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I am about to contradict myself…sort of. This is my site, so I reserve the right to be inconsistent every now and then. For years, I have felt free to comment on various drivers skills, or lack thereof. Over a decade ago, I wrote a scathing commentary on driver Dennis Vitolo – calling him the worst Indianapolis 500 driver over the previous twenty years.

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Update: Before we get into an IndyCar discussion, I have an update on my wife, Susan. Most of you know she was diagnosed with Stage-3 pancreatic cancer in July of 2020. After six months of grueling chemo, then surgery, then oral chemo and radiation; she is to undergo scans every three months for two years. Her first post-treatment scans were in August, just a few days before the Music City Grand Prix. Those scans were clear, allowing us to enjoy our hometown race weekend. It has now been three months, and Susan had her second round of scans this past Monday.

I am thrilled to announce that her Monday scans were completely clear again. Now we can enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas. Her next scans will be in early February. Only 20% of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer make it a year, and Susan did that this past July. Only 8% survive beyond the five-year mark. We still have a ways to go on that, but having clear scans sixteen months past the original diagnosis is a great start. Thanks to everyone that have held Susan in their prayers the past year and a half. – GP

We are still a couple of weeks from Thanksgiving and we still have almost four months to go in the offseason, but is that too soon to start talking about the NTT IndyCar Series for next season? More specifically – will Alex Palou compete for the 2022 IndyCar championship, or was his 2021 campaign simply a fluke?

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Over the weekend, I was reading through the Racer Mailbag, and I was perplexed by what Marshall Pruett said about IndyCar’s reluctance to pursue a show like the ultra-successful “Drive to Survive” series on Netflix. In case you’re unfamiliar with the show; “Drive to Survive” is a docuseries that goes behind the scenes of Formula One. Not only does it have fantastic racing footage, but it gives viewers insights into the lives of the drivers, owners and team principals. Most importantly, the show has been given unparalleled access to the politics and cutthroat business practices that have been a part of the sport for years.

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While they are an inevitable part of racing, most hardcore fans of the NTT IndyCar Series don’t like to see crashes. While yellow flags sometimes spice up the show, I think most true fans would prefer that caution periods did not come at the expense of crash damage or worse.

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I tend to get myself in trouble when I discuss things I’m not fully versed on. I’m venturing into that territory today my commenting on this past year’s Indy Lights champion. Most readers here know that I don’t follow Indy Lights very closely, or any other ladder series for that matter. I don’t follow minor league baseball, either. I wait until they get to the big leagues before I learn about them. I only have so much room in my brain. I don’t want to clutter it up with the names of drivers who may never drive in IndyCar.

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For whatever reason, Fridays have always had very light traffic on this site. Even on race weekends, my “(Fill in the blank) Preview” posts go largely ignored. Imagine how small the readership is in the offseason. No, I’m not abandoning my Friday posts, but there is a good chance many of you missed my post this past Friday. It has relevance to what I am writing about today, so you may want to go back and read it.

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Social media is full of a lot of garbage and meaningless posts. I don’t think I’ll get any argument from anyone on that point. A couple of days ago, the IndyCar on NBC Twitter account ran one of those tweets that are designed to keep up fan interest during the IndyCar offseason.

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