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Mark Blundell scored PacWest Racing's debutant
CART/IndyCar race victory at Portland International Raceway in the series closest
ever 1-2-3 finish in 1997. (Image source: chogan.com)
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Whilst I'll never forgive IndyCar for abandoning
the Pacific Northwest, this year's tradition of pointing out the obvious, that
Portland's still out in the relative cold will feature a slightly different
Spin than last year 'sedition...
Today marks the eighth year that NO
Ford/Cosworth, Honda, Mercedes or
Toyota 2.65-liter V-8 Turbocharged
'lumps bolted to the backsides of Eagle's, Lola's, Penske's, Reynard's or
Swift's will be heard snarling in anger before the green flag waved at Portland
International Raceway... Which for nearly a quarter century hosted its annual
Fathers Day IndyCar race, sanctioned first by Championship Auto Racing Teams
(CART) and followed by the Champ Car World Series (CCWS) from 1984 to 2007,
along with having celebrated its Centennial over two months prior to Mother
Speedway's first automobile races 'Wayback in 'Nineteen-oh-Nine.
Being a native Warshintonion', naturally I
take exception to thee OLD-est IndyCar Blogger Geo. Phillips comments towards revered
local musician Jimi Hendrix and his rendition of the national anthem which was
mentioned in his Random Thoughts on Toronto, for which I failed to watch last
Sunday. As George wasn't impressed by the Trues' versions of both national
anthems.
But C'mon George:
Aren't You Experienced? As Hendrix's version of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock in 1969 was his take
upon the state of our nation in the midst of the Vietnam War - and
surely Y'all must be nightly impressed by the "Southpaw" guitar
player playing his right handed Fender upside down so eloquently!
VIDEO: Star Spangle Banner
Meanwhile, is it just Mwah? As am I the only
person to notice the "Elephant in the Room" in regards to Indy Cars
bout with persistent precipitation! Which stands only behind Honda's
underperforming Aerokit's.
IndyCar's constant battling of the weather is
simply a byproduct of the ridiculously STUPIDLY compressed
season schedule all to appease the Pigskin and 'RASSCAR TV audiences!
Especially as we here in Seattle are enjoying
some most unusually dry months preceding our normal arrival of summer on July
12th! As I'm presuming much of the nation will be focused upon our Postcard
perfect weather whilst watching some 'lil 'Ol golf game called the US Open
being played at University Place's Chambers Bay facility.
Having attended at least two-thirds of
Portland's IndyCar races; not to mention multiple IMSA GTP and SOVREN Historics
events - in what was a yearly tradition for "Our Gang," with a
minimum of eight Boyz attending the yearly IndyCar outing, especially since
the race's date was a known entity: Can
you hear me Mark Miles? I'm naturally biased towards PIR and the monumental
LOSS of its IndyCar race, being pretty Jaded against IndyCar for its obvious
Gaff of giving Portland and the Pacific Northwest a Will Power "Double Byrd" salute!
As Seattle was named the fastest growing city
in the United States last year, IndyCar's missing a golden marketing opportunity
a la the NBA is with NO Basketball Franchise in the Emerald City!
As Pierce
County, which put twenty million into the Chambers Bay project in the form of
Taxpayer Bonds, along with the additional two million plus in initial losses
looks overly smart for the entire South Sound region, along with Seattle as
reports claim the golf tournament will bring an estimated $148m return from
tourist's Greenbacks' being spent upon hotels, restaurants, rental cars, merchandise,
etc; Aye Karumba, or should it be FOUR!
As Seattle continues to lead the yearly
attendance record in Major League Soccer along with having a pretty good
professional Football team, having gone to the Super Bowl two years in-a-row!
And it just strikes me as plain weird that Seattle or better yet Portland, with
a perfectly suitable racetrack already built just not being on IndyCar's
calendar.
Yeah, I already
know the answer... As John Oreovicz has written, Robin Miller has probably
reported and Kevin Lee has personally told me on my lone Trackside Blogger
Night appearance: If only somebody could step forward with the cheque of a
reputable sponsor to pay IndyCar's sanctioning fee, then possibly Portland
could once again host IndyCar races in the Pacific Northwest.
Whilst I'll harken
back to a Teleconference I wasn't privy to - featuring a trio of past Grand
Prix of Portland winners, including Mark Blundell in arguably my favourite
Hometrack victory!