September 25th

Post race wrap up. Literally. The drivers are still going through inspection, but with the magic of the internet and having an internet connection at my disposal, I am able to write a little quick recap of Sunday’s event.

First of all, if there ever was a reason to be thankful of all the safety elements that go in the cars, its today. Katherine Legge had one of the biggest crashes you’ll ever see, but like a lot of these crashes these days, the cars are meant to be destroyed on impact, save for the tub and that’s exactly what happened and Katherine is completely fine, amazingly enough. She favored her knee a little bit, but it’s all it is, just a little sore at the moment. Amazing what she went through today, you hate seeing it happen, but you love the fact that she suffered no real injury. It was a tense moment, but it worked out just fine. She was running a strong race too. That hardly matters at this point, since her safety is what we care about, but the fact is she was running a very very good race.

Now, on to the winner. First and foremost, I don’t know how this happened, I don’t know who was in charge or who made the decision, but thank you for extending the 2 hour window. Thank you for letting us has the thrilling finish that we witness here this afternoon. Yes, it was a long delay and yes nothing changed in terms of the top three, but I promise that it’s a finish we’ll remember for a long time. Congratulations to AJ for winning his 5th race of the season and for extending the chase for the Vanderbilt Cup. I know some people wanted the trophy to be won in America, but personally I would rather see the chase go as deep into the season as possible. So what if its handed out in Australia? It’s not as if the media who’s been covering the series all year won’t pick up the story. If it really was a big issue then they would move the Australia race from its current date to a date much earlier in the season. Australia is a nice part of the Champ Car World Series and helps establish the WORLD in the title, so why not have the Vanderbilt Cup winner in Australia? Not that it’s a guarantee anyway, as AJ just continues to put pressure on Bourdais.

Once again, the Newman/Haas drivers were none too happy on the podium. Bourdais was downright pissed off and Bruno, who should have been ecstatic considering he started 10th and got, hit on the first lap, complained of a late race situation that didn’t allow him to stay at the top. Oh well, that’s the mentality of a winner, it’s the top step of the podium or bust! AJ was all smiles naturally, which he would have been anywhere on that podium. It was definitely a thrilling event here at Road America.

And what an Atlantic race!!! Talk about craziness! First off, congrats to Jonathan Bomarito and that PR1 motor sports team for capturing their first win of the season. You’d be hard press to find a nicer, more genuine and humble driver than Bomarito and while I make it a habit not to cheer for any particular driver, I was very very happy that he held off the competition to capture his first win of the season. With regards to the Championship, holy cow!!! Rahal suffers a mechanical breakdown, and then the next lap Pagenaud is punted and is out of the race, Rahal scored at 20th and Pagenaud at 17th?? As Rahal said, he was one lap away from winning the championship and that ever so dependable ride of his let up. It really just wasn’t meant to be for Graham who nonetheless put on a fine campaign. And of course, a huge congratulations to Simon Pagenaud. I have always been a big fan of consistent driver. I know they aren’t always the most exciting drivers out there and I know that some series have literally changed their whole scoring process to make sure that consistent drivers aren’t necessarily rewarded, but I am a big fan and therefore, I am a big fan of Simon Pagenaud!

By the way, I can hear the press conference behind me and it appears that Bourdais has loosened up a little and, as usual, AJ has the whole room cracking up. Boy Champ Car is lucky to have both of those drivers! Oh, I think Paul Newman grabbed my butt too at the end on the podium. I could be wrong.

Off to the Atlantic banquet!