September 18th

Well, first off I suppose I should address the little misunderstanding that occurred with my last post. First off all, I am overwhelmed and touched by all you guys and the kind things you said about me. You guys are the best; there is no question about it. And I’ve always said I’m just a fan like you guys who happens to have a microphone in front of him. With regards to my last post, yes Road America is my last race this season. But, at this point there is no guarantee about next season. I want to come back, I love the series more and more each day, I love the fact that I am part of it and I love the fact that things look really awesome next season. But reality and desire are two different things. There are things that are out of my hands, beyond my control. What’s meant to be is meant to be. Things will work out the way they are destined too.

Now, on to this weekend. Frankly, I just hope I make it through security because my level of excitement has to be at Red. Or at least Orange! Frankly, the Atlantics race is what is getting my mojo going these days! (I even went out and bought a new shirt and tie for the banquet on Sunday). It comes down to the brash American or the cerebral Frenchman. You almost couldn’t have scripted this better. Except in a script, the Frenchman would probably be evil, whereas Simon Pagenaud is a very pleasant and charming young man. This is the real life Ricky Bobby story! On a fast track like Road America, one small minor mistake can cost you big time! One slight run off and you lose precious seconds. Pagenaud is still in command here. The momentum is definitely with Rahal thanks to the wins, but Pagenaud still needs to be dethroned. He’s 12 points ahead, which means he can be conservative, but at the same time he can’t be too conservative. If Graham wins (putting all other points, like qualifying, aside for a moment), Pagenaud has to finish 5th or better. So there is no way he can coast this weekend. A tiebreaker goes to Rahal with all those wins this season. But with a large supporting cast this weekend, with the fact that it’s the last chance for many of these drivers to show off to potential future bosses, it’s the last race of the season, how will they affect the outcome? Every driver has something they want to accomplish this weekend, but only two are battling for 2 million dollars. It’s going to be awesome!

Well things didn’t work out with Franchitti over at RuSport and now they are holding a shootout after the race to see who gets the number 10 car for the remaining two races following Road America?? Well, that is going to be interesting. Hmm, who do you pick? Justin is likely out of contention for the Vanderbilt Cup, so it’s going to be every driver for himself, more or less. Briscoe (as rumored on a variety of website) would certainly help in Australia and he was fast during his test. RHR adds another American to the mix of things and everybody loves Ryan. Ryan also has good experience in Australia. Personally, I would like to see one of the Atlantics grad, someone like Bomarito fill that seat. Its not the way you want to land a ride (a la Servia last year filling in for his friend in that number 2 car), but nonetheless it’s a great opportunity and maybe a chance for an unproven young driver to jump in the bigs and impress enough eyes to land something concrete in 2007. We shall see….

Thanks again for all the kind things and I apologize if my last post brought some confusion. Come to think of it, this post didn’t really clear that much up, but now you are in the same boat as I am.