Leah goes to Indy

The month of May is dedicated to the Indianapolis 500, and that means we are in Indy until after the 94th Indy 500 is over on Sunday May 30th. We arrived on Wednesday night the 12th and, of course it was a beautiful day on Thursday and most of Friday before the track opened for practice.

No surprise that rain came in around the time the cars went out and it’s been chilly and damp ever since. Mom tells me it’s always like this in Indy – that’s why we send ahead a diverse amount of clothing and rain gear.

I’m not sure about this place. People are always starting engines in the garage area and they have such a funny smell, almost like tequila. My favorite area – aside from the excellent restrooms that line the place – is the drivers’ coach corral, where we can visit my new IndyCar Series friends. We keep running into Chuck, Uncle Dario’s driver, and Waddy, who works with Uncle D’s teammate Scott Dixon. They just give me love like nobody’s business.

I’ve also had a chance to meet Shug, Buttermilk, George and Oscar, who are Uncle D’s (the first two) and Scott & Emma Dixon’s doggies. We’re all getting along really well out there in the coach area. We go out there whenever the track is cold and nobody’s running the engines, so I can get some exercise, amuse the public and do my business. After almost two weeks here, that’s my favorite spot – outside of Debbie’s house.

While we’re here, we stay with Debbie, Hector and Sierra [no], who have a wonderful back yard to romp in. I am so unaccustomed to being able to run and play without a leash on and that’s almost a cheap thrill. The bed at Debbie’s is very, very comfortable for me and she’s got lots of nice blankets for me to use. Mom is talking about getting me a blanket of my own so I can retire the red airline one.

They serve food to the media every day and mom gets me treats from the third floor for later in the afternoon when my blood sugar is down – or that’s the excuse I’m making. At least we’ve got my regular food roll for breakfast and dinnertimes, as well as the eggs and cheese I get mid-afternoon. I’ve discovered I like blueberries. Figure that!

Every day has been a succession of waking up way to early, going to the track, sitting on the floor the media center while Mom works, going to walks and going home way too late in the evening.

Nobody seems to believe that I can sit in this media center throughout the day without having to wander around and/or relieve myself. I guess I’ve just got better manners than any other dog they’ve met? Occasionally I’ll bark at mom so she puts me on her lap when she’s writing. It’s the most comfortable spot in the place for me.

Qualifying weekend was something else – where we’d had cool, icky damp weather leading up, suddenly there was nothing but heat and humidity – and here we are on race day with more of the same.

I knew race day would be something else, but when mom got me up at 4:30 in the morning and that cannon went off at 6 while we were walking to the media center, it was so, so scary!

I mean, it was bad enough some bozos set off firecrackers near Debbie’s last night to scare me; I just wanted to run and run and run when that cannon went off. It’s almost 11 in the morning and I’m still shaking from that! I understand Indy is all about tradition, but seriously now?

Mom’s been walking me all over this morning because when it’s “last chance” it’s really last chance. I don’t like this heat on the asphalt and concrete; it really hurts my paws. But I guess it keeps my mails trimmed a bit more to walk on the stuff. I’ve been panting a lot from the humidity – we don’t have any of that in California.

Even though it’s not legal, I’ve got my own credential for the IZOD IndyCar Series. A friend made it for me and it’s got my name, my picture and looks really, really official. Aunt Kika gave me an IZOD collar (and pad), so we’ve got the hard card hooked up to that. Brian Barnhart, head of the IRL racing division, thinks my credential is really cool. I’m so glad he has a sense of humor. Mom said it’s the first sign she’s seen of one.

I knew this was going to be a big day – we’ve been building up to it for almost three weeks, haven’t we? There are so many people here mom has to carry me around a lot to keep me safe. She doesn’t want anyone to step on me.

The race was SO loud and everybody kept talking in the room. Mom was up and down and all over the place.. It was all I could do to get under the blanket and block it out. I did not want to wear my muffs in the media center; they just aren’t that much fun, you know?

And the good news? Uncle Dario won the race! I got a nice head scratch from him after the press conference – I do attend nearly all of them – and that felt so good. The next morning, mom left me at Debbie’s and went for the daylong photo shoot (she said it seemed like a day but it was only an hour or so).

Lucky Shug and Buttermilk had their pictures taken on the winning car with Uncle Dario and Aunt Ashley – talk about lucky dog sperm! They got to do their thing without wearing leashes too because they’re so good. I do like S&B, along with Arthur and George. They were fun to sniff all month.

Later in the day we drove to Chicago. Not the best time to do that, as some big thunderstorms came through. The first time I heard the thunder I looked at mom wondering what was going to happen next. Then a big boom came and I got on the floor of the car! I shook the rest of the way to Chicago; it was so scary.

We got home last night (Tuesday the 1st of June) and we get to spend some time together until Saturday. I am going to John & Laurie’s house, aka the Ark, while mom goes to Le Mans without me. I know she’s really distraught about that, but we’ll be together again before we know it.