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Looking
back on the month of May at Indy, I have had the best time of my
life. I have met so many people that I’ll have difficulty
remembering all the names and faces. This month has had its ups
and downs, mostly involving the weather at Indy, but isn’t
that always expected in May?
I
wrote earlier about getting to meet the now Indy 500 Champion,
Dan Wheldon. Unfortunately the day I was supposed to go meet
him, Indy weather got the best of me. Not ten minutes away from
the track, it began to pour down rain and hail. My friends all
knew how much this meant to me, so as my friends gave up on the
day, I sat in the back of the car waiting and hoping that the
weather would break.
That
next week was the radio show at IMS with the Andretti Green
Racing boys and Darren Manning. My friend invited me to go to
the show, so of course I took her up on the offer; I was finally
going to meet Dan after two years of trying. I was extremely
nervous, and scared he wasn’t going to remember talking to me
on the phone. He did and I think the rest of the night I walked
around that place with a huge smile on my face.
On
bump day I was extremely happy to see Arie Jr. qualify, then
saddened and a little mad about him getting bumped. Now I look
back and see that it was truly for the better, he needs more
track time in these cars at these speeds before trying to run in
The 500. After his final qualifying run, I waited patiently
outside his garage for him to come back with a mutual friend of
ours, so I could get my photo. After we got my photo and had a
quick chat with him, he gave my friend a hug then caught me off
guard by giving me a hug and saying, “See you guys next
year.” With that small act of kindness, he made me a fan for
life.
Sadly
on the Tuesday that I would have been having the most amazing
time of my life, I was instead sitting at home waiting for the
two days of non-active track time to be over. About a week
before my scheduled two-seater ride, I got a call saying that
all rides were being rescheduled due to some unexpected grinding
of the track. Of course I was extremely sad about this, now
I’ll have to wait till July 9th to take my ride.
While I’m sure I’ll get the thrill of my life, it’s
disappointing that the ride won’t take place in the midst of
Indy 500 preparations
The
day before the race, my father and I went to the track together
for the first time in years. The night before, I had introduced
him to a friend of mine that I have been hanging out with at the
track and she ended up going around with us through all the
lines. My dad was taken aback by my forwardness with drivers,
since I am usually a very shy person. After the session, we
chased down Dan, I waited in my usual spot for him as he came
over and signed autographs. I waited patiently and my friend
said to Dan, “hey Dan, Amanda didn’t get her hug.” He
replied, “She didn’t?” He then turned around and hugged
me, thanking me.
The
day before the Indy 500 was the best possible conclusion to my
garage time at IMS this year that I can think of. All of the
people I met this month on the teams tried to make me feel
needed in some way, from carrying Dan Wheldon’s tires to being
in Tomas Scheckter’s garage and eating lunch with the Panther
crew. This has been by far the most memorable month of my life.
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It
has only been two days since opening day, and I have already had
the best time of my life. Many things have happened that I never
thought would happen to me. My father always said that when it
comes to racing, it is all about who you know and not what you
know.
I have a few friends that are close with various drivers and
officials at the track. I was able to talk to people I never
thought I would get the nerve to speak to, and they talked to me
as if I was just one of their friends. To be less than five feet
from some of my favorite drivers and to talk to them was an
amazing experience.
What happened last night is beyond belief. I sat in shock trying
to figure out if what had happened truly did happened. I was
sitting at home doing some kind of research when my phone started
ringing. I picked it up, seeing it was one of my “Track
Friends.” When I answered, I got a quick lecture and guilt trip
for not being at the track. She happened to be standing with the
four Andretti Green Racing drivers. After she told me about the
guys being there and that they were playing ball she asked me to
hold on a minute.
After a long pause I heard her yell, “Dan come here a minute.”
Then I heard the wonderful Irish-English accent of Dan Wheldon
answer, “What do you want Heidi.” I then had a five-minute
conversation with one of my favorite drivers… Dan Wheldon. It
was amazing beyond words. He asked when I was coming to visit him,
and he invited me to his garage Friday afternoon.
This is indeed turning out to
be the best month of my life. I can’t wait to see how the rest
of this month will turn out.
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Heading
into this month I have many things on my plate that many adults
have dreamt about, or can only dream of. The amount of excitement
running through my veins is something that I could never have
thought possible. I’m counting down
the days to everything I love about the Indy 500; the track
opening, autograph sessions, Carb Day, my two-seater ride, and of
courses, race day.
My two-seater ride is the thing everyone seems to be talking
about, myself included. I am overwhelmed with just the thought of
going over 180 mph in the cars that I have dreamt of racing myself
since I was very little. Yet, I go into it with some reserve,
which may shock a few of you. I have to ask myself about the
safety, and what would happen if I did get in a wreck.
Fortunately, the good out weighs the bad, so I’ll have no
problem climbing into that car with a huge smile on my face.
I know this will be a year I will never forget; meeting drivers
that I have cheered for years, my two-seater ride, and meeting
people that I have become friends with in forums. There will
probably be heartache, hopefully not involving Panther Racing
though, and of course the joy of this month as a whole. So
hopefully everything will go as planned for everyone and this
month will be my best May ever.
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