Well, it finally happened today. 4 years in the making. Eventually the air had to be cleared. Today was that day. Jimmy Vasser confronted me about my Overheard at the Track videos.

If you know anything about Jimmy Vasser, you know the guy is old school. Sure he knows about computers, but would prefer to talk to you on the phone rather than by email. I can’t say I blame him too much. But apparently he finally saw OHATT and finally witnessed what all the fuss was about.

As he put it, for years people had told him about the videos at Players. But how do you explain to someone that their image is dubbed with a voice that sounds like a character from a tv show and that these features are on the website and yada yada yada. It was easier to hide when I was at Team Players. Now that the videos are right there on ChampCar’s website, they are difficult to ignore.

Jimmy knows me as the Champ Car Track announcer. I did a this or that with Jimmy earlier this year, but for a guy like Jimmy who has done 6000 interviews over his career, you learn to go with it and then move on to the next one. When I did a this or that with Justin this week, he asked what it was for. Not Jimmy. Too many silly interviews over the past few years.

I was surprised in San Jose at the driver party that Jimmy even knew my name. It shows you just what kind of person he is, the fact that he remembers not just who I am, but my name. Its been so long and so many episodes of OHATT since, I figured if he hadn’t talked to me by now, then I was safe.

It was during the autograph session. He was at one end of the table, Paul Tracy next to him and I was at the end of the line handing out Champ Car mints to autograph seekers. Yes, my official duties during the autograph sessions are to make sure that fans leave with their favorite drivers autograph, but more importantly, they leave with fresh breath. Jimmy says, “you used to do those videos on Players”. Paul Tracy immediately starts laughing. It was the most genuine laugh I have ever heard Tracy produce. I deny having made them. Jimmy says ‘you rip on me in those videos’. I claim I shoot them, but someone else does the voices. Obviously Jimmy is a good sport and was chuckling the entire time. The fans seeking autographs were also enjoying this exchange. I deny it some more until I can deny no more and the cat is out of the bag. Paul is still laughing, i'm a little embarrassed and the fans are enjoying it. I have been 'ripping' on Jimmy Vasser since 2002. There was little I could do now but own up to it. Then, in what all of a sudden seemed like a Champ Car official talking he tells me I’m doing a good job. I was very glad to hear it.

Anti-climatic? Sure, but what did you expect? The guy is Jimmy Vasser! The guy is king! I did think it was necessary to explain to Jimmy how all of this came about. I told him that the first time was in Vancouver and that he was being very expressive and that the Boomhower voice just felt natural. I then told him that every time I do an OHATT without including Jimmy, people get upset that he’s not there. So I am forced to ‘rip’ on Jimmy to keep the people happy.

There you have it. 4 years in the making and it finished with me passing the buck and blaming all the people out there for enjoying it. :)

Now I especially look forward to the next episode of OHATT. If the gods are with me, i'll get a shot of him talking to Andrew Ranger!

still figuring out this new toy

As you can see, I have some description of the audio blog, but no actual names attached to the interview. I thought I added them, but hey, you kow me and the internet!

anyway, starting from the top and all the way down the order goes like this:

Charles Zwolsman
Justin Wilson
Oriol Servia
Ronnie Bremer.

hope you enjoy them. they are generally quick interviews cause its long distance every time! :)

we were in the van on the way home and decided to try it again. But we got cut off pretty quickly, for some reason

Justin had just done 'this or that' with the host being AJ. Look for it soon, if Champ Car lets us air it. :)

he was on his way out, but had time for a couple of questions

the first official Overheard blog interview!

audio blog test.

my version of Champ Car's audio round table!

Tony Stewart winning the Brickyard 400 was great to watch. Excuse me, I should say the All-State 400 at the Brickyard. Indiana boy making good on a dream he’s had for a long time. It was a special moment in American motorsports, one of those rare occasions when something means so much to a driver, something that has eluded him throughout his career and something he’s worked for his entire life. It was very emotional when he took that checkered flag.

Many fans of the IRL are talking about the comments his father said following his win, something to the effect of Tony winning the second biggest race at the brickyard and needing only the 500. something like that. Fans of the IRL are speculating as to whether Tony should do the double next year. Some even suggested he drop NASCAR and return to the IRL. Although that expose would certainly outshine anything Danica has accomplished, I doubt it would ever happen. Although Tony grew up dreaming of an open-wheel win at the Indy 500, he’s never accomplished it. He’s tried, running there a few times and was even the IRL champion back in the early days of that league. But whether it was fate or what, Tony Stewart is a stockcar driver and will always be known as a stockcar driver. There’s no point in going back. Naturally he makes 27 times more money in NASCAR, but this isn’t what this is all about. Its about who Tony Stewart is as a person. Whether Tony still wants to chase that boyhood dream of winning the Indy 500 or not, he will forever be known and remembered as a stockcar driver and a pretty darn good one at that. It would astound me if he returned to open-wheel for the chance to drink the milk. But, it wouldn’t be the first time that Tony surprised us all, would it?

Last year, the highlight of the season probably took place in Denver when Bourdais was forced all the way to the back of the pack, but came back in spectacular fashion to win the event. Bourdais went from 15th to 9th by lap 7. 7!! And it wasn’t even with an overpowered IRL Honda engine! Here’s the breakdown, cause I love this:
13th on lap 2 after passing Mazzacane and Jourdain
11th on lap 5 after passing Gonzalez and Smith (remember him?)
10th on lap 6 after passing Vasser
9th on lap 7 after passing Haberfeld
then…
8th on lap 9 after passing Wilson
7th on lap 19 after passing Hunter-Reay
6th on lap 23 after passing Carpentier (remember him?)
5th on lap 32 after passing AJ
4th on lap 41 after beating Servia out of the pits (team sport baby!)
3rd on lap 55 after passing Junquiera
2nd on lap 79 while passing (and nudging) Dominguez
1st on lap 80 after passing Tracy.
It’s the kind of race you wish Desdain and all the other people who are ignorant of Champ Car and skeptical of these city tracks would have watched. It should eliminate all doubters that you can’t pass on street tracks. The good news is that these naysayers are getting far and few between. There are still a couple of old stubborn journalists who will never change their opinions, but they hardly matter anymore anyway. The media and more importantly the fans are finding out that the show that Champ Cars put on the streets of wherever is a damn good show and a damn good exhibition of motor-racing. This weekend will be no different.