The Best and the Worst of each series.. By Iain Shankland This is a 2-part article, so whether you agree with me or not in part one - be sure to come back for part 2 because I'm sure you'll be surprised with my concluding paragraph - I surprised myself.. Well, I "took one for the team." Until this season I'd never watched more than 10 minutes of an IRL race - I'd watched about 10 minutes of THAT RACE - Paul Tracy being robbed at the Indy 500. I promised in January that I would give the IRL an honest look-see this year and I did. I wanted to make sure it wasn't just a passing glance, and I made an honest commitment to give the IRL a fair chance at winning my attention and perhaps passion for their type of racing. I started with an open mind in the hope that I'd been missing a great and exciting race series. I watched every race on TV, and I even flew to Florida for the season-opener in Homestead, as well as driving to Watkins Glen for the inaugural IRL race at that track. I put my money where my mouth is, and I did my best to stay awake while watching it on TV. First of all, attending an oval race is WAY MORE fun than watching it on TV. Until I went to Homestead, I'd never been to an oval race and had no interest in ever attending one. But I did actually enjoy the race. Maybe it was because it was the first race of the season, but honestly I enjoyed myself. I watched the race from the pits and from the roof. I got to see Danica before Danicamania started. While on the roof I got to see her take out 1/2 the field in one corner and no one blamed her for being at-fault. DANICA... I also got to see the start of something truly unique in motor racing - a driver going BACKWARDS through the field and it's considered the right thing to do! You start at the front of the grid and lose a place every lap for the first 7 or 8 laps, finish mid-pack and you become a huge celebrity! Hey Michael Schumacher - you're doing it wrong!! Follow Danica's lead and you'll be rich and famous - don't forget to drape your body over some cars for a magazine though. (Maybe if Dan Wheldon had done that he would have gotten on the cover of S.I.)
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