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For the 2008 Indianapolis 500 we will be bringing you all the latest news and thoughts from our dynamic pair of journeymen in the field Robert Rakete and Bob McMurray.
We are with them as they travel from New Zealand across to Indianapolis to make the ONE Sport Indianapolis 500 Preview show for screening on May 25 from 4:30pm within Powerbuilt Tools Motorsport on TV ONE.
From May 16 there will be daily reports
May 18: Bob McMurray reckons fellow blogger Robert Rakete
is doing everything in his power to arrive at next weekend's event
late
Bob McMurray says:
Rob (Rakete) is obviously doing all he can to avoid coming to Indianapolis!
We expected him and the rest of the crew to arrive last night at around midnight but we had the call that once the NZ8 had been delayed leaving Auckland then that set in motion a domino effect of not making connections from San Francisco.
They will not now arrive here in Indianapolis until around 9.40am Saturday morning (our time).
I reckon that is a round trip journey from door to door of about thirty three hours by the time they get here.
Pretty much without sleep, all except Rob who can sleep while he is talking that is! Or so I am told by his radio audience on The Breeze.
Not a good start to the week for the boys as they/we have to get to the track to get filming today, which is the qualifying day for positions 12 - 33 on the 500 grid.
Weather finally improves
At least the weather seems to have cleaned up a bit for them.
Saturday morning has dawned clear, slightly warmer and most importantly DRY with only the occasional passing shower threat.
Looking good for qualifying today and the bump day tomorrow.
The crowds have been kept away from the speedway by the inclement weather over the last couple of weeks but this weekend will see an influx of out of state visitors.
Oil enterprise Indy style
One of the things keeping people away, in common with New Zealand probably, is the hike in fuel prices.
Some people around here are finding novel ways to get around the problem.
Indiana apparently was one of the major oil producing states in the US in the early days but fell out of favour when bigger reserves were found in other parts of the country and the Indiana fields became uneconomic.
But now some enterprising people, mainly farmers, are investing around US$100,000 in backyard "nodding donkeys", those pumps that continually go up and down and pump oil to the surface.
They only produce about 3 barrels a day but every day.
At around US$120 a barrel, US$360 per day, US$2520 per week, I reckon that makes about US$120,000 per year.
Not a bad deal really.
PLUS, they also use the by product of the gas from the field to power all the heating and other stuff on the property.
Pretty clever eh!?
Getting the locals involved
The Indianapolis Speedway goes to great lengths to attract the local population to the event and especially the kids.
Yesterday at the track there was a car park with best part of 30 school buses from local schools and lots of Indy experts around the place in "Information stations" to keep the kids informed and excited about coming to the race.
It is interesting that the Speedway, as a company, is one of the largest benefactors to the Indianapolis city and is a totally private company with no local or Government assistance, unlike many of the other institutions here.
Although the Speedway is a private company and does not need to release such information, I understand that some five thousand people are employed on or around race day by IMS and of those some three thousand are concerned with safety.
Not sure how that compares with Pukekohe.
They pretty much all wear yellow shirts and whistle and wave their arms a lot.
There is one guy who looks as if he has been at the Speedway since before it was built who controls the access entranceway to Gasoline Alley garage area.
You do something wrong and man does he whistle and let you know!
His favourite saying to the high and mighty or the ordinary Joe who is walking where he shouldn't be walking is "Find the blue line and get behind it"!
Just another one of the characters who make up this amazing place.
Nowhere in the world like it.
Better get off to the airport now and pick up Rob and the band.
Stand by for Mr Grumpy and the grumps.
With good reason too.
ONE Sport brings you all the race action plus pre and post-analysis of the Indy 500. Be watching TV ONE, Sunday May 25 at 4:30pm
