Now that I am the Gearhead Tourist instead of working actively
on the administrative side of the racing world, I am able to visit events and
not be tied to a radio or a specific job at the track. While I do really enjoy
being an official at the track it is a pure luxury to now be able to simply
enjoy some weekends as a fan.
I began April’s race track tours with the famed Long Beach
Grand Prix which takes place on the streets of Long Beach, CA. PWC has a great concept with open paddocks and driver
autograph sessions where the fans can really get up close to the cars and the
drivers to really get into the series. We found the crews and drivers to be
amazingly friendly with a special nod to Tim Bell and his CRP/Hawk Performance
crew who spent a great deal of time explaining things to us and chatting about
the cars and the series. I managed to run into many old friends around the
paddock and also thankfully got to sample a few King Tacos which are the
signature treat at the LBGP. I honestly came away from the experience with a
new set of eyes for the sport and I encourage you to hit a PWC race when they
come to town near you. Who knows-they might need a new crew person and you
might find yourself with a front row seat for what is arguably the most relevant
and approachable pro series around for serious road racing geeks. See the
schedule and more information at www.world-challenge.com
and you can watch some of the races at www.world-challengetv.com.
The next weekend found me headed back to my old Ohio home at
the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course which has been a multi-year host of the NASA
Championships presented by Toyo Tires. In the past, I had the pleasure of
calling some of the races on Speedcast TV along with my compadre Rob Klepper
but this time I was the lone cowboy to do the play-by-play for the NASA Great
Lakes “Super Series” race on Saturday. I
worked with a new crew headed by Daryl David from Belle-1 Racing Communications
and we had a great time working together calling the NASA Super Series drivers
around the course with some much needed help from old pal and NASA Great Lakes
Super Series Director John Graber. The playback for this race is available on http://new.livestream.com/accounts/3771332/nasaracingtv/videos/17502608
and we will be live again on July 27th and August 24th from Mid-Ohio. The schedule
for those days will be up soon at www.nasagreatlakes.com
and you can also sign up there if you want to get out on the track yourself
with NASA’s easy to access programs. It was a great weekend to catch up with
more old friends and see some great racing with NASA Great Lakes.
May is going to be Bug Month for the Gearhead Tourist so
plan to be “hella bugged” for a bit!
The Pirelli World Challenge paddock at the LBGP:
My office for the weekend and the view out the window at Mid-Ohio:
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