Okay, now that's taken care of, welcome to the melding of the heads, Friday edition. A happy belated birthday to Cristina's mom, Giovinna. We're making the trek to Cooper City today to celebrate. There will, indeed, be much rejoicing. Mrs. Nevala, this meld's for you.
As you may know, I hail from Indianapolis, Indiana, The Racing Capital of the World. The day I was weaned off the teat (hypothetically, I guess, because I was never literally "on the teat," for which I am eternally grateful, but this subject is another meld entirely), I was taken to the track for a couple of reasons: 1. To have my hearing broken in. 2. To begin the process of acquiring the taste for racing. Now, there was really only one form of real racing, and that was the form that took place every Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Indianapolis 500 was, at one time (if not still) the largest attendance of any single day sporting event in the world. The entire month of May aced out the entire month of December by far in measure of anticipation. Cars would start circling around the track as early as April and wouldn't stop until the race was over. It was a glorious and beautiful beginning to summer. Plus, it was cheap (if not free) to watch testing and practice. Three or four times every spring, we'd be watching practice at the track. In the summer months following the 500, my dad would take me to a small track called the Speedrome, where these goofy little cars with the stereo and all the seats removed would drive around in ovals and figure-8's all night long. This was equally as special. Racing was a very important part of my upbringing, and no doubt influenced the person I am today.
A few (like 13) years back, the power players at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (hereafter referred to as IMS) decided to bring the premiere performance art of the South to Indianapolis. Thus, the Brickyard 400 was born. Everybody was pretty excited to see NASCAR come to Indy, but when they started fixing races in the late 90's in order to generate TV ratings and people who cared (which it did), many Hoosiers (including myself) were turned off to the point of hatred. After all, who wants to see street cars with stickers for headlights go around the track 50 miles an hour slower than the slowest Indy car, bumping and jostling the whole time? Open wheeled racing is just so much faster, sexier, and demands so much more driver skill. And that's just how I felt before I became a Formula 1 fan.
A few (like 8) years back, Tony George (who I am convinced is one of the greater men to ever walk the earth), completed a multi-million dollar renovation of IMS and brought the European snobs of Formula 1 to Indianapolis. For my dad and me, this was the greatest thing ever. I hadn't been too much of an F1 fan until this point in my life, but there was no turning back. I haven't missed an F1 telecast in I think about 2 years, and even though they're live from all over the world, and it usually requires odd watching times, I wouldn't even think of it. The man who thinks he rules the world, but ends up just making F1 fans angry because of his power trip, Bernie Ecclestone, calls NASCAR "taxi-cab racing." On that point, I agree with him 100%.
So, when I knew I would be rooming with a guy who's aunt owns a NASCAR team, I smelled a sitcom in the making. Well, maybe not a sitcom, but I looked forward to many opportunities to rip him up one side and down the other for his ridiculous passion. When we got to school, he told me that he had brought his Play Station 3. Awesome. Of course, the only PS3 game I've played is the F1 game, and the only game he spends any amount of time playing is NASCAR 08. Hoping to show him a thing or two about racing, I took to the controls one afternoon. Given my love for most things racing (when you switch views, you can't tell its a stock car) and my tendency to jump into things with three feet, it became immediately apparent that I was going to spend a lot of time playing this game. There were times when I think I could have spent time with friends, but instead I stayed in to race. There were times when I should have slept, but I stayed up to race. There were times when I should have eaten, but I ran to the dining hall, ate, ran back, and picked up the race where I left off. But, put on a clinic for Chris I did not. From reading the above, you can probably imagine how my opinion of stock car racing (bumper cars) influenced my desire to operate one like a delicate instrument. It took some time, but I am getting to the point where my car (The number 42 machine) is no longer "collecting the 18 and 44 cars down on the apron." And, I've mastered the art of the draft, something which only seems to matter when you're driving a car big enough for a family (husband, wife, 2 kids, dog, goldfish) instead of an engine attached to a monocoque (honestly, if terms like monocoque don't make you want to watch F1, I don't know what will) and some wheels. But the big problem is that there is no 2-Player, so there is no way of really knowing, head to head, eyeball to eyeball, toe to toe, shoulder to shoulder, who is the better man (I say better man because when we start, we'll say, "may the best man win."). Also, I've started winning races like it's going out of style. Word on the streets is that we're getting the F1 game soon. I'll keep you posted.
Well, that's all I've got for today. I guess if you didn't care much for IMS history, you probably didn't like this. Well, I've got two words for you. You should. And watch some F1. It'll change your whole outlook on life. We'll meld again soon. Until then..
1 comment:
Do you think F1 will ever make it back to the US? Maybe not enough Americans will care about the sport by this time next year to make a difference. The fans may dwindle as time goes by...right now the US fan base maybe riding on the coat tails of the last USGP??? Will Bernie E ever step down from his dominion? What will happen to Alonso? So many questions so little time.
signed, db
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