I spent a wonderful afternoon down in Bloomington for the boys high school track and field. It was a lot of fun. It’s such a great event. You get running, jumping, shot putting, pole vaulting…a good mixture of events.

Ben Davis won the team event for the second straight year with Matt Terrell leading the way. Congrats to BD and to all the competitors.

Made me want to bust out the track shoes … or not.

Coach Jim Caldwell’s first Colts mini-camp as head coach has some interesting changes from the way Tony Dungy did things. Besides so many new faces on the staff, he’s got a seating chart when players are in meetings.

Some of the guys were joking about it, Reggie Wayne saying he’s up front and in the middle next to the “teacher” now, so close he can run the projector, while Joseph Addai and Dwight Freeney are a few rows back and on the ends.

Dungy let the guys sit where they wanted, but Caldwell wants to know who’s there and who isn’t, and will take account of it. Pretty amusing!

Meantime, Adam Vinatieri and Joseph Addai revealing leg surgeries that will slow them down, but should not affect their status for the regular season come September. Addai had a knee scoped and is taking it slow, while Vinatieri had hip problems corrected by the same Vail, Colorado doctor that operated on Yankee Alex Rodriguez’ hip. He’ll probably miss training camp, but with rookies Pat McAfee and Tim Masthay experienced in punting and place kicking, they’ll be ready to step in.

Say what? Nadal losing at the French Open? I couldn’t believe this when I saw it today. Here’s a guy who has owned the clay surface. I mean, he had never lost a match on clay..a perfect 31-0. I thought for sure he was headed to another French Open title…but Robin Soderling had something to say about that! But that’s what I love about sports anything can happen on any given day. I guess it’s Roger Federer’s tournament to lose…we’ll see…

I was entertained by today’s race at Milwaukee, another win for the IceMan, Scott Dixon.

Dixon may not have had the dominant car, (Ryan Briscoe did), but he played the traffic game just right, and showed once again why he is one of the best in the business.

It was a good day for drivers born in Australia, as they finished 1-2, and could have been 1-2-3, had Will Power been allowed to compete. I really hope Verizon Wireless takes some of the money they get from my cell phone bill, and give Power some additional races. A top 5 finish at the 500 showed just what a quality shoe Power is.

Graham Rahal has been knocking on the door for a big result on an oval, and he got one with a 4th place finish. Graham has been preaching patience to himself, and he delivered in a big way. Rahal 2.0 is a definite title contender, mark it down.

Danica Patrick has had a solid season, other than an accident at St. Pete (that wasn’t her fault), DP has been near the top of the scoring pylon each week. She’s a title contender as well, as long as she doesn’t hit another mid-summer cold streak.

I saw most of the Dover race in picture-in-picture. Sam Hornish Junior had another nice day, and I thought Tony Stewart was going to get his first points-paying win as an owner, until Jimmie Johnson stole it at the end.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that today is the 44th anniversary of my hero Jim Clark winning the Indianapolis 500. Even though he won the race before I was born,  I can imagine how that beautiful Lotus looked when it crossed the finish line first. Happy anniversary to Jim Clark.

By the way, for all the people who sent me a kind note after my pneumonia bout of this week, thanks! I appreciate it.

Is the 94th Indianapolis 500. (It’s never too early to start the countdown)

I have gotten several e-mails wondering why I haven’t put up a blog this week. The reason is simple. I got hit with pneumonia on Race Eve, and have pretty much spent all week in bed.

It’s never fun getting sick. It’s really no fun getting sick on my favorite day of the year. I spent race day battling a 101-degree fever, but I am not going to complain.

That’s because, for the first time, when “Back Home Again In Indiana” was sung, I was a Hoosier.

I’ve waited my whole life to be an Indianapolis resident on race day, and as I told some co-workers, I’d have to be dead to miss the 500.

As always, the month of May went by way too fast for my tastes, it seems like opening day was just last week. But this year was different, I got to be at the track every day, and got to visit with a lot of friends.

Helio Castroneves is a deserving champion, he’s a truly good guy, who makes everyone around him jovial.

I was disappointed by the pit stop that sent Dario back, I really thought he was a possible winner.

I am glad that Vitor Meira is ok, it was just not his day, from the pit fire, to that savage crash. Vitor is a great guy who really “gets” Indy and its’ history, and so I wish him a speedy recovery.

My biggest disappointment, other than the race day fever, was Graham Rahal’s finish. My friend Graham WILL be an Indy 500 winner some day.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a quick look at Milwaukee, and a shout-out to May 31, 1965.

Wow … wasn’t it just April? Where did the month of May go? Okay, I know we still have a couple of more days of May but in Indianapolis, the month ends when the Indy 500 ends.

What a great a May it was. I couldn’t be happier for Helio Castroneves. He is one of the nicest people I know and I love it that he ALWAYS has a smile on his face I wouldn’t have been disappointed if Tony Kanaan won and I was so sad he crashed out… next year Tony!

And I have to give a shout out to my new friend from New Zealand, Tim Wilson!  He was there covering the race for the first time … Nice job Tim, your story on the basketball game was fantastic! Next year we’ll get you to understand IndyCar

I think a red and white car will probably win this year’s Indy 500. But you probably think I am referring to Team Penske….and yeah…how can you bet against them? Solid all month, they have the two top starting spots, and the KING of the 500 Roger Penske will be looking for his 15th 500 victory.

But I am going to go with Scott Dixon and Target Chip Ganassi Racing. I just feel it’s Dixon time to win AGAIN. A win would make him the first driver to win back to back since Helio Castroneves did in 2002. All month long all the talk has been about Team Penske…and Chip and his boys have just practiced, qualified, and worked on race set up with no problems…loving the fact all the attention is NOT on them…but on everybody else. I think Chip loves this situation. My prediction: Dixon wins AGAIN…we’ll see.

Community Day always puts a smile on your face..no pressure, no stress, everyone has access to all parts of the track, it’s a happy day. One of the highlights is the two hour autograph sessions where every driver in the field signs for sixty minutes, poses for pictures and chats with fans. We spoke with a few of them..cousins Marco and John Andretti were ironically seated together by happenstance. John said it was great to catch up because neither had time to visit in what’s been a hectic time,especially for John trying to make the field, but he looked about as relaxed as ever.

I know I shouldn’t have favorites, I should remain unbiased, but Sarah Fisher Racing is pretty high on my list. If you have never met Sarah, you should.

But don’t worry, she’s been making the rounds on national TV, so you can see her personality on display.  Monday night she was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart  (watch her interview) and on Friday, she’s on The Price is Right.

Her garage is always open and you are always greeted with a smile. She’s a great person, a great driver and a great owner. That’s some seriously positive girl power!

One of the coolest parts of my job, and my place in the collectibles world, is the people I get to meet.

Monday, I had lunch with Dick Wallen at Charlie Brown’s, which turned into an amazing experience.

For those who don’t know, Dick is a famous filmmaker who documented the 500 for years. In addition, he’s an accomplished author, his books on the old board tracks, and the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s, are an absolute must-have for any race fan interested in the past. I have bought several autographs from him over the years, and he’s truly one of the best people in the world.

Dick invited me to lunch, and while we were there, well-known television personality Robin Miller showed up with a group of former drivers.

Over the next few minutes I got to meet and talk with two great drivers from the past, Ralph Liguori, and Jigger Sirois. Neither ever made the 500, but both were popular drivers, who made HUGE contributions to the sport. “Ralphie The Racer” had a fine career in both IndyCars, sprint cars, and NASCAR, and Sirois, of course, was the hard luck guy who could have been on the pole in 1969.

Also at the lunch, were Bill Vukovich II, and Bubby Jones, among others. (It was great to see both Vukovich and Jones in good health, because both have been battling various ailments recently).

It was racers sitting at a table, talking about the good old days and enjoying each other’s company.

It would have made a great television story, but frankly that would have ruined the spontaneous conversation and jokes.

They don’t make them like this group anymore, and I was honored to be a small part of it.