VIP treatment at the Track, and PPG Pace Car Ride!

As most of you know I am on my way to a full recovery/cure from leukemia....and because of the medication I am taking I must stay out of the sun.

Friday morning I went to Michigan International Speedway to watch the CART teams practice for today's 500 mile race (ABC at 1:30pm EST).
The day was hot & humid with no clouds in sight and I was miserable, but yet wanted to watch the action from the pit lane, so I bought a pit pass and soon realized how bad of a risk I was taking. So, I walked into CART's office at the track and politely asked for a courtesy pass for one of the luxury air-conditioned suites above pit lane. Fully expected to be denied my request, but I was pleasantly surprised when, after explaining my situation, I was given a VIP pass to CART's suite for Friday's practice! Talk about kewl!
Long story short: Spent the day inside the suite, with food, beverages, coffee, etc available for all the guests, and since it was two days before the race the only other people with me were two gracious and super friendly (ie: pretty!) hostess's! Later in the day a young lady and her son joined us for lunch...I later learned that was Mrs. Heitzler and her son (CEO of CART)! Kewl again!
After the 2nd practice session I was just about to thank my hostess and head home, when another lovely young lady walked in and asked me if I wanted a ride on the 2 mile banked oval in one of the PPG pace cars!
Are you kidding? Of course Zippy wants to!
So we get a ride in one of the VIP's golf cart to the pace car staging area, and they put he in front of the line (sun sensitivity recognized by my hostess...thanks Alexis)!
I get strapped in the passenger seat of the blue NSX and off we go....80, 90, 100, 110, 120, and head down the main straightaway at 121 mph! Two laps of pure heaven for the 'ol Zipster and I am simply over joyed by this rare opportunity of hi-speed fun compliments of the great people of PPG, CART and worldcom.com.

A very sincere thanks to all involved in making this day one to always remember!

Zippy /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif