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By using this site, you signify your consent to these terms of use. If you do not agree to these terms of use, please do not use the site. Every attempt has been made to
ensure that the information presented on GoRoadTripping.com ("GRT"), MotorsportsLife.com ("ML"), or any of their affiliated sites, is correct, accurate and up to date. If
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liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly by the information contained
herein. ALWAYS call travel companies directly to confirm any information before traveling, booking or paying for anything. No material From ML or any web site owned,
operated, created, licensed or controlled by ML may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, except that you may copy
material for your personal, non-commercial home use only unless prior written permission has been given by ML or the respective copyright owner, and provided you
keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. Anything submitted to the site for publication on the site will be reviewed. ML reserves the right to edit any
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| PHOTO OF THE DAY The 2009 IRL IndyCar Series season kicks off this weekend with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Pete GP photo) |
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| FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2009 "LIVE UPDATES" GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG |
4:00 PM
Oriol Servia is here this weekend checking out rides. Saw him in a serious
discussion with Roger Penske. Hmmm... Earlier in the day I saw him riding his
bike through the streets of St. Pete to the credential office, where he sat and
filled out forms - for a hard card? Shouldn't that be done by now?
A.J. Foyt IV is here with his girlfriend, Casey. It's sad to see him in street clothes
in his grandpa's pits, and not in a race car.
Bruno Junqueira is also here making it known that he's available in case anyone
needs his services.
Roberto Moreno spent plenty of time over the wall in the 3G pit area. Assuming
he's fishin' for an Indy ride.
Former winner here and now current Indy Lights team owner Bryan Herta was in
some humorous discussion with the infamous Robin Miller on pit lane.
Crowd gave out a big "OH" when Dan Wheldon and Vitor Miera got into each
other leaving the pit lane. I strolled down to Dan's pit to see what was going on,
and they all seemed to be in a pretty decent mood right after that. No harm, no
foul, I guess.
2:00 PM:
It rained this morning, but the rain has held off for the afternoon so far. But it's
extremely humid today (again, not complaining).
You wouldn't know we are in a serious recession. For a Friday event, there's a
huge amount of people here at the Grand Prix - and all of them look like they
have having a spectacular time in the Florida sun. You know you are in Florida
when the majority of fans here at this race seem like they stepped out of a VIP
event on South Beach! Very trendy...
For any of you who are worried that the sound of the IndyCars is being muffled
too much this year (after all, race cars SHOULD be loud), DON'T worry - they are
still plenty loud. It seems to me that the sound is just a tad bit less sharp. They
sound GREAT (especially at the first race of the year).
Ashley and her hat are here. But I still can't get used to Dario's big hair.
Noon:
Arrived in St. Pete this morning at around 12:30 am after an 18-hour ride from
Cleveland, Ohio, in the rain the whole way! But, boy has it been a long winter in
northern Ohio, so I am NOT complaining about the long trek to this southern
paradise.
Made a few stops on the way south. Taking I-77 straight south from Cleveland to
Columbia, SC, it was just way too tempting for me to drive by Charlotte, NC, and
directly by all of the NASCAR team shops in Mooresville, without stopping. So I
did. No one was around, as the teams had all left for Texas Motor Speedway
(one of my all-time favorite tracks), but I did my own little tour of their "Gasoline
Alley" area where all of the team shops and manufacturers are clustered - what
a racing mecca! It surely has grown since the last time I came through there
quite a few years ago. And, of course, there's beautiful Lake Norman, home to
so many wealthy drivers and their boats!
Traveling father south, into Florida (yea! - warmth, finally), I also couldn't resist
the temptation to hop off of I-95 to simply drive by the world-famous Daytona
International Speedway! Racetracks are truly beautiful at night, and Daytona is
no exception. It's a masterpiece of architecture! I felt reverent just driving by
it, even with no activity going on.
But I didn't stop there - my ultimate goal in this pit stop was the BEACH! I really
wanted to drive down Daytona Beach (yes, even at night), but it was closed to
car traffic. Then, I thought I'd just get out and stick my still-winterized toes into
the cool sand for a bit (such a pleasure after a long, stagnant drive), but
decided against it as it was getting so late and I really needed to keep moving
toward my destination - St. Petersburg, Florida! (actually, the destination for the
night was Clearwater, close by, but you get the point). So I settled for a quick
trip down the Daytona Beach strip, carefully avoiding some leftover drunken
college spring break revelers as they tottered across the street without a care.
Daytona Beach has also grown up a lot since my last trip there (and since my
long-ago spring break trip, where our busload of fellow spring breakers spent
our first day in the Florida sunshine "trying" to catch some rays. It was too cold
to be on the beach, so we all laid out our towels in the hotel parking lot, and
froze to death in the 60-degree weather).
Oriol Servia is here this weekend checking out rides. Saw him in a serious
discussion with Roger Penske. Hmmm... Earlier in the day I saw him riding his
bike through the streets of St. Pete to the credential office, where he sat and
filled out forms - for a hard card? Shouldn't that be done by now?
A.J. Foyt IV is here with his girlfriend, Casey. It's sad to see him in street clothes
in his grandpa's pits, and not in a race car.
Bruno Junqueira is also here making it known that he's available in case anyone
needs his services.
Roberto Moreno spent plenty of time over the wall in the 3G pit area. Assuming
he's fishin' for an Indy ride.
Former winner here and now current Indy Lights team owner Bryan Herta was in
some humorous discussion with the infamous Robin Miller on pit lane.
Crowd gave out a big "OH" when Dan Wheldon and Vitor Miera got into each
other leaving the pit lane. I strolled down to Dan's pit to see what was going on,
and they all seemed to be in a pretty decent mood right after that. No harm, no
foul, I guess.
2:00 PM:
It rained this morning, but the rain has held off for the afternoon so far. But it's
extremely humid today (again, not complaining).
You wouldn't know we are in a serious recession. For a Friday event, there's a
huge amount of people here at the Grand Prix - and all of them look like they
have having a spectacular time in the Florida sun. You know you are in Florida
when the majority of fans here at this race seem like they stepped out of a VIP
event on South Beach! Very trendy...
For any of you who are worried that the sound of the IndyCars is being muffled
too much this year (after all, race cars SHOULD be loud), DON'T worry - they are
still plenty loud. It seems to me that the sound is just a tad bit less sharp. They
sound GREAT (especially at the first race of the year).
Ashley and her hat are here. But I still can't get used to Dario's big hair.
Noon:
Arrived in St. Pete this morning at around 12:30 am after an 18-hour ride from
Cleveland, Ohio, in the rain the whole way! But, boy has it been a long winter in
northern Ohio, so I am NOT complaining about the long trek to this southern
paradise.
Made a few stops on the way south. Taking I-77 straight south from Cleveland to
Columbia, SC, it was just way too tempting for me to drive by Charlotte, NC, and
directly by all of the NASCAR team shops in Mooresville, without stopping. So I
did. No one was around, as the teams had all left for Texas Motor Speedway
(one of my all-time favorite tracks), but I did my own little tour of their "Gasoline
Alley" area where all of the team shops and manufacturers are clustered - what
a racing mecca! It surely has grown since the last time I came through there
quite a few years ago. And, of course, there's beautiful Lake Norman, home to
so many wealthy drivers and their boats!
Traveling father south, into Florida (yea! - warmth, finally), I also couldn't resist
the temptation to hop off of I-95 to simply drive by the world-famous Daytona
International Speedway! Racetracks are truly beautiful at night, and Daytona is
no exception. It's a masterpiece of architecture! I felt reverent just driving by
it, even with no activity going on.
But I didn't stop there - my ultimate goal in this pit stop was the BEACH! I really
wanted to drive down Daytona Beach (yes, even at night), but it was closed to
car traffic. Then, I thought I'd just get out and stick my still-winterized toes into
the cool sand for a bit (such a pleasure after a long, stagnant drive), but
decided against it as it was getting so late and I really needed to keep moving
toward my destination - St. Petersburg, Florida! (actually, the destination for the
night was Clearwater, close by, but you get the point). So I settled for a quick
trip down the Daytona Beach strip, carefully avoiding some leftover drunken
college spring break revelers as they tottered across the street without a care.
Daytona Beach has also grown up a lot since my last trip there (and since my
long-ago spring break trip, where our busload of fellow spring breakers spent
our first day in the Florida sunshine "trying" to catch some rays. It was too cold
to be on the beach, so we all laid out our towels in the hotel parking lot, and
froze to death in the 60-degree weather).