Well, its official, Timo’s my boy. After that race in Montreal, he officially became my boy! I don’t know that I was necessarily cheering for him at the end, but I wanted the kind of ending that only Champ Car could provide, and, well we got it. Even if it was somewhat controversial, it was a pretty darn good ending. I heard Oriol say to Timo on the podium something to the effect of “sorry, I had to pass you, I had no choice, I was going to pass you to matter what” to which Timo nodded and continued talking forever on the podium (inside joke if you were at the event). The fact that the officials warned him the first time made all the difference and proved to be the right call. I still think Timo had nowhere to go and the consequences would have been worse had he NOT moved out of the way. You got to give props to Oriol for being aggressive, something that some people thought he lacked. Had he settled for second place, then that reputation would have grown. Instead, he now joins the ranks of true road racers willing to do what it takes to win. 2nd is not an option anymore for Oriol.

After that pitstop by Paul Tracy, I hope my buddy Neil is doing alright. I spoke with him after the race and I initially didn’t realize he was the one that Tracy hit in the pits. He was fine, of course and joked about all the airtime he was going to get that night on television. He wasn’t kidding.

The Champ Cars this year have a wonderful way of making their races very exciting, be it at the end or the very beginning. This one was no exception. Talk about good passing and good battles taking place all over the track all race long. Yes, for a little bit there, it seemed like we would be running nothing but green flag and had the making of a bit of a parade, but come on, this is the Champ Car World Series, you didn’t think it would finish this way, did you?

Good for Antoine Bessette who was absolutely speechless after the race. He was so happy and excited and emotional, it was nice to see. I shook his hand on the podium and with a spark in his eye and a child-like enthusiasms, he said “I did it in Montreal!”. I can’t imagine what that feeling must be like. Racing isn’t like any other sport. First of all, you’re very lucky if you have a big league race in your hometown. Second of all, you are only going there once a year, so you have ONE opportunity before having to wait 361 days to try again. To be able to put it all together and make it happen in front of your home crowd is simply amazing. Good for him.