Escapism

RUN AWAAYYYY!

As childish as it may sound, I'm opting for escapism as a method of coping with the ridiculousness that has already become the Indycar off-season... 

My form of escapism you ask? 

Statistics.  Historical statistics.

Hey, groan all you like but I'm finding more every day that the old axiom holds true - 'the older I get, the less I know'. Rather than suffer through the off-season lamenting why I never studied a foreign language in my many years of book-learnin', or feeling remorseful for not learning more from my mother about how to, from scratch, cook a great meal, I'm going to spend a considerable chunk of the Indycar doldrums with my nose in this:

"When you are old and gray and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire, 

take down this book and slowly read, and dream of the soft look 

your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep." -William Butler Yates

Ah yes... the smell of soy-ink-printed semi-glossy paper. Black-on-white typography with no graphics or visual representations. Just numbers... sweet, sweet numbers... arranged tightly in columns and rows... will I dare to follow that footnote which teasingly runs onto another page of... *gasp* more numbers and perhaps a brief snippet?  OOOooohhh tingly bits, why must you betray me so? (I always have wondered about the juxtaposition of accountancy and erotica so thanks for indulging me briefly).

As much as I think I know about Indycar, there is always something to discover in a sport with over 100 years of history.  I'm going treasure hunting this off-season and I aim to bring you nuggets of interest/trivia so stay tuned. Also, if you desire a tangible countdown method for the upcoming Indycar season, buy one of these and make a habit of crossing off the days until St. Pete 2013...

Here's a quick example:
Q: in 2013, Indycar will make its first return to Pocono Raceway since 1988 and attempt to smash the qualifying record speed of 205.724 set by whom in 1986?  

A: Michael Andretti