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Hey Guys,
We forgot Tomas's log in, so I'm posting his blog this time. Hopefully one of the moderators will reset it for me!
Hugo
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Tomas:
Now for my second blog, which is actually my third, but the second attempt never got a chance to be viewed by anyone! The second blog was pretty controversial – talking about sponsors, TV numbers, and different teams and how they always seem to outperform others. I spoke to my father about it and he told me to ‘stop crying like a girl about things and to be positive’ (now you know where I get it from!). My brother Hugo gave me the same advice.
After thinking about it, I realized that they were right. It would be easy to ***** about why guys like Tracy, Junqueira, Servia and I are not in the cars more, and it would be the racing driver thing to do: blame something other than you. Drivers always blame the car and engineers always blame the driver but I am not going to do that – I am remaining positive throughout everything. I am going to be positive about Randy, the improvements I see in sponsors and the increasing interest in the series again (particularly the encouraging increase in TV numbers). I am optimistic about how Honda and Firestone come to every race with reliability and performance unmatched to any other series – and hey, I might even say a couple of nice things about Milka!
There is a definitely a different feel around the league at the moment. Maybe it’s IZOD or maybe it’s Randy – probably a mix of both – but things seem to be moving in the right direction. Saying that, I don’t think Tony George gets enough credit for what he has done for the series, and it’s easy to forget about someone that is not in the limelight. Like a race driver, one day you’re the flavor of the month and everybody is offering you contracts, and the next day you’re scrambling to look for deals and would race a tractor if you had to.
I do not know enough about the history to comment on the initial split of the series, especially as when I started the series, Tony was in charge. To have a George at the helm of the series was great and it was good for tradition (and the speedway is about all tradition - the milk, the three wide start, the 33 drivers, the fans that have had the same seats for 40 to 50 years that their dads had and now it’s where they watch with their sons). I admired Tony’s perseverance when champ car or cart was still going strong and also how he carried on and did not cave in. He believed he was taking the right route and no matter how much pressure or money he lost, he did not budge until the series were united. It must have been tough for the people in other series; it’s like trying to play tennis against a wall and no matter how hard you hit it, the ball just keeps coming back. I am extremely grateful for the leadership we had with Tony, and I’m equally excited about the new leadership and the buzz around the series that it brings.
I said I was going to say some nice things about Milka - she gets ridiculed by a lot of race fans and drivers alike. I have been on the other side of some questionable moves whilst lapping her at 230mph, but I knew her back in our Formula Nissan days and the one thing you can’t ignore about Milka is how she never gives up. She is in a man’s world and unlike Danica, she does not have that same natural ability, but she manages to put a smile on at all times and stay positive. I was her teammate at Dreyer & Reinbold and the amount of effort she put in each session amazed me. On some road courses she would be five seconds off pace but she would still call me aside and ask me about every corner’s braking points or apex points and when to get on the gas. She went back out there and gained a half a second or sometimes a second. An average driver in this scenario would say, ‘F**k it, I can’t do this, this is embarrassing,’ and they would give up and move on after a few races, but she sticks in there. She gets really excluded by other drivers and some fans but I have never seen her pass up an opportunity to go outside to take pictures and do autographs for as many fans as there are out there. I have seen a lot of drivers in the same situation, when there are 20 fans and they walk off or say no but she will sit, smile, take pictures and sign everything until every fan has got what they wanted – and that I applaud. Of course I sometimes wish that I was in the car instead of her, but as my dad tells me, ‘That’s life. Stop bitching about it. If you spent less time bitching and more time looking for sponsors then you would have a drive too!’. In some tough times, after one or two Laverstoke beers, I might consider getting a set of implants but I’m not sure if I’m willing to go that far to get sponsors… yet!
After my last blog, I got a lot of great responses and I thank you for those, but there were a couple of negative comments as well, as I would expect since I have not been a beam of perfection my whole career! Someone said something about going into retirement and to be watch the door hitting me on the way out, and that I needed to make way for new American talent. My response to that is if the circumstances were to happen, where I was not able to drive again, I would be proud and walk away content – not happy, but content. I have raced in nine Indianapolis 500 races, with some of the best drivers in the world, and at the best track in the world. I have led 1400 laps in the IZODIndyCar series. I have many memories of passing the finish line at the Speedway with my number on the top of the pagoda… just not the right lap! I have met many great people and it would not be the end of the world if my racing career came to an end. I love to see new exiting talent come into the series, whether from America or from around the world, and I want the series to flourish with the best drivers. I am not jealous of anyone new who is coming into the series. I try and look at these things as honestly and openly as possible; I judge myself more than anyone else out there. Whether it’s a driver taking a step up like Graham, who I respect greatly for his talent (but not his tweeting!), or a new driver like JR Hildebrand, who I think could be a very special driver, having worked with him a little at Dreyer & Reinbold – it doesn’t matter - I am happy for all of them. At the end of the day, as someone who has been bitten by the bug of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I want to see it succeed with or without me, that’s what the place does to people.
Having said that, I want to make something clear. I am not going anywhere. I am the fittest I have been in my career and I am hungrier than ever. I have some unfinished business at the Speedway and I will not stop until that day that I’ve achieved everything there is to achieve. I have been speaking with both my current sponsors, some new ones as well and things are looking really good.
So before you think that door is about to hit my ass on the way out, look to the right because I am about to pass you and put you a lap down.
We forgot Tomas's log in, so I'm posting his blog this time. Hopefully one of the moderators will reset it for me!
Hugo
-------
Tomas:
Now for my second blog, which is actually my third, but the second attempt never got a chance to be viewed by anyone! The second blog was pretty controversial – talking about sponsors, TV numbers, and different teams and how they always seem to outperform others. I spoke to my father about it and he told me to ‘stop crying like a girl about things and to be positive’ (now you know where I get it from!). My brother Hugo gave me the same advice.
After thinking about it, I realized that they were right. It would be easy to ***** about why guys like Tracy, Junqueira, Servia and I are not in the cars more, and it would be the racing driver thing to do: blame something other than you. Drivers always blame the car and engineers always blame the driver but I am not going to do that – I am remaining positive throughout everything. I am going to be positive about Randy, the improvements I see in sponsors and the increasing interest in the series again (particularly the encouraging increase in TV numbers). I am optimistic about how Honda and Firestone come to every race with reliability and performance unmatched to any other series – and hey, I might even say a couple of nice things about Milka!
There is a definitely a different feel around the league at the moment. Maybe it’s IZOD or maybe it’s Randy – probably a mix of both – but things seem to be moving in the right direction. Saying that, I don’t think Tony George gets enough credit for what he has done for the series, and it’s easy to forget about someone that is not in the limelight. Like a race driver, one day you’re the flavor of the month and everybody is offering you contracts, and the next day you’re scrambling to look for deals and would race a tractor if you had to.
I do not know enough about the history to comment on the initial split of the series, especially as when I started the series, Tony was in charge. To have a George at the helm of the series was great and it was good for tradition (and the speedway is about all tradition - the milk, the three wide start, the 33 drivers, the fans that have had the same seats for 40 to 50 years that their dads had and now it’s where they watch with their sons). I admired Tony’s perseverance when champ car or cart was still going strong and also how he carried on and did not cave in. He believed he was taking the right route and no matter how much pressure or money he lost, he did not budge until the series were united. It must have been tough for the people in other series; it’s like trying to play tennis against a wall and no matter how hard you hit it, the ball just keeps coming back. I am extremely grateful for the leadership we had with Tony, and I’m equally excited about the new leadership and the buzz around the series that it brings.
I said I was going to say some nice things about Milka - she gets ridiculed by a lot of race fans and drivers alike. I have been on the other side of some questionable moves whilst lapping her at 230mph, but I knew her back in our Formula Nissan days and the one thing you can’t ignore about Milka is how she never gives up. She is in a man’s world and unlike Danica, she does not have that same natural ability, but she manages to put a smile on at all times and stay positive. I was her teammate at Dreyer & Reinbold and the amount of effort she put in each session amazed me. On some road courses she would be five seconds off pace but she would still call me aside and ask me about every corner’s braking points or apex points and when to get on the gas. She went back out there and gained a half a second or sometimes a second. An average driver in this scenario would say, ‘F**k it, I can’t do this, this is embarrassing,’ and they would give up and move on after a few races, but she sticks in there. She gets really excluded by other drivers and some fans but I have never seen her pass up an opportunity to go outside to take pictures and do autographs for as many fans as there are out there. I have seen a lot of drivers in the same situation, when there are 20 fans and they walk off or say no but she will sit, smile, take pictures and sign everything until every fan has got what they wanted – and that I applaud. Of course I sometimes wish that I was in the car instead of her, but as my dad tells me, ‘That’s life. Stop bitching about it. If you spent less time bitching and more time looking for sponsors then you would have a drive too!’. In some tough times, after one or two Laverstoke beers, I might consider getting a set of implants but I’m not sure if I’m willing to go that far to get sponsors… yet!
After my last blog, I got a lot of great responses and I thank you for those, but there were a couple of negative comments as well, as I would expect since I have not been a beam of perfection my whole career! Someone said something about going into retirement and to be watch the door hitting me on the way out, and that I needed to make way for new American talent. My response to that is if the circumstances were to happen, where I was not able to drive again, I would be proud and walk away content – not happy, but content. I have raced in nine Indianapolis 500 races, with some of the best drivers in the world, and at the best track in the world. I have led 1400 laps in the IZODIndyCar series. I have many memories of passing the finish line at the Speedway with my number on the top of the pagoda… just not the right lap! I have met many great people and it would not be the end of the world if my racing career came to an end. I love to see new exiting talent come into the series, whether from America or from around the world, and I want the series to flourish with the best drivers. I am not jealous of anyone new who is coming into the series. I try and look at these things as honestly and openly as possible; I judge myself more than anyone else out there. Whether it’s a driver taking a step up like Graham, who I respect greatly for his talent (but not his tweeting!), or a new driver like JR Hildebrand, who I think could be a very special driver, having worked with him a little at Dreyer & Reinbold – it doesn’t matter - I am happy for all of them. At the end of the day, as someone who has been bitten by the bug of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I want to see it succeed with or without me, that’s what the place does to people.
Having said that, I want to make something clear. I am not going anywhere. I am the fittest I have been in my career and I am hungrier than ever. I have some unfinished business at the Speedway and I will not stop until that day that I’ve achieved everything there is to achieve. I have been speaking with both my current sponsors, some new ones as well and things are looking really good.
So before you think that door is about to hit my ass on the way out, look to the right because I am about to pass you and put you a lap down.
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