me a reason to care about the
event. And I used to really care.