Robin Miller: The essence of driving a race car is that balance of brake, throttle and balls

Panther '09 2nd Place Finisher

I just about fell off my chair when today’s Speed TV article came out from the highly regarded Robin Miller. The scribe known as RM offered up a look into the past AND future of open wheel. Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not about laying blame, but more about moving on. Far better wordsmiths have crafted and penned arguments both for and against the scapegoat de jour. Mr. Miller opened a window into how the times have changed without changing the sport called Open Wheel. Throughout the last millennium, Open Wheel has always had a ‘wow factor” that transcended evolution. Yes, even safety evolution of the sport. One thing makes racers, and that was defined in this post’s title. To wit, Speed TV’s fine link:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/miller-indycar-must-retain-wow-factor/

It is unbearable that the motor sport world has suffered many losses in the past 10 days. One of them that also affects the Indy Car community was the passing of Sal Incandela. If you followed open wheel in the 70’s and 80’s (or if you are a student of motor sport history), you may have heard of the name. Sal passed on October 3, 2011. Donald Davison wrote a very nice piece about Sal and his son, Daniel made it available here:

http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/default/news/show/50816-indianapolis-500-crew-chief-team-principal-incandela-dies/

I had the good fortune to meet Daniel at the Indy Winter Tweetup held at IMS last January. Little did I know that the gent that moderated the tweetup, Daniel, is the part of the Online Media and Strategies group for IMS. I just thought he was a hired gun to talk and answer questions for the assembled tweeps. Once I had the chance to speak with Daniel as the event wound down, I discovered that he is a man that wears many hats. I suggest that you spend time at his site or add him to your twitter followers. As Pressdog says, reading enhanced. It is with a bit of remorse as well as gratitude that I invite you to come to a memorial for Sal in Indianapolis on Saturday, November 5th from 3-5. It will be held at the Brickyard Crossing Golf and Conference Center. Daniel’s personal invitation is available and was posted on October 25th at his blog site:

http://danielincandela.com/

Daniel offered his encouragement to get this blog off the ground and one appreciates helping hands. It still was a surprise to find out that Daniel is DEEP into robots as well as DEEP into family life. But, I did not want to leave out the fact that Daniel is very into photography. I suggest that one takes a moment to look up his time lapse video of the bus ride from the hotel they stayed in at Motegi out to the track in…how do you say it…hicksvill-san. I mean, this track is way out in the sticks and the video was from a fixed camera in the front of the bus. This gent is very interesting and his father is most proud I am certain. For that reason, I plan to be in Indy on November 5th. I want to hear stories about Ever Cool Raul…kids, go look that one up!

Finally, a thanks to Robin for being the voice of reason. A lot of mud…no, make that sheer stupidness and ignorance was on display at times last week. Y’all take a moment to get you’re a$$ over to bid on some items to help Susie and the boys continue together as a family. Bid, ye Bastards! Bid right here:

http://stores.ebay.com/celebritycharityauctions/pages/dan-wheldon-memorial