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Hiro Matsushita
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Ah, although this has been my favourite activity
the past few years since it was instituted, I wasn't quite sure how it'd outdo
my five minutes of ecstasy with Alex Zanardi the day prior! Nevertheless, I
have scribbled 'bout it before being the Top Banana for the I500 weekend for
Mwah in;
Saturday, May 25
Legend’s Day - Tres
Funny, but for Mwah, this is typically thee
Highlight of the weekend for me, especially since I CANNOT S-E-E the racecars
on-track and thus this is typically the time I get to have the most fun
interaction - even if with Driver's of the Past, as most of them seem to be
pretty friendly, although the "Congo-line" of NOT so famous drivers
in 2012 was without doubt my Bestest' experience of the three year's so far.
Think we went in 'Bass-ackwards formation,
i.e.; going thru Group B first before making it thru the Group A line, as I
primarily wanted to get the legendous' "King Hiro's John Hancock," as
he garnered considerable Attenzione from our yearly "Rat Pack" each
Father's Day weekend's CART race at Portland International Raceway, being a
veritable Back-marker alongside Lyn St James, Scott Brayton, etc.
And what a year's difference makes, as Kenny
Brack was totally cool and even cracking jokes with me - while I got a good
laugh outta Derek Daly who returned to his seat "Justin-time" as we approached the end of the line, where I
told Derek I wanted to have a "Chin-wag" with him which not only made
him laugh-out-loud but got great curiosity
outta thee 'Brackster...
Bob Lazier was very enjoyable and Tyce
Carlson was a treat - having heard us talking about his Fan Force United team
before we got to him, he was quick to point out that they were still in business
and in hopes of returning shortly.
And although Billy Roe had been the Court Jester
to Mwah the year prior, when we asked if he remembered me he was honest while drawing a blank, as I didn't
expect him to, albeit he'd asked me how many fingers was he holding up the year
before.
Drivers: Group B
Joe Saldana, Greg Leffler,
Robby McGehee, “King Hiro,” aka Hiro Matsushita, “Balls,” (Bill uterbaugh)
Billy Roe, Bill Simpson, . Eliseo
Salazar, Johnny Parsons, Jaques Lazier, Kenny Brack and Derek Daly.
Drivers: Group A
Bob Lazier, Tyce Carlson, Buzz
Calkins, John Mauhler, Spike Gelhausen, Herm Johnson, Phil Giebler, Scott
Harriington and Max Papis.
As I'll attempt
scribbling 'bout these drivers sometime in the future as a follow-up to my
first two year's Legends Day's recaps, the first being the;
While the second
year's fantastic outing was chronicled in;
Sunday, May 26
97th Indianapolis 500 Race
Although I suppose I should stop scribbling
'bout this, nevertheless, cannot say how B-A-D of a taste the CLUSTERFUCK
of 2013's "Entry-Gate" fiasco left in my mouth, not to mention my
cranium, obviously - if it still pisses me off a year later!
As I suppose we should have known that when
IMS ran OUT of breakfast early that morning in the Flagroom's restaurant, it
would be a sign of things to come, I mean WTF? How can you run out of food for
a Buffet Breakfast at 9-FREAKIN' AM in the morning???
That said, things weren't all bad at Mother
Speedway; Hey, how can it ever be bad being at the lady Speedway, unless I
dunno, it's raining and you're not prepared for it, eh?
Thus my quickly jotted down notes from when I
began this last June noted the following items on the plus side of the ledger.
SOME GOODNESS
- Driver meetings - Carb Day
- Legends Day Autograph session
- Mrs. Brady’s Pneumonia
- Jimmy Neighbors
- Pre-race Fly-over
- The Race
- Free Admission to HOF Museo
The above listing is in order of events,
while I've already given a pretty good description over the Carb Day drivers I
met previously, I've just given a very brief expose on Legends Day: Round-3, as
that's still a work in progress, like many stories basking in the cellars 'O
Nofendersville.
Obviously I do NOT wish Pneumonia upon
anybody, especially Mrs. Brady, it's just that Florence Henderson
really-really-really shouldn't be allowed to sing America the Beautiful at the
Speedway anymore!
When Bobby Unser was on the Speed Freaks
recently and asked what was the first thing that came to mind when he heard the
word Indianapolis, for Mwah its always been Jimmy Neighbors singing Back Home
Again in Indiana, and thus, I'm a 'Wee bit sad I won't get to hear his final
singing of his signature song live at the Speedway this May...
And while I won't' belabour the BULLSHIT over thy
Sequester, which is the excuse; Err reason why the military can no longer
provide flyover's at live sporting events, nevertheless I found the soothing
sounds of six vintage piston powered Aeroplanes far more enjoyable for my auditory
senses.
And what a race, eh? As I'll get to that
shortly, whilst for some reason on the day after the race, I was once again
given free admittance into the Hall of Fame museum - which sadly, for the first
time I can recall ever, didn't have any new racing cars on display...
THE RACE
Going Four-for-Four, once again I was sitting
somewhere new in the Coliseum 'O Speed, with this year's seats being in the
veritable nose bleed section of Turn-4, as I believe we were situated in Row SS, TT or WW? As it
was a creakingly INSANE amount of stairs for a blind person to be climbing!
Having missed the entire Pre-race festivities
due to that Entry-Gate CLUSTERFUCK! We barely sat down
"Justin-time" to see the 33-starters begin their warm-up laps, as I
think this was the only time I could see the miniscule blurbs 'O colour along
with discerning some different engine note noises, as I cannot remember who
sounded sickly when hustling into the Pits, although I believe it was Charlie
Kimball?
And I'm NOT going to try recapping the whole
race, especially when its already been done, as I'll leave the Heavy Lifting to
thee Dom 'O IndyCar Bloggers Pressdog below...
But what a difference a year made, as I ended
up wearing my windbreaker the entire day vs. the oven roasting HEATWAVE we
experienced in 2012!
As to try giving some idea of how FREAKIN'
FAR AWAY we were from the track, as I started wunderin' if I'd end up getting
vertigo? As I've never sat up so high before needing to constantly crank my
head forwards and D-O-W-N to attempt seeing what appeared to me to being
nothing more then miniature-ish Slot Car blurs 'O colour continuously going
around on their grooves in the track, which just appeared to be a shiny 'lil sliver
of black ribbon-top to Mwah...
Unfortunately I really don't remember a whole
lot about the race, other than Dave keeping tabs upon his gal Pippa (Mann)
who'd end up having troubles with another of 'CARPETS favourite's, nee Buddy
Lazier, as it's an interesting thought of how I've become exposed to several of
the "lesser" driver's for lack of better word, as our Roll Call
included the likes of Pippa, Joseph Newgarden, Lazier, Conor Daly and Ed
Carpenter, while naturally our 'Kuhnadiun trio from Toronto were rootin' for
James Hinchcliffe. While I myself was most interested in the progress of A.J.
Allmendinger and Carlos Munoz - naturally along with my Top-3 'Dawgs, nee
Justin 'B-I-G UNIT Wilson, Will Power and "Symone Pagenoe." (Simon
Pagenaud)
And although I didn't expect Allmendinger to
win the race, I recall being pleasantly surprised when he moved into the lead,
as I'd earlier speculated that this was his audition for a fulltime ride at Penske
in 2014, although apparently the lure of 'RASSCAR was too great, as AJ's gone
back to being a fulltime Taxicab driver instead.
Nevertheless, it was a gutsy performance by
the rookie driver who I'd witness win his debutant Champ Car victory at
Portland International Raceway all those years ago, ultimately finishing a very
respectable seventh, splitting his more esteemed Penske team-mates 'HULIO (Castroneves)
and Will Power.
One of the things I still most vividly recall
now is chanting profusely with both hands having fingers crossed doing
fist-pumps while shouting TK! TK! TK! As Tony Kanaan had flirted with the lead
all day long and with just a handful of laps remaining was looking very racy
indeed... As what struck me most was how I wasn't alone in this chanting TK's
name, as it seemed like a veritable ground swell of voices in unison doing The
Wave! As the electricity of the crowd was mind boggling, as could Kanaan pull
it off?
And then with just three laps remaining? 'TK
"Follow-your-Schnoz!" Kanaan pounced the Andretti Autosport
team-mates of Ryan Hunter-Reay and rookie phenom Carlos Munoz to a thunderous
ovation from the stands slotting into the lead before his good buddy Dario
Franchitti sealed the win for the crowd
darling by crashing into the wall with two-laps remaining...
And finally adding further salt to my wounds,
was the fact that I'd managed to permanently delete this pages final paragraph
noting how it was a good thingy that "Hoser #3," aka Simon had very
politely read to me both the qualifying and race reports from the Monaco Grand
Prix whilst at Carpets Manor, which in the year's past I've forbid the Boyz
from doing so, since I record the Formula 1 race for viewing upon my return from
Indy.
Needless to say all I could do was grimace out
loud upon returning home and discovering I had some three-plus hours of "Infomercial"
gobbly-gook upon my 'Ol School recordin' device, as I must have been on
autopilot since I'd selected NBCSN instead of Duh Peacock, nee NBC as the
Principality's race was on the B-I-G Network, just like it will be again this year with 'Ol 'Hobbo even
cavorting how nice it'll be being live on-scene once again...
