Wild Man

With the 2011 NASCAR season behind us, it is now time to turn to more mundane matters, like who won the Indy Karting Grand Prix.

Sunday’s event, held at the beautiful Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis, pitted guys like John Andretti, Alex Tagliani and Austin Dillon against people like 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart, a former karting national champion.

Stewart grew up racing go-karts, on dirt and pavement, and is no stranger to the game. He is, however, racing out of class. The other guys, mainly being single-seat drivers, are jockey-sized, while Smoke…let’s just say there was an element of truth to those TV commercials with Lewis Hamilton for Mobil 1. He’s a bit…large for the karting game.

Before the race, Stewart declared that he wouldn't have an advantage because he'd be the heaviest driver in the field.

Apparently, heavy is good, because he beat Tagliani and Andretti to the checkered by 1.427 seconds. The race only took slightly less than six minutes, so it’s safe to say he thumped ‘em. Stewart made his eventual race-winning pass on Camping World Truck Series champion Dillon.

Smoke is the kind of guy that can take his car and beat yours, then jump in your car and beat his. A.J. Foyt was like that, so was Dan Gurney. Parnelli Jones could drive anything too. That’s in short supply these days, in the age of specialization, and it’s good to see.

I can remember back in 1975 (I was 10) seeing Foyt win a USAC Midget race inside the Houston Astrodome. Well, I saw highlights…it was spectacular anyway. I saw Foyt win a USAC stock car race at Michigan, and saw on TV that he won the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Oh, and I saw him win twice at Indianapolis on Memorial Day, too.

Smoke is that kind of driver, and I am proud to say I got to see him race too.