Well I just got back from Spring Training and I am not here to talk politics for this particular entry. I am not here to spread any sort of propaganda in any direction. I simply want to share with you my weekend experience in Monterey. There is enough press and forums talking about the politics of this game that I realized that it’s not my business to get involved in all of that. I have no control over this series. All I am is very happy to be part of it.

First of all, in 2003 we stayed at a Beach Front Best Western and this was my first time back and its such a beautiful resort, right on the ocean, it made me wish I had someone special to share it with. But alas, this ain’t a ‘woe is me’ blog entry. The hotel was great and if you ever get a chance to stay there get the beach front room. I think it costs something like 12000$ more a night, but it’s worth every penny. For the record I didn’t have a beach view room this time, but I did back in 2002 and you literally are awoken up by the waves crashing in the morning. Spectacular!

I got to the track on Thursday morning and was told that my interview with Mr. Kalkhoven was to be that morning. Luckily I was prepared, though taken aback, as I expected it to be on Friday. Nonetheless, we went ahead and sat down with the boss. To his credit, he was candid and pulled no punches. I was a little apprehensive with some of my questioning, just naturally nervous being next to the big boss. But all in all, I think it went fairly well and watch for it sometime next week. I believe it’ll be delivered in a two or three part segments.

I did spend a lot of time with Robin Miller this weekend, as he was there covering the event for Speed and we shared the same ‘office’. To his credit, Miller was professional, if not a tad negative, as I’m sure you have read in his most recent speed article. I can tell you this much though, this is the most time I have spent with Robin over the course of a race event and say what you want about him, at the end of the day he loves Champ Car. It may look like he wants it to fail, but he really doesn’t. He just has an idea of how things should be and wishes they were run that way. He also didn’t harbor any ill feelings towards anybody but a certain few Champ Car employees (I’m sure you can guess who). Robin wishes the series to get back to where it once was in the late 80’s and early 90’s and unfortunately can’t get passed the fact that it likely never will again. The series is what it is and for my money, it’s the best open-wheel racing series in the world even if it’s not the most popular. And nobody gets more out of a driver interview than Robin Miller.

I spent the rest of Thursday shooting (and helping shoot) a variety of promotional videos for a variety of outlets, both Champ Car and the Atlantics. Thursday was media day for the Champ Car drivers and we basically chronicled what they were going through for our post day wrap up. You might remember those post session wrap ups last year and they will continue again this year.

On Friday, it was time for the Champ Cars to hit the track and it was time for yours truly to remember why he loves what he does. Just hearing those engines, seeing the lovely DP01 on the beautiful Mazda raceway Laguna Seca was pure joy. But we also had some work to do. For example, we did a new feature called “Me or my Teammate” and the first victims were the boys at PCM. It was fun, those two are absolute hoots and I’ve a feeling its going to become a regular feature.

What I look forward to this year is the spontaneous videos we are going to be able to accomplish and case in point was this thing we did with the Atlantics. It’s a silly little skit, but I think its going to be really funny and will be good exposure for the kids. By the way, the Atlantic field (which were on track Wednesday and Thursday) is going to be as awesome this year as it was last year.

Congrats to Seabass for breaking the track record (unofficially) and despite him downplaying his accomplishment, it’s still a heck of a feat and a great showing for the DP01. Now we’ll see how she handles the race conditions.
Graham Rahal was fast, as was Paul Tracy on Thursday, but Neel Jani impressed me the most. He’s been at or near the top all pre-season testing. Paul Tracy said it best: it’s very tough for rookies since they have such a steep learning track when they arrive to a new venue on Fridays, but watch for this guy to get up to speed real quick. Also Pagenaud. Team Australia is for real and I see no reason why Will won’t compete for the Vanderbilt Cup and Pagenaud the Roshfrans rookie of the year.

I’ll write more this week.