Time to catch up…Emma, Poppy and I had an amazing time over in London for the Olympics recently. I was really excited because we got tickets to see some of the track and field events, which are personal favorites of ours. Emma was especially excited to go, with her background being in competitive running for a number of years.
I can tell you that the crowd was unbelievable…80,000-plus sold out each night at the stadium was just incredible. It’s really something and I was especially impressed with the top runners…watching someone run at speeds nearly 30mph is pretty cool!
On the track, we have put our self in a better position heading into the final stretch run of three races at Sonoma, Baltimore and Fontana. The last round at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was exactly what the Target team and I needed. We won our fourth straight race there and gained a ton of points on the leaders. We are still in fourth with three races to go, but really took a big chunk out the lead and are now only being -28 points back.
The team has a good track record at Sonoma where we race this weekend. Dario and I tested there last week with a number of the other INDYCAR teams, hoping that will translate into a good show for us on Sunday.
Speaking of Sunday, this is always one of the biggest races of the year for the team. Target will be out in force and brining between 300-400 partners of the race program. It’s really incredible the support they provide for the team and it’s a nice reminder of what a great partnership this has been for many years for the team.
We have a pretty busy week leading up to the race this weekend as well. On Thursday before the race I’ll be in San Francisco where I’ll be reading to elementary school children at Sanchez Elementary School. This will be the second straight year we’ve gone to a school in the area with Target, brought the Indy car for the kids to see and read a book that Target was donating to the school. It’s always fun to participate in events like this in the communities where we race, especially now having two children myself who I read to.
This final stretch of the season is where you have to be the most focused at the job at hand. And in a team sport it takes a number of people all pulling together and being on their game to get the job done. We’ve seen it time and time again…this championship fight doesn’t end until the last lap of the last race of the season. This year it will all come down to Fontana. And with the twilight race being extended to a 500-mile distance – anything can happen.
….until then…
Enjoy the racing!
