It’s been a long time since I have had a chance to convey my Velociteam news. That being said, I have been to 4 fantastic races that need to be talked about.

I just can’t say anything bad about Portland. Not even the rain dampened my spirit or the fact that Alaska Airlines completely ruined my suitcase. Apparently it was dragged on the tarmac. I had to duck tape it to get it home or all my stuff would have fallen out!

My rental car was a Hyundai. Go ahead and laugh, but that Hyundai beat two other cars around the race track. I’m not quite sure if we were allowed to be on the track, but we were there. Everyone had a great time talking about it at Camp Ronbo.

The Inner Circle dinner was a success. Billy Kamphausen and Brian Hughes were the guest speakers and carried the event well. A special surprise was in store for Dave Wood as it was his **th birthday. You can ask him his age when you see him. Manic Mechanic had the perfect present made for him since Dave and Linda do so much walking at the races. Just look at the picture, it explains it all!

Everything went so smoothly in Cleveland, I thought I was in the “Twilight Zone”. My luggage made it both ways unharmed. I had a full crew of volunteers and Full Throttle had his motor home fully equipped with food and beverages at the end of the track! Life can’t get any better than this.

Friday we had a BBQ at the motor home. Saturday was the Inner Circle dinner AT THE TRACK! This was the easiest dinner to get to in the history of the dinners. Jeremy Shaw and Mark Cippoloni were the guest speakers. Those two got blasted with questions and I’m quite sure they all got answered…in some form or another. There was a concert that night too. We all piled into Full Throttle’s Avalanche, to full capacity both inside and outside the truck, and went on our merry way to attend the festivities. Special thanks goes out to Tom Leckie and Wayne Chauvin for pinch-hitting in the Champ Car Display Area that weekend. Those crazy Canadians are the best!

I am adamantly laughing now. The absolute beauty of the area transcended any challenges we faced that weekend. I arrived a day early to meet up with my ride from Montreal. No luggage arrived with me. My plan was to work on Thursday from the hotel/condo and get some sightseeing and shopping done for my boys at the Roots store. Alas, NO INTERNET! Although the resort proclaimed free wireless access, nobody had it. I ended up connected at Race Control to do my work and schoolwork. I had a quiz to take for Physical Geography and the people in Race Control were very helpful. I got 20/20. Yeah!

When life deals you lemons, make lemonade…or in Canada…go to the BeniChoix and get steak, salad, appetizers, beverages and have a BBQ! We had a superb evening on the deck. Good food, great people and a lot of stories to tell. My luggage finally arrived on Thursday night and I hugged it dearly…even though they broke the pull handle. Hah!

The Inner Circle dinner went well. Eric Gagnon and Tom McGovern were our speakers. Eric is funny all by himself, but add Tom to the equation and you get even funnier. Tom said he had a commitment to make that evening so the speakers started early.  Several of us were trying to get to the “luging” area on the ski hill before it closed at 9pm as well. We compromised cheesecake and coffee to hit the lugging. Guess who we saw there? Tom McGovern. That was his prior commitment. Right on! We had so much fun on the ski lift and trying to get down that course, we wanted more.

What can I can I say? It rained every day there and was quite cool. The attendance though, was unbelievable! People were staked out in spots all over the track, no matter what the weather conditions were. The highlight of my weekend came on Sunday. My boss, Andy Castleman, told me I needed to help Brandi Latimer, 2006 Face of Champ Car, with a project. I can’t express in words the elation I had when they told me what the project was. Apparently, I was allowed a ride in the Two-Seater Minardi car! Never, in my logical brain, would I think that I could do that. Let me tell you, it was an experience I will never forget. I have a new respect for our Champ Car drivers now.

Toronto

I missed my flight. I have never done that before. Luckily, there was a flight 2 hours later and I made it there without any problems.

Friday and Saturday were immensely busy. Thank goodness for all my volunteers. The weather was agreeable and the people were friendly. The Inner Circle dinner was the “best” I’ve seen this year. Meesh did an excellent job. The food was savory, the speakers went over their call of duty, and the restaurant, Duke of Argyle,  kicked in a door prize along with Jim Swintal’s prints. Jim Swintal and J.D. Wilbur were the guest speakers. If you have not heard them before, these guys are awesome! They tell the most interesting stories you can imagine. When J.D. started up about motorcycle racing and how a “woodchuck” got in his way, I silently laughed so hard my stomach hurt!

So how did this 3-in-a-row end? With pizza! My other boss Keisa and I sat in the hotel room, ate pizza, watched “Family Guy”, laughed, packed, said good night and made our flights home.

Nothing would ever get accomplished without my volunteers. Thank you for everything:

Mick Crawford, Doug & Sheila Lautenschlager, Scott Fay, Roger & Lisa Davis, Janine Emken, John Trueblood, Scott & Terry Wallace, Randy Smeltzer, Mildred Youngblood, Pat Ryan, Joshua Avallone, Rilla Gagliano, Chantelle Bowen, Alison Senior, Heather Patterson, Tom Leckie, Wayne Chauvin, Josh Uelman, Scott Gillis, Levi Spaeth, Carol Stanley, John Lespoir, John Jarego, Stephane Verville, Jason Frenette, Greg Meringer & crew, Colin Avery, Patrice Parisien, Ginette Ruiz, Wayne McLeod, Gary Slavin, Vinny Martinez, Cynthia Martel, April Patterson

To all the local coordinators of the races.

Portland: David & Erin Smeltzer 

Cleveland: Matt & Karelyn Holub                     

Mt Tremblant: John Lespoir           

Toronto: Meesh, Allison Senior & Heather Patterson

..and special thanks to Steve Bortolussi…he always shows up and helps when he is not even scheduled.

Please yell at me if I left your name off the list

…until we meet again in Edmonton

Anaya Yates

Velociteam@Verizon.net