So here’s how this interview came about: My brother-in-law’s brother works with a childhood friend of Chip Ganassi’s. My BIL’s brother told his coworker about me and my blog, and it just so happened that the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway was coming up, and he, Chip’s friend, was going to be at the race and could introduce me to the team owner.

I am super grateful to both men for making this happen. I was excited that I could meet Chip, especially this year when so many wonderful things have happened for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, winning the Daytona 500 with Jamie McMurray, the Indianapolis 500 with Dario Franchitti and the Brickyard 400 with Jamie McMurray.

Incidentally, yesterday was my birthday but it was also declared “Chip Ganassi Day” in Pittsburgh, PA.

I was very nervous meeting Chip, but he was nice and had a good sense of humor about the ITAS questions as you’ll see below. (more…)

hehe.

Seriously. Today is my birthday. I owe you guys so much content, it’s not funny. I still need to wrap up my time at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, post stuff from Bristol and Boris Said’s awesome win at Montreal. Oh! And my awesome interview with Chip Ganassi.

I’ve been busy with a little project that I hope will turn into big news, and I’ve been sick and I’m getting over the shock that I’ve been around for 30 years.

30 is a big milestone but I’m thinking that turning 31 next year on August 31st will be even bigger.

Or, at the very least, the creepiest fan I’ve ever encountered.

So here I was thinking that nothing that interesting was going to happen today while I was at Infineon Raceway for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma weekend. Today was the Fluid Film Pole Day and oh what a pole day it was.

So I was sitting on the wall behind the pit stalls for Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick at the end of the IZOD IndyCar Series practice. Wheldon on my left, Patrick on my right. I stayed there through the Formula Car Challenge Race and then for the Firestone Indy Lights qualifying sessions. It was during the Indy Lights qualifying sessions that this young man suddenly appeared nearby.

He had a curious little box in his hand and he opened it. Inside of it was clearly a ring you’d give to a lady you want to marry. He opened it and closed it quickly. He seemed as if he was practicing his proposal. He was talking to himself out loud, like he was rehearsing what he was going to say. He was pacing.

At first, for like one minute, I thought that he might be some super sweet & romantic race fan that wanted to propose to his longtime girlfriend around the sport for which they shared a love.

But then I quickly started to think that that wasn’t the case at all. I believed that he wanted to propose to Danica Patrick despite the fact that she’s already married and that her husband was there today. (more…)

I was walking through a bookstore the other day, something that has become a routine for me these days, and I caught sight of the book “Become Your Own Matchmaker: 8 Easy Steps for Attracting Your Perfect Mate” by Patti Stanger.

Patti is a professional matchmaker and she has her own company called the Millionaire’s Club, where as the name pretty much says it she finds love for dateless millionaires. She’s also got her own reality show on Bravo, called “The Millionaire Matchmaker,” which is how I came to know of her.

Anyway, Patti is known for being super straightforward, cutting to chase and being sort of Simon Cowell when it comes to telling people what’s holding them back from finding true love. It’s one of the reasons why I like her show so much, she’s just honest with people whether they like it or not.

So the reason I’m bringing up Patti and her book is because I started to flip through it and came upon the page that you can see below. It’s from her section on where to find dateable single men. This is of EXTREME interest to me since I’m a single woman who is always on the lookout for eligible bachelors that don’t act like the dudes you see on the show “The Bachelor.” Ya know, a guy that actually wants to be in a relationship, but I digress.

Dario Franchitti held off Will Power to win the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance last weekend. But I don’t think Will got too down in the dumps about the whole thing since he was able secure ownership of the first ever Mario Andretti Road Championship Trophy.

Legendary racecar driver Mario Andretti will be on hand at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma next week to present the trophy to Will. As we all know Sonoma was the scene of Mario’s grandson’s, Marco Andretti, first ever (and so far, only) IndyCar win. I was there to see it and I really, really, really, really hope that Marco can find some magic and get a win at Infineon Raceway again. Plus, I always think it’s adorable to see Mario, Michael (Mario’s son, Marco’s father) and Marco together.

I’ll take that or Graham Rahal winning, or Simona De Silvestro winning. I’m also willing to accept Milka Duno finishing higher than 20th place. OK, now I’m being greedy.

hehe I kid, I kid.

And since I brought up the topic of Mario Andretti, how cute is he in those Honda commercials? I love it when the “regular dude” takes Mario for a ride in a Honda, after Mario has taken the guy around a track in a two-seater IndyCar, and Mario says “I’m hungry.” (video below)

Ladies, this is Francesco Dracone. You’re welcome.

Also, Francesco will be one of eleven drivers testing at Infineon Raceway on Friday. I will be there as well, with bells on.
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Things had been relatively quiet during the Honda Indy Edmonton IZOD IndyCar Series race, that is, until those final laps.

Helio Castroneves was caught blocking (in this scenario it’s a no-no) his teammate Will Power which to me looked like the slightest of blocking, but whatever the officials know better than me. Plus Will did say in his post-race interview that Helio blocked him and well you’re not supposed to do that.

So Helio, who finished first, didn’t win the race and proceeded to go apeshit when he got out of his car. That had to have been one of the awesomest racing-related tantrums I’ve ever heard/seen on live television. The video is below and it gets good at about the 3:55 mark.

My only gripe was that Versus didn’t cut to Helio sooner. They should of had a straight shot on him the entire time, why bother talking to Scott Dixon, who would have been second but ended up winning the race because of the penalty levied against Helio. I’m sure Scott was grateful (who wouldn’t be?), but who cares what he had to say. Helio was where the action was at. (more…)