Coca-Cola 600

After all the excitement of the Indy 500. I was suprised to see another jaw-dropping finish in the Coca-Cola 600. I caught the last 30 laps of this race. FYI - each lap takes about 30 seconds.


First, I want to give a hats off to Denny Hamlin and his team for successfully changing the carburetor and finishing tenth.


This race was also very exciting down to the end. Everyone got gas with 60 laps to go, which is too far too make it. As they neared the end, running under green, a real question of who would have the fuel to finish. With a caution at 4 laps to go, the engineers scratched their heads on what to do. Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving the National Guard car, had done every thing he could to save fuel. He patiently raced behind the UPS car - drafting. During the caution laps, a team mate came up behind him and pushed as he had his car off.

As with the Indy 500, it was not to be for the National Guard team. On the last turn, Dale Earnhardt Jr., ran out of gas. Even though they had built up to it for the previous 30 laps, it was still surprising to see it actually happen. What a surprising day.

Indy 500

I managed to catch the last 20 laps of the Indy 500. I always think this is the best part of the race. The rest of the race is for wearing out the cars and drivers.

Danick Patrick had just taken the lead for the first time since 2005 (the last time I think I have watched any of the race). Half way to the finish, she just got passed - not enough fuel to finish at the leader's pace. Bertrand Baguette, who passed her, ultimately ran out of fuel with two laps to go. JR Hildebrand, a rookie took the lead, with Dan Weldon a little over a second behind. Going into the last corner, passing slower traffic, slid out on the debris and crashed into the wall. I was shocked, telling him to gun it. He regained control of his car and on three wheels was passed just before the yellow caution, finishing the race in second place. You can see the light change from green to yellow in this video.

Too bad the National Guard car wasn't able to take the win for Memorial Day weekend.

Thank an Engineer

I have never thought of Civil Engineers as bad guys. I have found that most of them are very agreeable. Although it comes as no surprise that not everyone thinks the same as me, after all I am an engineer, it is interesting that engineers are trying to boost their public image.