WILL WE NAE COME BACK AGAIN?

Bonnie Charlie’s now awa’
Safely owre the friendly Main;
Mony a heart will break in twa’
Should he nae come back again.

Will ye nae come back again?
Will ye nae come back again?
Better lo’ed ye canna be,
Will ye nae come back again?


The words to this old traditional Scottish song of farewell from the eighteenth century seem fitting here don’t they? We aren’t sure right now if Milwaukee or Portland will be visited again on our 2007 schedule. Milwaukee is our longest-running venue and has hosted the most CART/Champ Car races of any track in history, dating back to 1979. Likewise, Portland has occupied our Father’s Day date since 1984.

Tony Cotman always cautions us to “never say never” in this sport, so I will just leave up the big ol’ question mark. We are bringing a brand new chassis from Panoz online next season, and for only one oval now remaining on our schedule, building an “oval package” into the new car may not be feasible. The crowds at both tracks, although somewhat up from last year, are nothing in comparison to their salad days in the eighties and early nineties. On top of that, there is a political group in Portland trying hard to make the track go away. The Sunday morning noise restrictions were not lifted this year, resulting in an odd feeling day where the first on-track event was “Gentlemen Start Your Engines” for the Mazda Atlantic race! A lot like the old days of CART when the final practice was not a warmup, but held late Saturday afternoon. Mix into this uncertainty the still-on-the-table reunification talks, which will have a lot to say towards where we will be running in 2007 or beyond…

Coincidentally, both places really mean a lot to where I have been in this game. I first worked Milwaukee as an Observer in 1984, but three years later got the nod to assist Terry Walsh on the start stand for the American Racing Series, which became Firestone Indy Lights – so I got my first starter’s stand experience there. Portland, back in 1990, was the first race I was paid to travel to as the new ARS starter, so each time I return it feels like another page turning on my fiscal officiating calendar.


THE MILWAUKEE MILE AND 83 THOUSANDTHS (look it up)

But outside of all that, the events clicked along fine and I want to thank everyone involved who came out and supported us! First year Milwaukee Mile Chief Observer Dennis Muise took the reins from Ray George and held on well, despite taking Saturday off for the rather inconvenient (for us) wedding of his son. Had it been his daughter, he’d have been a basket case I think! Stepping in to help us out in Race Control for that Saturday was Tim “Chips” Day, who spent so many years at the Mile across the street from me at Center Pit. It was really convenient to be able to lean over and swat him one when I needed to!

The weather was great, and the food always suits my Eastern European palate, but the great pain about this place is the radios! It’s the only venue we have left that uses them, and since it’s an oval, it’s where we need a land line the most! A strange, difficult, but not insurmountable set-up indeed, as our boys and girls on the ground proved out. No one hurried, we got all of the info we needed, although sometimes it takes longer that way. We were very pleased with the performance of the Mile’s Observing crew, as we have been since I moved upstairs, and they came through for us again. But I want to take the time to especially recognize two great performances under fire. The first from longtime veteran Bob Bocher, who held on to the call for the no-contact spin of Speedy Dan Clarke until the car absolutely stopped, hoping rightly that Dan could keep the car moving. Great touch, great awareness, great timing. The second was Marie Eggert, who handled our Pit Closed/Open boards all day and weathered several changes from closed to open to closed again when we needed it. It sounds simple, yes, but those actions are totally beyond the scope of that position as I had described it. Marie stayed with us on the Champ Car Radio – with no direct prompts – reacting to the messages given to our teams. Another great job!


TALLY HO

On to the great Northwest. If we nae come back again, these are 5 things I will miss about this place and it’s people:

The Start Stand: Although I don’t work there anymore, the nicest looking one there is. Actually designed by an Architect, but maybe for that very reason had to be installed backwards to fit.

Emails from Ken Killam the Flag Chief: The man can write like Shakespeare and has a nickname for every post ala Keith Berman from ESPN.

The dedication and hard work of the Marshals: They don’t come much better, or heartier, standing around for long days in all kinds of weather, even in the height of Summer.

The Light: The beautiful long twilight that stretches well past nine.

One of the best evening cookouts of the year: The local region puts on this traditional fest in the middle of the worker camping area on Saturday. There is a GREAT band there that gets better every year!

And, 4 more things I will miss about this place… NOT!!:

Getting the damned race started: I’m glad I don’t have to try to get these guys down a loooooong wiiiiiiide straightaway any more! Sheesh! Just remember that the race starts at the drop of the green now. Period. And both JD and Tony knew that Bruno was out in front when the flag fell. Take that to the bank.

The Rain: It always shows up a little somewhere, no matter how well the day begins or ends.

The Crossovers: One just past start and and another in the back, I think this is the only major raceway in America without a vehicle bridge or a tunnel. Gotta leave fast during a session? Think again!

The Land Line: Some years the bleedover is there and some years it ain’t, and this year we had a little of both, but the Marshal’s land line runs together in the same conduit with the PA system. It’s a novel way to always know what’s happening but it has been known in the past to be as loud as the posts calling in!!!


FORD (Fathers On Race Day)

The Atlantic race saw a lot of action at the start, and again at the end as the leader Mr. Lewis went sour at the end and was passed for the win on the last lap by James Hinchcliffe. The Champ Car race saw a new winner (the second A.J. to do so) and the blue flaggers had their hands very full with lapped traffic - there were NO full course yellows. We call that a “no-hitter” in Race Control, but unfortunately JD had to wave off the first attempt, so we actually had one lap of yellow. The walkoff race at the end of the day Sunday was FF2000, which had to be called before the finish due to a huge multi-car incident on the backstretch that blocked the track with debris. As there were no cameras running, it was all handled between the comms, Gail Fetterman the chief comm, and the FF2000 Steward in the old-fashioned way… without a hitch, with guts, gumption and just words… yes, we noticed!


So I’m on the way to Cleveland now and… wait a minute… wow… I’m caught up!
Better not tell anyone…

(psst! see you at the race track!)

JHS