Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Timing and Scoring Data

[Hoop-98]

I believe they will be quicker this year maybe a 66?

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rh

[jackmart]

wow, i missed practice but made it to the autograph session.

danicafan, at first I thought you were a girl but now I know ur not. Question, this guy in front of us was telling us that Danica was on some Home and Gardening show about trailer homes and was saying how she loves to sit in her and laugh at ppl as they walk by, is this true?


Ok, so Dario remebered me and my parents from yesterday that was so funny. I told my dad to jokingly asked Hideki if he found a gf yet and he got confusd and asked Helio. then we told him wrong guy and as we were walking away Helio turns to Hideki and was like how is that going. It's so crazy having access to pits because the drivers are just out there and I get so excited. So Scott, Dario and PT. Which reminds me I asked PT if he was suprised to be racing this weekend and he said he was. My dad asked Marco if it was hard not having his Dad coaching him and he said it was. That has to be so weird when Danica and Marco go back and forth for position.

As we were leaving we spotted more and more drivers and I'm showing my parents Ryan Briscoe as we walk right pass him and he was talking to Rick Mears which my parents were huge fans of, so they got a picture and talked to Rick and I talked to Ryan and I couldn't believe how humble and down to earth he was. I was asking him about the push-to-pass button and stuff, he was just amazing to talk with and acutally seemed to care what I had to say.

Back on track, Milka should not be allowed to drive with her being that far below everyone else, seriously she is a danger to other drivers, is there some rule about how up to speed they need to be?

[Hoop-98]

P2:

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rh

[SarahFan]

Jackmart...

is it still raining?

will the track be wet for qualifying?

[Hoop-98]

Looks dry, but probably washed the rubber off...damp sections they are saying

[Hoop-98]

After Round 2, Fast 6 next.

http://i25.tinypic.com/2bsh8l.jpg

rh

[Hoop-98]

http://i26.tinypic.com/2r39y07.jpg

rh

[jackmart]

Jackmart...

is it still raining?

will the track be wet for qualifying?

it did rain a bit during lights but then it stopped it was pretty much dry for quals

wow, acutally meeting these drivers in person is weird, it really changes how I view a lot of them. some for better others for worse

[NickFalzone]

Which ones for better and worse Jack?

[jackmart]

Very surpising but better

Briscoe, wow had a convo with him and he was so nice and down to earth, i used to be an obessive danica fan and never liked him after he screwed up her chances at indy last year. But now I think he is amazing and never thought I would root for penske.

Dario Franchetti - met him leaving one night, tried to pretend that he didn't hear me but gave in, had a shorter convo with him. LOL, the next day we saw him at the signing and he remembered us, haha.

Marco Andretti - thought of him as this spoiled punk kid and maybe he still is but he actualy was really nice when we met him and we had a hospitatlity pass at the agr thing and he was nice there.

oohh, PT, for sure, thought of him as a controversial driver, but met him, was very nice, told me how suprised he was to be driving saw him later come in the agr tent and sit and eat with marco and his dad

worse

graham rahal - sad he was my fave driver but not anymore. was much more personable when we met him in long beach. saw him again got another pic and someone is like sorry i bet you are annoyed with this stuff but can u sign one more and did and never seemed to really care but be bothered. i think what a lot of these guys don't realize is that they have a big influence on their fans. after meeting him had no desire to purchase his merchandise at all. also like we are all cheering for you and didn't say thanks or anything. just seemed a little ungrateful

danica patrick - met her in the agr thing, so weird went to go to the bathroom in this trailer part that is attached the food stuff, asked her for her autograph and stuff and she was like sure but lets do it out there. i understand she was busy, but people really need to be more positive and idk, i can't put my finger on it but she just met my expectations of being kinda a jerk

side note - rafael matos i was talking to him and i was like so you raced in atlantics, lights and then here and he denied lights and then i saw on his card he did race lights, maybe his english is bad, idk, that was odd

[NickFalzone]

Thanks Jack, always interesting to hear what the drivers are like away from the cameras. What you said doesn't surprise me. And I've seen Rahal on camera kind of brush away/ignore people asking for autographs. He seems to be one of those guys that has certain priorities at the race track, focusing on the racing and doing good sponsorship type stuff for tv, and the fans are just very low priority. I wouldn't necessarily hold it against him though, you said he was fine at Long Beach so maybe just caught him at a worse time today.

[TURN3]

oohh, PT, for sure, thought of him as a controversial driver, but met him, was very nice, told me how suprised he was to be driving saw him later come in the agr tent and sit and eat with marco and his dad

Could there be something to this? Silly season started early right? I'm pretty convinced that AGR won't be AGR next year. I see a split coming and probably 2 teams of 2 cars. Marco is completely unhappy and rumors are Mikey and Kim aren't getting along at all. A lot of talk is going around with them with the Danica thing, Formula Dream leaving, Moraes going that way, and of course the fact they now suck (although showing improvements). PT in the AGR hospitality area is news in of itself, let alone eating with 1 Andretti, but TWO!!! PT said very specifically in his blog Moraes talking wth AGR to team with Kanaan.

You might have broken open a story here buddy...keep up the accidental reporting!

And by the way, as much as I despise Danica as a race car driver, I've stated before that in the community she seems to fit in very regularly. I haven't gotten the impression in my chance encounters with her that she's a bad person. Maybe around the racing community she gets a little over herself being that there are a lot of race fans chasing after her (because they don't know any better--so they really aren't race FANS, just race goers).

Very interesting your assertations of Graham & Marco...you sure you know which one is which? Just kidding, but that is 90% of the time very opposite.

[Nikki Katz]

Why is Duno in on a road course again??? She's already 2 laps down! Isn't that just dangerously slow?

[gerkebi]

Interesting observations. Don't write DP and Graham off.

I talked to Graham for a little bit on Friday and he seemed fine. He was poking at me for driving Danica's golf cart, and generally talking it up with the folks.

Then I was with Danica in her pit and she was great...she even came back over the wall to let some fans get a couple of shots with her. Good mood, smiling, chatting them up.

I wasn't there long, but I did talk with Vitor as well. I love that guy, hope he gets back in a car soon.

[jackmart]

Could there be something to this? Silly season started early right? I'm pretty convinced that AGR won't be AGR next year. I see a split coming and probably 2 teams of 2 cars. Marco is completely unhappy and rumors are Mikey and Kim aren't getting along at all. A lot of talk is going around with them with the Danica thing, Formula Dream leaving, Moraes going that way, and of course the fact they now suck (although showing improvements). PT in the AGR hospitality area is news in of itself, let alone eating with 1 Andretti, but TWO!!! PT said very specifically in his blog Moraes talking wth AGR to team with Kanaan.

You might have broken open a story here buddy...keep up the accidental reporting!

...

Very interesting your assertations of Graham & Marco...you sure you know which one is which? Just kidding, but that is 90% of the time very opposite.
Wow I never thought of PT coming over to agr, didn't even cross my mind or that agr would split up. I will for sure keep up on the accidental reporting.

I KNOW Graham because I am a huge fan of his and I know Marco, because he is Marco and was a bit surprised bc I would have thought the opposite too.

I met Will Power today as well. He was doing an interview and signing things. In the interview he said he really wanted to have a full time car and doens't know where things stand next year. I told him that I thought he was so humble and patient and that he will have a full ride next year and he didn't even say thanks. Maybe I just expect too much.

I'm glad Graham was nicer to you gerkberi bc I thought he may be overwhelmed too with people. The Dario and Ryan really impressed me but I met them in situations with no other fans around so maybe that is why. I think Ryan is the nicest to his fans over anyone else.

[grungex]

Could there be something to this?


Or maybe AGR just has better hospitality than KV Racing. Sometimes the simple answers are the correct ones...

[Hoop-98]

Fast Lap:

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Traps:

file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ADMINI%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.pnghttp://i26.tinypic.com/2550ujc.jpg

rh

[garyshell]

On the subject of meeting the drivers, I got a chance to meet Paul (for the second time) today.

A few years back I picked up a Paul Tract press kit from a VERY long time ago. I believe it might be Paul's first kit. I have taken it with me a few times to the track but never had a chance to share it with Paul. Today, I was in the paddock and saw Jimmy Vasser helping to push the car into the garage. After he finished I approached him and asked if PT was around. He said he was in the drivers meeting but would be back in just a few minutes. I told him what I had, he immediately said, "follow me I want to see what you have". I went to the back of the hauler with him and pulled out the press kit and showed him. Jimmy just hooted at the picture of Paul. Paul is just a baby faced kid with huge glasses in the photo. He thumbed though the kit and yelled for the rest of the crew to come see it. Several of the team came over and all of them had a great time looking it over. Jimmy invited me to wait for Paul to get back saying "I know he'll want to see it". I waited a few minutes and Paul appeared, driving suit in hand, coming from the front of the hauler. As he was about to enter the side door, I held it up and yelled, "have you seen one of these in a while". At first he looked like he was in a hurry and didn't want to be bothered, but he looked a bit puzzled and asked what is it. When I said I thought it was his first PR kit, his eyes lit up and he said "come here and show it to me". As he opened it up a wide smile swept his face. Clearly it brought back fond memories. I asked if he would mind signing it to which he replied, why of course not. I also had him sign the photo in the kit. I told him how glad I was to see him run this weekend. He thanked me. When I said "and I LOVE the rat". He smiled that big ol' PT smile and said "I'm glad."

My previous encounter with him was back in CART and then he was in a hurry, but just like today willing to take a moment for a fan.

Gary

[TURN3]

On the subject of meeting the drivers, I got a chance to meet Paul (for the second time) today.

A few years back I picked up a Paul Tract press kit from a VERY long time ago. I believe it might be Paul's first kit. I have taken it with me a few times to the track but never had a chance to share it with Paul. Today, I was in the paddock and saw Jimmy Vasser helping to push the car into the garage. After he finished I approached him and asked if PT was around. He said he was in the drivers meeting but would be back in just a few minutes. I told him what I had, he immediately said, "follow me I want to see what you have". I went to the back of the hauler with him and pulled out the press kit and showed him. Jimmy just hooted at the picture of Paul. Paul is just a baby faced kid with huge glasses in the photo. He thumbed though the kit and yelled for the rest of the crew to come see it. Several of the team came over and all of them had a great time looking it over. Jimmy invited me to wait for Paul to get back saying "I know he'll want to see it". I waited a few minutes and Paul appeared, driving suit in hand, coming from the front of the hauler. As he was about to enter the side door, I held it up and yelled, "have you seen one of these in a while". At first he looked like he was in a hurry and didn't want to be bothered, but he looked a bit puzzled and asked what is it. When I said I thought it was his first PR kit, his eyes lit up and he said "come here and show it to me". As he opened it up a wide smile swept his face. Clearly it brought back fond memories. I asked if he would mind signing it to which he replied, why of course not. I also had him sign the photo in the kit. I told him how glad I was to see him run this weekend. He thanked me. When I said "and I LOVE the rat". He smiled that big ol' PT smile and said "I'm glad."

My previous encounter with him was back in CART and then he was in a hurry, but just like today willing to take a moment for a fan.

Gary

Nice story G. I've had many encounters with PT over the years as well. Although not to the point where I ask for multiple same pictures every weekend. The 2 best at the track were immediately following the Vegas oval where Seabass punted him. My gf and I were walking toward his hauler while the final laps wound down. He was on his way the Victory Lane to confront Seabass and while my gf & I talked to him, somebody from Champ Car came over and help calm him down. Actually, it was my gf that was the calming influence! The other time i stood next to him giving the interview on Speed right after the Bourdais incident in Denver. Even after 2 very trying circumstances he still reached out to the fans. I outgrew autographs and pictures like a child when I was in my mid 20's but I enjoy watching the thrill the younger crowd gets. PT has always been accomodating.

[DavePI2]

The rolling chicane was at midohio because there are always complaints about passing there, she always provides plenty of it. Seriously though I am tired of all the complaints about passing at midohio, I saw plenty down in the esses, just only two for the lead all day. It is hard to get passes for the lead when the dixon and wilson were as dominent as they were. The pic using milka was sweet.

david

david