What Kind of An Idiot...

...starts an Indy 500 blog and doesn't post anything about the Indy 500? Ummm, that would be me. What can I say, lots going on in both my professional and personal life left little opportunity (or motivation) to write any more than I already was.

But I have finally had my fill of writing baseball stories and nothing else, so here I am again.

While my May didn't work out the way I had planned, I did watch both days of time trials and was in my Turn 1 seats on race day. Wow, was that an amazing day or what? I picked a great year to bring Matt, my 15-year-old son, to the race for the first time. He had come to qualifying with me last year, but as anyone who has been to both can attest, it's cool but just not the same.

The finish may have been one of the craziest I have ever seen, but while I'm not the biggest Brian Barnhart fan, he made the right call, and for once one of his explanations made sense. While I feel so bad for J.R. Hildebrand (and even worse for the guy after hearing he tore his ACL the other day) I am just that happy for Dan Wheldon.

I must admit, prior to this year I hadn't been a big fan of his. But in the end, you can't ask for a better champion and an ambassador to the race and it's rich history. Yet still, he is without a ride. Really? While I understand the business side of things, somebody, somewhere has to work something out to get him in a car again this year before Vegas.

Once the race was over, Matt and I headed to the museum. I had wanted to see the winning cars display, and given the fact members of Team Penske were shrink-wrapping their cars' tires as we were walking around, we got there just in time! I had seen many of the cars before, but to see them lined up in order was a perfect way to show the evolution of these gorgeous machines. Like many, the Johnny Lighning Specials that Al Unser drove in 1970-71 were my favorites.

It was really the perfect end to a perfect day. One of the things that made me happiest was to hear Matt say he was already excited about coming back next year. Passing on the traditions I have grown to love to my boys is so important to me, and to see them enjoy their time at the Speedway is very satisfying.

So the roar is over, and unfortunately it is a long way to next May. But there is still a lot of season left, and I hope to stay on board!