If methanol courses through your veins as it does in mine, or if you kick start your morning with running an IV from the Sonoco can in the garage into your right arm, you qualify as a race fan. If methanol is your beverage of choice, then that makes you an open wheel fan. People from all parts of the racing spectrum do have one thing in common and that is…..drum roll please….the off season. Man do I freakin hate winter for that reason. Tin tops are a sacrilege of racing and then I find myself longingly watching VEE EIGHT superCars. What kind of crap is that? Does this make me a bad person? No, Mrs. GForcePaul does not get a chance to vote on that question. This has lead me to ponder the activities of some of the drivers during the off season. One thing is for darn sure; if you are not an “A” listed driver, you are beating your feet on the concrete seeking sponsorship. If you are an “A” listed driver, you are beating your feet on the concrete seeking sponsorship. If you are Pippa Mann, you are most certainly beating your feet on the concrete. Hasn’t your rich uncle passed and left you a few million for cause de Pippa? You know, some days it is nice to just relax and have a cocktail and other days it is nice to relax and have a cocktail. Here is what the 2012 season and 2011 season wrap looks like from hizzhonor, the Mayor’s perspective as he addresses his citizenry:
Wasn’t that refreshing? Can you say….GO DADDY? Now seriously, what exactly are some of the pilots doing to fill that off season void? I would like to hope that you follow any number of the enlightened bloggers mentioned in my previous post “Taking Sucking Up To New Level” and become enlightened as well. Self-study is often a good thing! By doing so, I am able to keep up on most of the goings on in and about the Open Wheel World. Most of my enlightenment comes from following these folks on Twitter. I admit it, I am totally enamored with New Media. Main Stream Media still holds its place in line and in the ability to keep your attention if the span is longer than 10 seconds. You should be aware that sometimes New Media can scoop Main Stream. A prime example would be the firing of the Indianapolis Colts front office family of Polian and Polian on Sunday, January 2nd. Jim Irsay most likely pulled the trigger early in the afternoon and within an hour (my guess) the news was trickling out on Twitter. This was several hours prior to a hastily called Colts Press Conference. Some folks tweeted that a “filed with ESPN” report about the firings was completed about two hours prior to my seeing it in the local Indy media outlets. Ahhh, the power of the tweet! I catch my moto mojo from it daily! Another case in point, what are the Ganassi boys doing this off season? I know that the Mayor of Hinchtown’s address to his citizenry is hard to top but, again, by following Twitter, my off season void is filled with this gem:
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/race/us-scene/grand-am/looking-forward-to-daytona/
By following even a bit closer, I was able to clear up those blah, winter afternoon blues with some show of support, along with some enlightenment regarding some up and coming open wheel stars. You really should follow a fellow that posts a lot on Twitter under the name de plume JOWT. If you really, REALLY want to be known as in the know about upcoming talent in the open wheel ranks, then Junior Open Wheel Talent is the place to see and be seen. Start TODAY to follow @JOWT on Twitter. You just may thank me later. The web site:
http://www.junioropenwheeltalent.com/
Finally, you OUGHTTA KNOW Zach Veach. This kid (a 17 year old man in boy’s shoes, actually), is the real deal. Michael Andretti does not sign your average high school kid to a contract unless the last name IS Andretti. Hit this link, support Zach and become one of the believers. You are going to hear this name for many years to come! Be like the PDog: pressdog Bill Zahren
RT @ZachVeach: Please take a min. & vote 4Zach in the Champion Parts “Search for a Champion” $50k Sponsorship Contest!
http://contest.alwaysachampion.com/contests/showentry/1011844?v=200
Did I mention that Beaux Barfield is moving to Indy? Presser to follow on 1/4/2012. Time to find the matches and light some candles!
Talk to you next time,
GForcePaul
WideOpenWheel 
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