Lending A Helping Hand

Sunday will mark two years since I entered the blogosphere with this site. I entered into this venture very reluctantly – kicking and screaming would be a more accurate description. Several people suggested that I start this – the two most vocal were my oldest brother and one of my best friends, Bruce Yarbro. It was Bruce that set up this site. Much to the dismay of Pressdog, it was Bruce who set up the white writing on a black background. He did everything on the front-end. All I had to do was type and load it up there.

Bruce is still listed as a blogger on the “Meet The Bloggers” page of the site, although he has posted only one post in the past two years – and he’s never been to a race. That is finally going to change next month. He has scored some prime seats in the Paddock Stand for the One Hundredth Anniversary Indianapolis 500. He is taking his fourteen year-old son with him. Maybe we’ll get two more converts to start following the IZOD IndyCar Series on a regular basis.

Speaking of Pressdog…I’ve said many times that there are three IndyCar bloggers I’ll always be grateful to for helping me in the early days of this site: Bill Zahren (Pressdog), Jeff Iannucci (formerly My Name Is IRL & now One Lap Down) and Roy Hobbson (formerly The Silent Pagoda & now Flipside). The three of them went out of their way to publicize my site on theirs. It was my first exposure to the IndyCar blogging “community”. I had incorrectly assumed that bloggers considered other bloggers as competitors. How wrong I was. Once the three of them gave me some shout-outs (all unsolicited, I might add), things really took off.

It made such an impression on me, that I took a vow to myself to try and help new bloggers whenever I could – just as those three had done for me. I’ve given shouts out for a few sites over the past two years. Some have become mainstays in the blogging world, while others flamed out.

Still, when I come across a new IndyCar blog that gets my attention – I try and spread the word. There is another IndyCar blog out there, strangely enough called Another IndyCar Blog or anotherindycarblog. It is written by Eric Hall, who I’ve heard e-mailing Curt Cavin & Kevin Lee on Trackside.

Eric certainly has the right pedigree. He is an Indianapolis native and he was born on May 30, what I still consider to be the traditional race day – at least until 1971. Still, I can remember going to races at the Speedway on a Wednesday, as odd as that sounds now.

Anyway, Eric has grown up a fan his entire life. His life isn’t quite as long as mine, but whose is? He will turn twenty-eight the day after this year’s race. That gives him enough time to gain a pretty good perspective on open-wheel racing.

One thing that catches my eye is that Eric seems to have an appreciation for the history of the sport in general, and the Indianapolis 500 in particular. Everyone seems to be caught up in the nostalgic fever that surrounds this year’s race, but will this newfound appreciation for the historic cars and drivers wane after this year? People expect a dinosaur like me to get into the historical aspect of the race. I’m somewhat of a relic myself. But what about the generations behind the Donald Davidson’s of the world? Will they keep these memories alive for future generations? It’s up to those in their twenties to start digging in now. You don’t absorb this stuff overnight.

Like me, life got in the way and Eric went through a few years where he didn’t follow the 500 as closely as he once had. Fortunately for him, the bug bit him again while he was still in his twenties. Even though I never missed the 500 on radio or television, I lost track of USAC/CART in my college days and in my wild post-college life. I got married at twenty-eight, was a father of two by thirty-one and got bitten by the Speedway bug again at thirty-two. So Eric is already four years ahead of me.

For those of you concerned that I’ve written three “puff” pieces in a row, you’ll be glad to know that I’m getting back to hard-core racing topics this Wednesday. Sometimes you have to throw in some off-topic posts over a holiday off-weekend. Occasionally, I do a few more lighthearted things to prevent burnout. Believe me, it can happen. As we head into May, that’s the last thing I want to do.

Like most other bloggers, I do actually have a life that doesn’t completely revolve around racing. That’s why I post only on Monday-Wednesday-Friday, in order to pace myself. Otherwise, I would have flamed out long ago like some of the others. I’ll put Eric on the spot and challenge him to not allow let himself to flame out. I hope he doesn’t.

So, let’s welcome Eric to the blogosphere. Compared to other types of blogs, there’s plenty of room for another IndyCar blogger – especially one who brings a unique perspective. His site has been up for one week now, but he already has several excellent posts up there. Go check out his site here.

George Phillips