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Each year the local ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) has a luncheon and golf outing at the Brickyard Crossing on Fast Friday. My brother puts on a silent auction to benefit a charity there (this year and last it was Sam Schmidt's Paralysis Foundation)**, and he's also wrangled a racing-related speaker for it (Doug Boles, Johnny Capels, etc.). This year, it was Robin Miller - a pretty big stretch for my brother, who once would have bled USAC red white and blue, had once been involved in many different IndyCar teams going back to the early 80's, and who was as much of a Hulman-George-Foyt-Stewart backer as anyone I know.
Robin really did a great job. He was funny and warm, and conveyed a love of racing and all the weirdness and people in it. He was gracious and outgoing with everyone casually, too, before hand.
He talked a bit about what IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500 racing needed - mainly more horsepower, and American winners. He related some stories about past and present drivers, but made them all sound great. He hammered his own racing experience, which apparently lasted a lot longer than I thought. He took questions and made the people asking them look smart
He considered the crowd and gave the PG-13 version of his usual talk, according to my brother, which was smart
Most of all, I appreciated the way he and my brother related. The Split's over, folks. Anybody still living in that past is just seriously, seriously wasting their own damn time and is holding the sport back now, in my opinion. We are all definitely on the same side now, if only because all the problems have grown to become pervasive and common to each of us, and the solutions all requiremutually beneficial cooperation of both sides.
It's not like either Robin or my brother have caved on their principles, it's just that I think for that one lunch at least they could see they wanted the same things - for a healthy, vibrant racing series where the challenges are huge, and the participants are up to the challenge - worthy of reward and justly rewarded.
** special thanks to Lotuspoweredbyford for his extraordinarily generous donations to the cause, for many years running now.
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