St. Pete Grand Prix

April 5, 2009





St. Pete Grand Prix



The St. Pete Grand Prix is actually comprised of a variety of races over the course of the weekend. The Indy Cars are the main attraction but there is also an American LeMans Series (ALMS) sports car race and two Indy Lights races. In addition there is a festival like atmosphere with concerts, air shows, rides and even a demonstration of drifting to keep the fans occupied.

Danica Patrick



Saturday, I headed over to the track early for a long day of activities, while Kathy opted to spend the day at the guest house, going for a massage at the spa, hanging out at the pool in the beautiful South Florida weather and doing a bit of shopping in town.

Adrian Fernandez instructs Luis Diaz

The schedule at the track was busy with Indy Car practice and qualifying followed by the ALMS race and then the first of two Indy Lights races. The Indy qualifying featured some surprises as Justin Wilson captured the pole in his first race driving for Dale Coyne racing, followed by last year’s winner Graham Rahal. Many of the traditional favorites faltered including both Danica Patrick and sadly Marco Andretti.







I was able to get down on the grid before the ALMS race and watch the cars and drivers prepare to start the race. The number of teams in the series has declined dramatically, but there was still plenty of interesting stuff to see. One of the highlights was watching actress Ashley Judd explain a race car to some young children. Her husband Dario Franchitti’s brother Marino drives for the Dyson race team. The race itself was fairly uneventful but it was cool to see the sports cars run on the tight twisty track.

Team Dyson



Ashley Judd

Saturday evening we took our friend Jason out to dinner at a really good English Pub called The Moon Under Water. Jason is usually too busy to hang out with during a race weekend, so this was a nice treat. He was full of all sorts of interesting insider info bout the Indy car series and it was really great to be able to catch up.

Jason

Inside AGR race shop

AGR prepares Danica's car
Sunday, we checked out of the guest house and then walked over to see the Salvador Dali Museum. The museum, on the campus of the University of South Florida, is the largest collection of Dali’s surrealist work in the world and well worth the trip. We spent the morning there before walking over to watch the Indy Car race in the afternoon.

At the Salvador Dali Museum

The race was almost as surprising as qualifying. Justin Wilson dominated early and seemed on his way to a victory until a late caution bunched the pack and both Ryan Briscoe and Ryan Hunter-Reay were able to get by with Briscoe going on to claim the victory. The race was crash-filled and very exciting and the weather was perfect. It was awesome.

Race Winner Ryan Briscoe

Briscoe & RHR

After the race, we were on our way to North Carolina to visit my mother Marta. Along the way, we stopped in Gainesville to have a late dinner with our friend (and UF student) Dakota, before continuing on towards Carolina.

Dakota

On the Road Again

April 3, 2009

St. Pete

Dario Franchitti

On the Road Again



Kathy’s spring break at the preschool offers us a perfect opportunity to hit the road for a mini-vacation as we are headed up to Winston-Salem, NC to visit my mother this week. On the way, we made a detour to St, Petersburg, Florida to attend the opening round of the 2009 Indy Car Series, the St. Petersburg Grand Prix.

Dario Franchitti

Before we could depart, we had to make time to fit in the graduation from a program put on by the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys Center for Non-Profit Excellence where over the course of a month she learned all about how to become a better non-profit board member. She represented the KWPC and attended the class along with a veritable who’s who of Keys organizations and members of their boards. It is an amazing chance to learn the responsibilities, ethics and standards that make a strong board member.

Kathy with Jon Allen of the CFFK

Once the graduation was complete, we were on the road, driving to Ft. Lauderdale to spend the night before heading over to St. Pete the next morning. To alleviate any argument about attending yet another Indy Car race, I booked us in a wonderful little bed and breakfast called The Mansion House in downtown St. Pete which is an easy walk to the track, which winds its way through the Streets downtown.

The Mansion House



Four time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears

The Mansion House is perfectly situated for visiting St. Pete, everything is within walking distance including all the shops and restaurants. The rooms are lovely and the breakfast meals were terrific. The pool and hot-tub were a welcome sight after long days at the track.

Rafael Matos

Kathy

Ryan Briscoe

We walked down to the track to watch the final Indy Car practice of the day, there were a ton of changes during the off-season as drivers switched teams and new rookies joined the fray, and we really needed the little spotter’s guide they passed out. We had a paddock pass, which enables us to mingle with the teams and drivers as they prepare the cars and really offers an up-close look at all the work associated with fielding a car.

EJ Viso



We also managed to visit with some friends who travel with the Indy Car series. Bob Beisel works for the Indy Car Delphi Safety Team, we recently became acquainted through the magic of facebook and this race offered an opportunity to meet in person. If possible the real Bob is actually nicer in person than his virtual self, which is saying something for someone who readily shares his experiences and insights on-line.

Bob & Michael

Scott Dixon

Jason

Of course we also got to see my old friend Jason Richardson who is back once again working the Pit Crew for Andretti Green driver Marco Andretti. He was fairly busy during the practice session, but we plan to actually spend some time with him over the weekend, which is a rare treat during the race season.

Jason talks strategy

St. Pete Grand Prix site

The Mansion House