Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Days 488...489...490...491...

Day 488...

Happy Saturday!  What an amazing first day of IndyCar racing back in Portland.  I was really happy to see the crowds yesterday and wow, today they did not disappoint.  The crowds today were awesome and I can't wait for tomorrow.  The qualifying didn't disappoint as Will Power took the field by storm and laid down the almost perfect lap.

I left the track just after 5pm to head to work.  The Ducks game had already started and listening to Jerry, Jorgy and Joey call the action gave me chills.


Oregon went on to win and start the season out 1-0.  The DuckCast also verified so that was good too.

Day 489...

Happy Grand Prix of Portland Day!  The day started out trying to navigate the traffic getting into the track, luckily I knew of a back up route that got me in and avoided the traffic.  One of the other writers covering the race was holding a "Tweet Up" which is the 21st century meet up for the digital age.  I had never gone to one, and this was so worth it.  Jeff Gluck who covers racing, also from Portland, hosted the tweet up in the area behind the merch booth.  I arrived early and just waited to see the crowd.  I had so much fun talking about racing.

I headed over to the paddock to get ready for the IndyCar race.  Coming off the bridge I ran into one of my favorite nurses from my time in the hospital.  We had tried to meet up at concerts but never could figure out which one we were both at.  The fact that she was there was so cool.

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts was named Grand Marshal for the race.  Saturday, he took part in the Indy experience and today he would ride in the two seater just after giving the command to start the engines.

The pace car quickly led the field around PIR and you had a feeling that the first corner was going to be something special.

The race settled in and following a couple more cautions, the points battle raged back and forth and when the checkered flag dropped, Scott Dixon had survived a strange race and extended his lead by a couple points over Alexander Rossi.  While the chase for the championship was really the biggest story line, the second story line was the win by Takuma Sato, the 2017 Indy 500 champion.  Sato benefitted from two yellow flags that saw the leaders get shuffled into the middle of the pack.

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Walking back to my car after wrapping up the post race coverage, most of the memories came flooding back to me.  This race, this event, this whole weekend means so much to me personally and professionally.  I remember talking with my dad on Blakeney Street in Beaverton begging him to take me to the see the IndyCars at PIR.  Even in those years when we didn't make it out to the track, we would still watch it on TV.  In the years where I covered the event for KXL, I remember watching and talking with others and knowing with the exception of a couple others, we were the only ones who watched and followed the series.  It gave our coverage an edge because the questions we would ask weren't the standard ones and it really allowed us to get closer to the teams and drivers.  I know the series has a contract for at least two more races, so I'm really looking forward to having everyone back next year.

Day 490...

Happy Labor Day everyone!  I hope you are able to reflect on all the work that built our great company.

Day 491...

Happy Tuesday!  Today was the niece and nephews first day of 4th grade.  Where has the time gone?  I'm so proud of them.
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