a few more snapshots from indy: race morning

Me and my friend, Johnny G., bright and early race morning.

Sun in our eyes.

We always park at the Speedway Church.

Brent Musburger
John took this photo of our seats from the Stand A Penthouse.
We're getting close!

just for fun...

I just had a conversation with Johnny G. about the 2009 IndyCar Series. I made a few predictions on where some drivers will end up next season. Just for fun I thought I'd share them. A few of these I could really see happening. Others are just long-shots.

1) Briscoe is out at Team Penske. Scott Dixon takes his place.
2) TK leaves AGR and ends up at Target Ganassi with his buddy Dan Wheldon.
3) Scheckter will be in a car at Andretti-Green.
4) Danica will be driving for Jay Penske's Luczo Dragon Racing.

the katherine heigl of indycar

There’s a reason Vitor Meira is most every IndyCar Series fan’s favorite driver who has never won. In 82 IndyCar starts he has had eight second place finishes-including two at Indy. He’s affectionately become known as the bridesmaid of IndyCar. (If I had any kind of graphic arts design skills I would insert a reworked 27 Dresses movie poster [here].) What’s more impressive about all of this is that he’s not on one of the “Big 3” Teams (Penske, Target-Gannassi, and Andretti-Green). He’s driven for second tier teams Rahal-Letterman and, currently, Panther racing.

Vitor always comes across as genuine. Like the nice guy who sat behind you in U.S. History class. The one who didn’t say much, but when he did everyone listened. And when he said something funny it was really really funny because of the source. Vitor is currently sponsored by the National Guard and you can tell he gets it. You can tell he is honored. You can tell he knows who the real heroes are and he wants to make them proud.

There is a Curt Cavin article that appears in the Indianapolis Star today that points to reason why Vitor is an admired fan favorite. (Read the entire article here.)

Meira was the driver of the Panther Racing car launched in the air during the Marco Andretti-Ed Carpenter crash with two-plus laps left. Meira shot a good 6 feet in the air, but instead of it being a disaster, he landed rather softly
on all four wheels.

The damage to the car was minimal, and Meira wasn't scratched, adding to his underground fan base. Wednesday, he was presented with his "Pilot Wings" by Indiana National Guard Maj. Gen. Martin Umbarger.

"You know 'Dukes of Hazard' and the horn goes off on the car?" Meira said. "Somebody put that (with the accident) on YouTube, and it's perfect.

"I think people follow me for things like that, but second (it's) because I try to treat them right, the way I'd like to be treated as a fan. I think that's why they wish me more even though I'm not in the spotlight all of the time."

Click here for the Dukes of Hazzard/General Lee enhanced version of Vitor's flight at Milwaukee.

eight more miles and louisville will come into my view

Coming home from Indianapolis.

I-65 South.

Over the Ohio River.

Sometimes blurry.

Landmarks. Sights of my childhood.

Downtown from the Indiana side. Last chance to exit before the Promised Land.

Louisville Slugger Field

Cardinal Stadium at 65 mph

UPS Hub and Big Brown's name sake.
How can this horse not win the triple crown tomorrow?

by-the-way, i knit a turnip

Finished: Knitted Turnip
Project: A turnip for Pastor Adam

Pattern: Farmers Market by Blue Canary Creations (see her Etsy page here)
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice by Lion Brand in Eggplant and Olive and Wool-Ease in Fisherman. Way less than one skein each.
Needles: Size US 6 double points and circulars.
The Story: One of my pastor’s shared a story in a sermon that involved turnips. Being a knitter I felt he needed a turnip. So I did some research on Ravelry and found a pattern to purchase that also has instructions for about 10 other veggies (tomato, potato, eggplant, corn on the cob with removable husk, portabella mushroom…). I finished the turnip some time ago, but had to keep it under wraps until I had given it to Adam. We’re in a small group together, so a few weeks ago I said, “by the way, I knit you a turnip” pulled it out of my bag, everyone laughed, and Adam played with it for the rest of our time together. I mean, how fun is a knitted turnip? I’d love to one day knit the entire Farmer’s Market bunch. And I actually learned a lot from that little turnip. I used some techniques that were new to me or I had not previously accomplished. I first planned to use left over yarn bits and scarps to stuff the turnip. But liked its appearance better with the yarn I knit with as some of the other colors were peeking through. That little turnip is a happy little turnip.

10 on tuesday: 10 ways the world has changed since you were in school

Ten Things That Have Changed Since I Was In School

There are some pretty obvious advances in technology. I remember thinking the high school I graduated from was pretty cutting edge at the time because we had computer labs and were taking "keyboarding" instead of typing. But it wasn't until college that I got my first email account and it would probably seem an archaic system to students today.

When I was in high school…

1) Hair was much bigger, usually permed, and covered in Aqua Net or Rave.

2) Neon was in vogue (and is now coming back!).

3) Mobile phones were huge, usually came in a bag, and were mostly considered “car phones”.

4) I bought most of my music on cassette tapes.

5) Coffee was something you didn’t usually discover until college. Now it seems to be junior high.

6) I wrote intricately folded notes to my friends instead of the texting them.

7) If packaging had another language, other than English, on it it was usually French, not Spanish.

8) You wrote checks. If you needed cash you went to the bank and made a withdrawal or had to write a check for cash.

9) Tom Cruise seemed somewhat normal.

10) Gas was less than .99/gallon!

Visit the Ten on Tuesday Website

champ car + irl = anybody wanna buy a pace car?

From the Indianapolis Star:

Champ Car liquidation auction today

The bankrupt Champ Car World Series is conducting a liquidation auction today until 5 p.m. at the series headquarters, 5350 Lakeview Parkway, South Drive.

Among the items available are pace cars, racecar transporters, racecars, shop equipment, scoring and timing equipment and memorabilia. Online bidding is also available at www.bidspotter.com.

I'm sort of tempted to make a bid on a racecar transporter. Okay, not really.

marco takes out two of my favorite drivers with one bump