Frenetic Friday -- State of 15 Days In May

It is really hard to believe that I started this blog over a year ago. Certain things got in the way from my posting as much as I would have wanted to -- like I mentioned back in June...what kind of an idiot has an Indy 500 blog and doesn't make a single post in May? -- but hope to get back to where I would like to be in 2012.

I've noticed that a lot of content that people liked mostly revolved around the 500, so I am going back to that while still sprinkling in some IndyCar news and views. As you can tell, I am very opinionated!

Looking back, it is interesting to note the posts that people liked to read. I will post my top 5 (in terms of reported page views) as well as a couple of others that I enjoyed writing.

1) Buddy Lazier's Place In History Since it had three times as many views as any other posts, I think this one was a bit of a spammer's special. But Buddy's place amongst the (almost) Greatest 33 was a good debate.

2) The Most Important Race in History I love the history of the 500, so my look back at the 1946 race -- my choice for the most important -- was a lot of fun. The best part of this blog is learning more and more about the 500.

3) Dan Wheldon Memorial Like many, I was shocked at the events in Las Vegas on Oct. 16. I tried to put my feelings into words.

4) George Snider Who would have thought Ziggy would be so popular? Then again, the guy was a fan favorite during a very romantic period of the race's history.

5) Cup of Coffee at the 500 Again, another great history lesson. We all know the epic accomplishment it is to qualify for the 500, and given that one in three drivers who have ever made the race only made one start shows what kind of effort it takes.

Along with those, here are a couple of my favorites:

1) Jake Query Q&A Jake is a great guy and has a huge passion for the 500, so spending some time talking to him was a lot of fun.

2) Greg Moore Like Wheldon, the sport was just gutted the day Moore lost his life at Fontana in 1999. He would have been an incredible driver at Indy, and the history that we now know would have been completely different had he been given the chance to drive there.

3) The Agony...Of Victory Some pictures tell a thousand words, others tell a million. The photo of Bill Vukovich that I commented on in this post was one of the latter. Vuky was one tough hombre, but even he was humbled after almost four hours of wrestling with the Brickyard.

My 2011 in many ways followed the fortunes of the series. I had some ups and downs, and lost someone close to me that I held very, very dear (my sister Joni passed away from cancer on Dec. 22). Still, we are blessed to be here to see 2012, and in the end I think everything is going to be OK. I hope everyone has a great New Year's, and remember that our Christmas is just 148 days away!