"Deserved it."

OK, Sally.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

I'm sure you know a lot about motorsports and are a hardcore fan.

Got nothing to do with motorsports, sister.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

OK. We get it. You still hate the Japanese for Pearl Harbor?

Yes a very well deserved win and a great race, especially after last years fuel millage win.

The Japanese? The Germans bombed Pearl Harbo

Bluto! You're alive!

Actually, he was sitting on a Honda engine.


Trump's head is gonna explode....

Good race. But - it might be time to close the cockpit on those land-based fighter jets. Amazing no one died today from blunt force trauma to the head.

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

Buddy called me on Friday with an extra ticket sitting in the paddock penthouse about 200m before start/finish line. Hopped on a flight on Saturday. First car race of any kind for me. I don't know jack shit about about Indy other than being familiar with the biggest names. We had Juan Montoya and helio's pit right in front of us.

Observations:
It was ridiculously loud
They drive kinda fast
Seeing them going into corner #1 you could tell just how precise the cars are.
Pippa was the only female in the race and she struggled quite a bit. Stalled in the pit once. Overshot her pit and stalled another time. Drove off with the
starter jack still attached to the car.
Everyone was really rooting for Helio. Definitely seemed to be the fan favorite.
I thought Sato was the most aggressive driver and wasn't surpirsed to read that he had crashes out of something like 45 races.

I'm glad to see the Indy 500 is returning to the fore front of motor racing. Traditionally the big three were the Monaco Grand Prix, LeMans 24 hrs and the Indy 500 but for several years the Indy had lost a lot of its presence, but is now back.

My daughter was in Monaco for business with Johnnie Walker so she had full access to pits during qualifying and also a suite that overlooked the start/finish. I got lots of cool photos and videos sent to me.

Also, the camera work at Indy was nothing short of spectacular. It really enhanced the viewing experience.

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Lifeguard: "Do you need help?" Me: "No, that's just my butterfly."

Random thoughts from Stand C:


I am really happy for Sato. He's had some epic screw-ups (Indy 2012) but he owns his mistakes and makes no apologies for his "all in" approach. He's willing to find the edge. He seems to be pretty popular with the crowd, and it's neat to see the first Japanese winner of the 500. He was very gracious, and seemed to really be taking it all in.

Castroneves was so close. I don't know how many more of these he has left in him, but that was a hell of an effort.

Alonso was impressive all month, and it sounds like he plans to be back. Unfortunately, finishing 24th was his worst finish all year.

I felt Ed Carpenter had a good shot at winning, being the Chevys appeared to be more reliable and he knows his way around there well. He manages to get caught up in something stupid every year.

Rossi had a good race.

If somebody had told me that Max Chilton would lead the most laps and finish 4th, I would have laughed. Great job by Max.

Davison was impressive with his run from 33rd. Too bad it ended early. There were quite a few surprisingly good runs.

Pippa had a solid day, finishing 17th. She's always in crap equipment, so for her to keep it clean and finish is alright.

I'm happy that Dixon walked away from that. Landing the way he did on the end of the wall, that was just inches away from being much, much worse.

The weather turned out great. We were through the gates at 7:08 in the morning - a little earlier than in the past - and it really made getting there go smoothly. It was nice to just be there early to take it all in. I get chills every time I go there.

The Foyt exhibit was really cool. There's a guy that I'd love to sit down and shoot the shit with. I wouldn't even ask him about racing - just buy him some ice cream and ask him to talk about whatever he'd like to talk about.

The dude that sang "Back Home Again in Indiana" did a great job.

Fun little story: I always enjoy the tribute to the armed forces as a part of the race experience. Back in November 2016, I sent an e-mail to Robin Miller of Racer.com, suggesting that since it was the 101st running of the 500, it would be cool to honor the 101st Airborne. Robin has the connections, so he sent the suggestion to the folks at IMS. I don't know if that was what planted that seed, but it was really cool it happened.

One of these years, I'm gonna show up in the Snake Pit wearing this:



Maybe after a few more concussions.

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

Agree about the weather and getting chills. We were under the paddock cover for most of it, but still got a lot of sun. Flags seemed to be blowing rigid. I just kept thinking that this was these guy's and pippa's Kona. Just so excited for them and what they must have been going through. I was a little harsh on Pippa's pits, but she was right in front of us so it was hard to miss.

77 seemed to take it quite hard that he took Dixon out. Crazy Dixon escaped with no injuries. On the Jumbotrons, we saw him get out of the car before we saw the replay. We couldn't believe it. Very, very lucky.

If anyone is thinking about whether it is worth going, no question, 100% you should go.

Howard seemed downright pissed, and he specifically called out RHR. I'm not sure what happened there, exactly. I still need to watch the TV broadcast.

I also agree that people should go - even if you aren't a motorsports or IndyCar fan, it's an experience. I think of it like the Kentucky Derby - I know nothing about horse racing, but would love to experience the event.

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

Sounded like he thought RHR made a very late pass going into the corner which pushed him too far outside. Howard was having a rough go of it before that. I think he limped into the pits after running out of fuel and then was back in again after a lap or two.