Over The Wall

World Series of Poker

It’s no secret that I like to play poker and have been playing for a long time.  Most of the guys on the team have played before and occasionally we’ll play at the track during a rain delay or something.  This past week I was at the WSOP(world series of poker) in Las Vegas and played in event #34.  It was a no limit hold em event.   I got back from Michigan and held all our film meetings Monday and then boarded a plane for the tournament that started on Tues.  It’s the only tournament that started on a Tues. that I could play in because I didn’t want to miss a race and it gave me plenty of time to get back.  I ended up finishing 199^th out of 2100 players and made the money.  It was a cool experience in that I had a lot of guys on pit crews texting me and following it on the computer the whole two days that I played.  It was something that me and my brother did and hopefully we can do every year.  It’s always nice to take a mid week break and still be able to get back to the track in plenty of time.  Well, that’s about all for now.

Helio visits the shop

   One of the the cool things about our shop over here at Penske Racing is the fact that we run multiple teams out of one very large building.  Two of those teams are the IRL 3 and 6 cars driven by Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe.  This year so far has been a very good year for both teams and the success just keeps coming.  After winning his third Indy 500, Helio thru a cookout for everyone in the shop including the Cup guys.  For anyone who has never seen an interview or had a chance to meet Helio let me tell you a little about this guy.  I don’t know him very well but from the time I have spent talking to him over the last 3 years you won’t find a nicer more down to earth guy than him.  During his interviews after the race you see him all excited and like a little kid in a candy store and that’s the real Helio.  He stayed and signed autographs for everyone in the shop until there was nothing else to sign.  After he signed for a couple of hours he came by the gym to see some video of his last race and how he was coming into the pits.  It’s always nice to see a driver who doesn’t forget the people that make him good.  I think all the guys in the IRL shop appreciate that and it helps with the moral of the team.  If you ever get a chance at an IRL race to meet him it would be well worth it to go up and say hello.  Theres a good chance he’ll end up just talking to you.  Well, that’s about all for now.