Making Lemonade

Plainfield, IN (April 28, 2007) – Because the sunshine failed to show up on time to fulfill its contractual agreement, and we were rained out at Gas City I-69 Speedway, we have decided that disciplinary action is required. We are officially announcing that the sun has been fined $10,000 and put on probation for the rest of the season. We will no longer tolerate this type of behavior.

We did not find out about the rainout until 3pm Friday, and by then we were almost to Indianapolis, so it was time to make a decision. Should we waste the precious fuel that cost us almost $3 per gallon, turn around and head for home, or buck up, spend the night and wager a meteorological gamble that Eldora would not fall victim to the same fate? For four race-starved fans who have already been shorted, even this early in the season, it was a pretty simple choice to make.

Rolling on into Plainfield, we found a hotel, checked in and unloaded. Spring and I settled in pretty quickly, tuning in SPEED so we could watch some of the Busch qualifying coverage. We took a break to meet the guys for dinner, had some dessert, watched a bit of the Cardinals game, and then spent the rest of the evening watching the ARCA race and brainstorming our next big idea. We were really excited to see former USAC driver, Josh Wise do so well in the ARCA race. Way to go, Josh!


It would have been easy to feel that the weekend had turned sour because of the rainout, but we decided that it was a whole lot more fun to make the best of things and enjoy the little break from our usual family responsibilities. Spring and I stayed up until pretty early in the morning, working on the future plans of GGR. We are brimming with ideas, and the funny part is how often one of us says something, and the other just laughs because they were thinking the same thing. I guess that’s what it’s like to have a really great friend.


Saturday morning dawned blue and beautiful, and since we had plenty of time to kill before we needed to hit the road for Eldora, my Dad came up with the briliant idea of heading over to the Brickyard to visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. Before walking through those hallowed halls, we took a bus tour of the grounds, which was narrated by our driver, Jim. We enjoyed talking and joking around with him. It is so great when you meet someone who is enthusiastic about racing, and is willing to open up a little.

The museum was wonderful. I have visited several times, but this was the first time I had seen Tony Stewart’s Home Depot Car on display. I had a great time taking pictures and walking around. The history that is housed inside that museum is astounding, and the cars are works of art. It is very interesting to me to see how they have evolved through the years.

Before leaving the grounds, the sound of formula cars practicing on the track lured us to a grassy hillside nearby where we stood watching and taking photographs. Those cars are a lot harder to catch on camera than anything else I’ve ever tried to shoot. Getting the timing down would definitely take a lot of practice. We were able to get right up next to the fence, and although I got a lot of wonderful shots of empty pavement, I know Spring managed to get some good ones.


It was finally time to head on down the highway, so we loaded up and rolled on down the road toward the evening's destination: Eldora Speedway.