A Huge Shout Out To A Modestly Budgeted Local Race Team!!

[CIRF]

Way to go Dale Coyne Racing #18 racing team. They started dead last and won the St. Petersburg Grand Prix.

Train racing? Only an uninformed paper a$shole would make a silly statement like that about a races like this and last year at Texas.

We have a very soft spot in our collective hearts here in this part of the country for Dale Coyne Racing. DCR is located less than an hour from us in Plainfield, Illinois. DCR is a relatively low budget team compared to Penske, Ganassi and Andretti. Starting dead last and wading through a field of cars of the caliber of those other teams is a highly commendable accomplishment, to be sure.

It's great to once again seeing a very good crowd at St. Pete as usual!

Great way to start the season! Less than 80 days until The Greatest Spectacle In Racing!!

[kidrock]

Way to go Dale Coyne Racing #18 racing team. They started dead last and won the St. Petersburg Grand Prix.

Train racing? Only an uninformed paper a$shole would make a silly statement like that about a races like this and last year at Texas.

We have a very soft spot in our collective hearts here in this part of the country for Dale Coyne Racing. DCR is located less than an hour from us in Plainfield, Illinois. DCR is a relatively low budget team compared to Penske, Ganassi and Andretti. Starting dead last and wading through a field of cars of the caliber of those other teams is a highly commendable accomplishment, to be sure.

It's great to once again seeing a very good crowd at St. Pete as usual!

Great way to start the season! Less than 80 days until The Greatest Spectacle In Racing!!

Yes I was glad to see Dale Coyne and Sabastian Bordeaux get a win especially going from last to first. How about Dale telling him to be easy on the motor if you do doughnuts lol

I don't know how they get that good of a crowd when at least on TV that has to be one of the boring races to watch

[CIRF]

Yes I was glad to see Dale Coyne and Sabastian Bordeaux get a win especially going from last to first. How about Dale telling him to be easy on the motor if you do doughnuts lol

Cheever & Goodyear got a big kick out of Dale telling Bourdais to go easy on the engine too, Kid. That's the difference between a true grass roots owner and someone like Penske or Hendrick. I'm willing to bet Dale isn't a huge fan of the whole burnout nonsense BS even if he was flush with money.

I don't know how they get that good of a crowd when at least on TV that has to be one of the boring races to watch

A real close friend who annually winters in the St. Pete area goes to this race every year and he says it's one of the biggest events of any kind throughout the whole year in the Tampa-St. Pete area. I am not a huge fan of the road course/street course races whether it be open wheel or taxi cabs but this one today was very good right up until towards the the end when Bourdais had an insurmountable lead. Coming from last to win is some good stuff no matter what track it's on.

[dmr37]

Dale Coyne built Rt 66 Dragstrip and was one of the original partners of the adjacent Chicagoland Speedway. He sold his share to ISC (Nascar) at peak value. He started his race team with Walter Payton.

[CIRF]

Dale Coyne built Rt 66 Dragstrip and was one of the original partners of the adjacent Chicagoland Speedway. He sold his share to ISC (Nascar) at peak value. He started his race team with Walter Payton.

Coyne is a feel good story, for sure. He is originally from rural Minooka, Illinois. Started with pretty much nothing as a driver and car builder. Had a very lackluster driving career due to being grossly underfunded (still is).

We go past Coyne's offices on our way back and forth to the Chicago airports, etc. As you drive by you can see there is an actual Indy Car hanging on the wall in the lobby area of the office building. They keep the place lit up at night and you can see it as you drive by on Interstate 55 near Plainfield, Illinois.

A couple of years after Walter Payton retired from the NFL we went up to Milwaukee for the Indy Car race. We had Paddock passes that day and we arrived at the track early and went into the garage area to kill some time. Lo & behold Walter was on hand signing autographs and generally laughing and having a great time. Much to our surprise Walter had no security around him and was as accessible as if he was just another guy at the race and to the credit of Indy Car fans he didn't need any security. I'm not big into bothering celebrities for autographs so we didn't ask for one but that was one time when I wish I had. Little did we know at that time he would die very young.

Walter was a great ambassador for Indy Car racing. Hard telling what Coyne & Payton might have accomplished in the sport with Walter's name recognition and clout with sponsorship and the advertising industry.