We Don't Know Carroll from Adam

True, true, but across the pond, Adam Carroll is no stranger. So just who is this lad from the land of green that enters the (increasingly faster and faster) fold at Andretti Autosport for the race at The Glen? Let's check his vitals, courtesy of AdamCarrollRacing.com:

Nationality: Northern Irish
Date of Birth: October 26, 1982 (age 26)
Career Race Results:
Races entered: 223
Wins: 40
Podiums: 86
Pole positions: 24
Fastest laps: 25
Race win percentage: 17.94%
(the above statistics are a summary of the data currently
available)
Racing career highlights:
A1GP Champion 08/09
Second in Formula 3 Britain 2004.
Third in Masters of Formula 3 2004.
European Formula 3 Cup champion 2004.
British Formula 3 National class champion 2002.
Third in Formula Ford Festival 2001.
British Formula Ford Winter Series champion 2000.

'08/'09 A1GP champ...hmm. Sprinkle in some GP2, varying experience in other European formulas, and F1 testing for BAR-Honda, and we just might have something here. Intrigued? Check out Adam's full bio here.

So... new country, new series, new track, new team: how will Carroll fare against TK, RHR, DP, and MA? Hard to estimate, but that's not going to stop us from speculating. Check out the poll above, and voice your opinion on how things will shake out for AA at Watkins Glen.

BTW: Don't miss the showdown next Sunday—with so many road-racing superstars in the IZOD IndyCar Series, I think we’ll be celebrating the Fourth with a bang.

—JM

Tom Terrific

On the very threshold of another glorious “Month of May,” it’s only fitting that Andhesonit pay proper tribute to the man that inspired the name.

To me, the voice of Tom Carnegie will forever be as much a part of my Indy experience as early-morning bus rides up Interstate 74 and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in the stands with my dad. He is an icon. Part of the very fabric of Indy lore.

Below, is the very first post that appeared on Andhesonit. If you’re familiar with the master’s work, enjoy getting reacquainted. If you haven’t had the pleasure, please, meet the man:

When it came to titling this blog site, I was charged with distilling what 35-plus years of open-wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500 meant to me into a scant handful of words—no easy task, I assure you. The words themselves are plain to see, but to the uninitiated, their intended meaning is predictably elusive and mysterious at best.

But to the millions of souls that have heard those same utterances echo contemplatively, grandstand-to-grandstand, across the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they hold true reverence. They are iconic, hair-raising, and for those whose house of worship resides at the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown, I unabashedly say biblical.

Tom Carnegie’s voice is an instrument; more precisely, a drum. Not a child’s toy, but the deepest orchestral timpani in full roll at the hands of the most proficient percussionist. It’s low-boiling thunder, truck tires on a gravel road. Launched from loudspeakers at the world’s greatest and most historic sporting venue, it’s aural fireworks—simply magic.

Mr. Carnegie didn’t just serve as public address announcer for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he institutionalized the position. From 1946 to 2006 his voice was as much a part of the month of May as the cars, the fans, the drivers.

Quite reasonably, one would expect that the 500-mile race would be his brightest stage, and without question, his performances over the years were legendary. But in this writer’s opinion, the 33 snarling engines on race day only served as recurring and rude interruptions to his impeccable skill. During an era when the word “Indy” meant an ongoing quest for faster and faster speeds, the qualifications for the race are where Mr. Carnegie’s talent truly shown.

With only one race car on the speedway at a time, he had the captive ear of thousands. His dramatic delivery, tone, and inflection had fans hanging on every word in a one-way dialogue of the most engaging sort. Having performed so brilliantly for so long, Mr. Carnegie has become well known for a number of famous phrases, but to me, there is only one.

For an Indycar driver, competing in the Indianapolis 500 each year is second only to winning it. That makes a qualification attempt at Indy one of the most dramatic 10 miles in motorsports. To accomplish qualifying successfully is a triumphant victory of the grandest character, to fail is a tragedy of the greatest proportions—Tom Carnegie knew that as well as anyone.

After circling the oval on his warm-up laps and being presented with the green flag, Carnegie would skillfully and ceremoniously launch the driver into racing’s stratosphere, as if journeying to the moon, with four simple, monosyllabic words: “annnd he’s on it!” No one on the grounds, including the brave soul behind the wheel, knew what would happen over the next four laps. That’s what made those words so powerful... the suspense; the agonizing, all-consuming suspense.

Those famous words are what the singular pursuit of Indycar racing means to me. They simply and wholly encapsulate my decades-long love affair with the sport I just can’t seem to shake. To me, if they were to be linked so closely with this brave new adventure of mine, I felt it only just to pay proper tribute to the man who spoke them so nobly.

To put it more succinctly, on behalf of the millions, Tom, we miss you, and thanks for the memories.

Feeling nostalgic? Listen to an audio clip of Mr. Carnegie here (click on “First Lap”).

—JM

Take the Week Off

No, seriously, take the week off. Skulk into the warden’s office, send him an e-mail, slip a note under her door—I don’t care your methods, but when the last car leaves the mine on May 14^th, you’re in it, and they won’t see your war-torn corporate soul at the mill for nine glorious days and nights.

Why the sudden compassion for my fellow man? Just heaven on earth. Nirvana. Front-row tickets to a Clapton concert and free lifetime supply of Mt. Carmel India Pale Ale wrapped up into one. Just the greatest week of your entire planetary existence: the practice and qualifications for the most awesomist automobile race in the world, the Indianapolis 500.

Suffice it to say, when it comes to the buildup for this year’s race, I’m a little stoked. And, yes, come Beer:30 Friday the 14th, yours truly will be leaving the scene of the crime faster than M. Conway bolted from his 23^rd decimated Dad’s-mobile. That stretch of May days at the Speedway is truly going to be grand.

40-plus entries, a compressed schedule, 15 points for pole, and [Rod Roddy voice] “lots more” all add up to what should be one of the greatest Indy practice/time trial periods in recent history. So I don’t care how you get there, just get there if you can.

“But my job, my family, that little something I’ve got going on the side, what will they do without me?!” Simmer down there, Mr. Responsibility. This isn’t an all or nothing proposition. My actual earplug time, taking in the intoxicating fragrance of ethanol and slow-roasting, cooler-totin’, Keystone-swillin’, over-inked Hoosier will be limited, as well (don’t kid yourselves, my beloved Indianans—this ain’t my first rodeo).

I’m not suggesting you just pick up from the old homestead and pilgrimage to Mecca with nary a care, just do what you can to take in as much as you can of the splendor that promises to be.

Personally, I’ll mix up my day or two at the track with some live streaming, Trackside, and whatever Versus throws our way—I may just stare at my scale replica of JR’s ‘74 Mclaren and pretend I’m 8 again. Whatever. But rest assured, I won’t be working and I will be fully immersed in everything IZOD IndyCar.

It’s going to be a good one, peeps. Do what you can to be a part of it.

—JM

P.S. The race may not be too bad, either.

Can Sarah and Dollar General Cash in on Graham?

So Sarah Fisher generously casts her ego aside and smartly secures the IZOD IndyCar Series' hottest young talent, Graham Rahal, to wheel her #67 Dollar General car around the streets of St. Pete and the hills and dales of Barber Motorsports Park. Clearly, one of the most compelling stories of the upcoming weeks but, ultimately, how will they perform?

Small, tight-knit team with modest results meets uber-talented young stud with everything to prove. Of course, no one knows until the race is run, but what's racing without outlandish prognostications?

Here's your chance to predict the future and garner the respect of all the people you brag to that you knew the result all along. Be a one-click wonder—give us your prediction on how Graham will do at St. Pete by participating in the poll at right.

Thanks for playing along.

—JM