San Jose

Currently on a flight to San Jose where I would very much like to turn to the person behind me and inform her that every time she uses my seat to help prop herself up, its worse than most cases of turbulence. Just because you can’t see my head, doesn’t mean the seat in front of you should be used as your personal balance beam. Oh well, at least she doesn’t have an infant with her. I say this because I live in Toronto and it’s been a full day of traveling, and taking a look at next year’s probable schedule, there appears to be 8 west-coast races! I think its time I move to Denver. The hub!

I noticed that someone on Champ car Fanatics put a link to my beer show on INhd. Guilty. It’s called BeerNutz and I hosted the show with Kirt Kingsett. Basically we got to know a city through its beer culture. We shot 8 episodes over the winter and spring and they are airing right now. Sundays and Wednesdays. Check your local listings, though I warn you, the show is in HiDef, and while beer looks amazing on HD, yours truly leaves a little something to be desired. Right now we are keeping our fingers crossed for a second season and I am also, hoping they bring me back. So if you are keeping count, my three jobs right now involve champ cars, hockey and beer. I know, it’s not fair! Trust me I thank whomever is running this world every day.

Do you know the way to San Jose? Bourdais does. He sure did last year anyway. Leading every session and going home with the max number of points. He very well could do it again this year. He’s very fast on these street courses and while he hasn’t won in 4 races, Newman/Haas remains the class of the field on these tight city street courses. A.J. and Jwil are chasing the number 1 car. While Newman/Haas is the class of these events, it’s also where Seabass is the most vulnerable. One incident with the wall and his day is done. Of course, that goes for everybody else too. But with three drivers with a legitimate shot at the Vanderbilt Cup and one or two still technically in the points, Seabass has the most to lose should his day come to an abrupt end.

I did a radio spot with my friend Dave at the Fan 690 in Calgary on Monday and he asked me what might have surprised me most about the race in Edmonton and I told him two things: we continue to talk about the progress Nelson is making, but honing up a mistake, taking full responsibility of the crash despite numerous reasons not too says a lot about his character and his maturity. Dave wondered if we could see Nelson win this season. I told him that would be a tall feat, mainly because the usual suspects don’t feel like sharing this year, but nonetheless a circuit like the Champ Car World Series plays favorable to guys like Nelson who is proving to be legit, quick and smart (for the most part). This is a series where those attributes can be rewarded. Unlike F1 where you can be the best in the world and literally have no shot because of money, the Champ Car World Series is the real deal.

The other thing I mentioned was Will Power. This kid is quick. He’s naturally fast and continues to impress me with each Champ Car race under his belt. He had a HUGE crash, but bounced back and went home in 6th. He’s the real deal folks. He’s cerebral and a quick learner. Derek Walker made the right choice in choosing this kid. I know he had other options, drivers with stronger (or annoying, depending on how you look at it) personalities from the Land of Oz, but Mr. Walker is a wise man.


Naturally, the focus, for the time being anyway, is the unveiling on Friday night. I will be there, that’s for sure. Not sure what I will be doing there aside from gawking at the car, but it’ll be fun. I hope Roberto Moreno will also be there. I love that guy!

I look forward to seeing the track and how they adjusted it. I keep hearing how they smoothed it out and more importantly, widened it at some spots for passing opportunities. I think we are far away from last year’s event to say that the previous track was a little Mickey Mouse. But, that comes with inaugural events. Kudos the promoters and organizers and to Champ Car for having the testicular fortitude to admit a mistake and fix it.