New OHATT and the latest This or that is up at champcarworldseries.com Hope you enjoy them.

Mr. Johnson joining the Champ Car World Series is great for the organization, but rest assured, as Champ Car president, he has some big shoes to fill. Dick Eidswick was the everyday president that Champ Car needed over the last couple of years to bounce back.

The results speak for themselves, but I’m not here to talk about numbers, figures and all that. You can read those just about anywhere, or heck, attend a race and see for yourself how far the series has come in 2 years.

Dick Eidswick has joined us at Fan Forums before. That says it all right there. Talk about a President who cares what the people have to say. If you know these fan forums, they are Q and A’s that are no holds barred. Any questions are permitted and the tough, controversial questions are usually asked. It’s a very fun environment, but champ car fans are passionate about their series and want answers to questions they may have. Dick was there to answer those questions.

The Edmonton fan club dinner where I had the privilege to speak was attended by Dick Eidswick. Before the speakers got going, during the dinner portion of the evening, I was sitting with two new friends talking racing when Dick sat with us for a few moments. He introduced himself (not as the president, but as Dick-wearing a grey shirt, he was obviously a champcar employee) and proceeded to join us in our conversation. He asked my two new friends questions about their likes and dislikes of the series, paying attention to what they had to say. He did this with several more people at the dinner. He didn’t need to show up to the dinner. He had already had a long day, and the race was the next day. But he did, sat down and listened.

Finally, for what its worth, Dick was at the track bright and early every morning. It always struck me as odd for some reason when I pulled in to the parking lot at 7am or whatever time in the morning and see Dick making his way to the track. Talk about a hands on president. But he was there bright and early not only because that’s the type of president he is, but also because he’s a fan of the sport and wanted to absorb the atmosphere as much as possible. He realized how special these events are and wanted to be part of them as much as possible, not only as an employee, but as a fan.

And let’s not forget the fact that Mr. Eidswick was kind enough to join me in a This or That. The very fact that I had felt comfortable enough to ask him shows you what type of person he is, but also the fact that he joined us really shows you what he’s willing to do for the series that he has grown to love as a fan, first and foremost.

When I read the headline about Mr. Johnson, I was in shock because I thought Dick had been replaced. A move that would have made little sense if any. Luckily, Mr. Eidswick becomes the CEO of Champ Car. And no matter what his title may be, I have a feeling I’ll still see him at 7am on race weekends anxiously making his way to the track to witness the sport he his fond of.

by the way my Jays are 4 back of the wild card and who do we play this weekend? Mr. Dick Eidswick's Tigers. Sorry sir, this is one time you and I are not going to agree!

Anybody read Gordon Kirby’s article this week? (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=9558)
It’s the most positive article on Champ Car I have EVER read. Truly an inspiring article for any die-hard fan. I know I enjoyed it.

What was it? 149 thousand in Denver? 51 corporate sponsorship up from 6 in 2004? 70K+ on race day? My good friend and Trans Am track announcer Dan Lacy went out on a limb this weekend and declared over the airwaves that the Denver GP rivals and might top the Long Beach event. It’s a bold statement. Aside from the history that Long Beach has, I think Dan may have been spot on. These festival of speeds that Champ Car are producing are just getting better and better. Its truly amazing the effort that goes into putting these events together. We see Long Beach, Toronto, maybe Australia and I don’t know that we truly realize the time and effort it takes to put these things together. Big props go to all involved!

I’d like to welcome Steve Johnson to the family of the Champ Car World Series. If there’s anything I can do Mr. Johnson to make your stay more enjoyable, please let me know. Anything at all. Get you coffee, read the paper for you. Anything to make you hire me again in 2006! Someone explain to him what Overheard at the Track is before he sees it for himself and thinks “what the hell is this!” By the way, if you think of Champ Car as a family, I am that distant cousin who show’s up for the family gatherings, is generally annoying and makes a fool of himself. But dang it I know all about Champ Cars!!! :)

Road America has come up EVERY single Fan Forum that we have had this year. Every single time the fans want to know what the status is with this race and whether Champ Car will ever return there. It’s obviously a special place and I think that Champ Car should return there. Kirby mentions dropping Milwaukee (should attendance not go up next year) and head down the road. I would dearly miss Milwaukee should it not re-up in 2007. I love that place more than most tracks. I have enjoyed some professional success in the past and always enjoy the city of Milwaukee with its Bucks and Brewers. Hopefully staging the race back on Sunday will bring the fans back. Champ Car needs at least a couple of ovals as everybody would likely agree and a one-mile oval with all the history and tradition of the Milwaukee Mile fits in perfectly with the new Champ Car plan. Blend the new with the old. A perfect mix of tradition and forwardness.

Can you believe Charles Zwolsman can capture the Championship this weekend at Road America and I won’t be there!!!! That’s like watching the entire season of 24 except for the final episode!! Those kids are so good this year and the competition will only get better in 2006. hey Atlantic driver in 2005…how about postponing the championship race until Montreal? Would you do that for me? I shouldn’t say Chuck will necessarily capture the championship in Road America. He has a 34 point lead over Wirth, so its still very much possible for Wirth to comeback. Wirth has been consistent all year, so I would expect another podium for both those guys this week and then duke it out in Montreal. Now that I have taken the time to evaluate the situation, I feel better. Looks like my kids have a very good chance of making the last race of the season the championship-determining race. I apologize for my outburst. Mr. Johnson if you read this, this is not typical behavior from your favorite Canadian cousin.

Well, there’s no point in beating around the bush, the Denver GP wasn’t the most exciting Champ Car race in recent memories. Its somewhat surprising that it lacked any real drama, though the results may not be indicative of what happened on the track. If you talk to AJ, he’ll tell you it was probably his most stressful race of the season. Dominguez spun at turn four, giving up a bunch of places before charging back. Tracy “handing the championship” to Bourdais with an uncharacteristic mistake and of course, that first turn melee where a Champ Car safety team member told me after the race he saw Da Matta’s wheel bounce twice off Justin Wilson’s head. If you think that may be an exaggeration, consider the fact that Justin is 6’4 and has no where to duck. The good news is that Justin was fine, they weren’t going that fast at that point. And its always good to reaffirm that you have a solid noggin’!

By no means did Paul Tracy hand the championship to Bourdais as there are 5 races left and 53 points separate the two. 31 points for a win, you do the math. What worries me more is the psychological effect this day may have on Tracy as he contemplates his future in open-wheel. I hope that his Denver results won’t deject him too much. He’s had many set backs in his days, many crashes. But to concede the championship to your arch-rival with plenty of racing left struck me as a potential sign. Hopefully it was said in the heat of the moment. I hope it was. But I fear that what happened in Denver yesterday may have been enough for Tracy to decide that his time in open-wheel cars was over. Hopefully though, he’ll talk to the right people, obviously he’s calmer by now, and of course, he wouldn’t make any rash decisions. Not with a career changing assessment like this. But he wasn’t kidding when he said that Bourdais had a horseshoe stuck somewhere. I mean, Bourdais has proven to be extremely fast, so he’s earned it. but talk about being at the right place at the right time all season long.

I asked Greg Creamer, the announcer for the Atlantic guys on Speed, what he thought about Kasamets’ bonzai move at turn 8 which resulted in him crashing and falling way back instead of coming home with a 2nd place. He thought that it was the right move to do. With 2 races left, Greg thought that finishing slightly ahead of Charles Swolzman wouldn’t have been enough (if Kasamets wouldn’t have crashed, he would have finished 2nd and Charles 4th). But winning the race would have put a significant dent in Charles’ overall lead. Greg is probably right. At that point, go for the gusto. It was a daring and most entertaining move. It didn’t pan out for the Estonian driver. I didn’t hear him say he ‘handed the championship to Charles’ in any post-race interview, though he may have, I didn’t hear all of them. Nonetheless, the Atlantics continue to put on a great show. I wish them the best at Road America next week. Hello?? If anybody from Champ Car reads this, I need to be at Road America!! Imagine a whole weekend of Atlantic events without their track announcer!! I know, it’s unfathomable!

I worked with Paul Page this weekend. That was quite an experience. I know that a lot of people lost their affection for Paul when he went to the IRL. But Paul was the voice of CART for so many years that he must be respected at the very least. I was intimidated at first, but that quickly went away. Paul sat me down on Sunday and gave me some advice and suggestions on my career with Champ Car. He told me he thought long and hard the night before whether we should even have this conversation or not and that he decided we should. It wasn’t advice like ‘punctuate this, be silent there’. It was more philosophical advice, big picture advice. I was honored that Paul Page, a man of faith, a man of strong conviction and a man synonymous with American motorsports would take the time to talk to me about this whole circus we’re involved in. Later I heard that he told one of my employers that he thought I was a real asset to Champ Car, which again, is something he didn’t have to do and I was humbled by that. Maybe that means that Champ Car will take me overseas or at least Mexico City???? Yo habla un poco espanol. Poco.

How many races have I been too now, dating back to my days with Players?? And I still pack too few underwear to last me the entire trip??? Looks like I will be going commando for the flight home today. I better remember to at least wear a belt.