friday morning, OZfest

If there is one thing that will cure all doom and gloom is having an event here at Surfer’s paradise, that’s for sure. Nothing puts a broader smile on a champ car fan then knowing that this event is up next and in a few hours from now they will be qualifying. It’s definitely a 4-day festival of speed and party. But now that all the extra curricular activities have passed, we can now focus on what brings us all together as champ car fans, and that is the racing.

On my way up to the announce booth I have to say that Tony Cotman will do what it takes to make this series as enjoyable for the fans as possible and most importantly, isn’t afraid to try new things. For this race, on Friday the drivers will have 40 minutes at the start of practice to run as many laps as possible. The number of laps they run in the first 40 minutes is the number of laps they will have to qualify. All this is based on the fact that at a race like this, which has been around for many years, a lot of teams don’t go out very much Friday morning and thus don’t give the fans in the stands the maximum enjoyment. So, all that changes today. I know they tried something in Europe and will try something in Mexico City. All for the fans. Good on them.

The media has made a big deal here about the fact that there has never been a repeat winner and if you think about it, it is quite remarkable. This year could change, as 5 winners are racing. But the race is so unpredictable that anything can happen, as you well know. On Sunday I foresee another San Jose or Cleveland, where early troubles will give a driver the advantage ultimately. We shall see.

Jim and I are doing a podcast this evening and it will be posted sometime tomorrow, since we have no Internet in our hotel. Strikes me as weird these days that a hotel can go without the Internet, but what do I know?