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Notes Taken During the 2008 F1 Race in Barcelona, Spain

Notes taken during the SPEED telecast of the Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana Telefonica in Barcelona, Spain, on April 27, 2008.

Welcome to Barcelona, Spain where the massive crowds are in full-on Fernando Alonso worship mode.Word up from the studio posse, Bob Varsha (straight man), David Hobbs (color man) and Steve Machette (techno dude).

pressdog beer of the race is Negra Modelo, a tasty Mexican dark beer. It's not from Spain, but it's from someplace where they speak Spanish. Best I can do for ya. Good luck to me finding a beer of the race from Turkey next time.

Drag Racing is So Over the Gender Thing

Great story from Ryan McGee on rpm.espn.com about how -- while the IndyCar series froths about Danica's win -- female winners have become a ho-hum deal in drag racing.

After Shirley Muldowney (the First Lady of Speed, end of discussion) blew everyone up in the 70s, a wave of women have decided being covered in clutch dust is a good look for them.

Most recently is the modest Ashley Force, who seemingly prefers to be photographed in something fireproof. (A tank top is about as crazy as she gets, skin-wise.)

She's kicking ass of both genders off the line in NHRA Funny Cars this year. Deal with it, Gomer. Read the most excellent story here.

Update: Dude, you can't swing a dead cat in drag racing without hitting a female driver. Check out Paddock Talks story on the female crowd scene.

Jeff Olson Goes On Record with pressdog

He created furor by writing that all sports journalists "suck" ...

You know him from his mug shot on blogger dart boards everywhere ...

Now national racing for-real journalist and fellow Iowan Jeff Olson goes on record with pithy answers to burning questions.

Notes taken During the 2008 IndyCar race at Kansas Speedway

Notes taken during the ESPN2 broadcast and at the track during the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway, 4/27/08.

Greetings from Section 259 of Kansas Speedway, on the waaaaaaay far turn one end of the grandstands. It's 3:05 p.m., about an hour from race time, and I'm sitting next to a guy who looks like, I swear, Jack Nicholson. I didn't have the nerve to take his photo in case it was Jack and he would have then pitched me over the railing to land on the pretzel guy 15 feet below.

Live from the Kansas Speedway 4/27/08

10:33 a.m. Welcome back to Kansas Speedway. Once again, the story here starts with air temperature. It's sunny but the air temp was 49 when I rolled out of bed this morning. Too cold to go 210 mph around a track, so Firstone Indy Lights qualifying was delayed 30 minutes.

The Indy Lights cars are on the track. You can tell it's them by the sound they make. Lower pitched, lower RPM. Remind me of a sprint car sound. We got a couple minutes to kind of clean out the recorder from the bullpen yesterday.

(Last updated 7:04 p.m.)

Live from the Kansas Speedway 4/26/08

10:36 a.m. What up dogs? I'm live at the Kansas Speedway, ensconsed in the library-like media center and definitely not cheering. Maintaining my cover. I saw Patrick from Trackside Online, who is constantly wired in to every development within a 15-mile radius of the track. You should immediately subscribe to Trackside Online for their email alerts and updates. Comprehensive and yet stylish, much like Patrick himself.

(Last updated 4:26 p.m.)

Danica Patrick's Pilot Revealed as Huge pressdog Fan

According to the Indianapolis Star's transcription of Danica Patrick's every move, an airline pilot recently called Danica "Danicker Patrick" during an in-flight announcement.

Danicker revealed the newsworthy gem as she accepted the highest reward in American open-wheel racing, an appearance on the David Letterman show.

Vegas Mulls Banning Andretti Green's Moyer

Las Vegas casinos may soon ban Andretti Green's Kyle Moyer for "his freakish ability to roll the dice and come up Yahtzee!"

Meanwhile, insiders say since Sunday Moyer has been besieged by people who want advice on everything from lotto tickets to "fast horses in the sixth at Del Mar."

Notes taken during the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Notes taken during the Champ Car World Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on ESPN2, April 20, 2008. The 34th annual. Long Beach will continue next year, but will become an IndyCar series race.

Welcome to Long Beach for the last Champ Car World Series race ever. Sorry to say that the main reason to run this race is "contractual" which almost always a really bad main reason to do something. We got a mixture of IndyCar and non-IndyCar drivers in this. Could be a Festival of Circus music. Never know. But I think Long Beach is doing it's best to send off Champ Car with class, so buckle up.

Notes Taken During the 2008 Indy Japan 300 at Motegi

Notes taken during the Indy Japan 300 on ESPN Classic April 18 and 19, 2008.

April 18, 11 p.m. Central time -- Ensconced in front of the 42" Vizio HD Stunner, I get major video of a "weeper." This is not good since weepers weep more than Miss America contestants. The fact that there are roughly 72 people and vehicles positions around said weeper is not a good sign.

I've already cracked the pressdog beer of the race, Sapporo imported premium beer. Japan's oldest brand. 650 ml (22 oz.) in a funky tin can. I put it in my Knoxville Raceway koozie to preserve my rep as a stone cold dirt track thug.