2013 Red Bull Indy GP (Indianapolis Motor Speedway)

Last year I wrote about how much we love the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, even though it's not in Kentucky, and I included pictures from the first five Red Bull Indy GP races here. We love IMS even more this year, especially because they were able to bring MotoGP back for another race. The 2013 Indy 500 was great (fastest one ever run), and now we're back for their best event of the year.

And we're on a mission.

The mission.

What's the mission? Deliver this sticker to The Kentucky Kid -- Ducati rider Nicky Hayden, a true Kick Ass Kentuckian. This sticker and other similarly awesome items are made by the folks at Kentucky for Kentucky who are waging a campaign to replace the Commonwealth's lame slogan with one that doesn't suck. And the sticker was made for folks like the Haydens who have represented Kentucky on the national and international stage for nearly two decades, and done so better than anybody else since 1792. [For more on that, read this.]

I brought extras just in case we see any other members of Earls Racing Team, including Earl, but the main mission is to get this sticker on the #69 Ducati. OK, fine, that's not gonna happen. I'm sure it can be used somewhere, though. Nicky was kind enough to sign some paintings I ordered for my office after his 2006 World Championship, so I owe him one...

2006 MotoGP Champion (artwork by Jason Watt).
Hayden stole the title from Valentino Rossi in the last race of the season.
That totally kicked...well, you know.
It kicked ass!

We got to The Speedway in time to watch the MotoGP qualifying session on Saturday and fortunately our friend was able to hook us up with paddock passes again. So cool... so cool...

These things make me happy.
This is my happy place.

Unfortunately, this weekend was going even worse for American Ben Spies than last year's Indy GP, which was a disaster. Last year his bike blew up in spectacular fashion while he was racing hard at the front; this year he crashed hard in practice and broke shoulder parts. I was looking forward to watching him on the Ducati, but no qualifying and no race for Ben this year. To say 2012 was a bad year for Spies would be an understatement, but 2013 has been even worse. Get well soon, Ben!

Last year a Saturday crash similarly eliminated Hayden from the race, but no such problems this year.

QP.

When you go a whole year between races, you forget just how fast these bikes are.
They're fast. At Indy they are about 210 MPH fast, and they'll be faster next year.

Paddock passes were sold to the public this year, and the paddock did seem more crowded.

Hey, look!
There's future AMA DMG Superbike Champ Josh Herrin.

AutoMotoPhoto

I love roaming the paddock and meeting Facebook friends in real life. For example, pictured above is Andrew Wheeler of automotophoto.com fame. Not pictured, it was nice to finally meet Dan Lo of CornerSpeedPhoto. We also ran into some other familiar folks who occasionally made their way out of the Pagoda, but I never did see EW. Someday, I'll see EW again... someday.

There's a lot happening in this picture.
That's all I'm gonna say about that.

We ran into a Kick Ass Kentuckian pal in the pits who got his Hayden helmet signed by Hayden after QP.
Sweet.

Who's Bryan?
What helmet?
Hello, Red Bull...

Rossi still rides around with Uccio in tow, but he's back in Yamaha Blue this year.

Cal's pillion rider is a lot more attractive.

Dovi rides solo.

Speaking of Dovi, I think this look probably sums up his feelings as he comes to terms with the Ducati.
He wasn't bothered much in the paddock, but he was happy to stop and sign autographs for those who asked.
It can't be fun visiting your teammate's home track...

The fastest man in the land, er, the world, hitches a ride.

Would you believe there is a diminutive Spaniard with a broken shoulder in the middle of that mess?

Told ya so!
I can't believe they let him walk around solo.
He had to remove at least one eager fan's hand from the injured shoulder.

There's a lot going on in this picture, too.
For example, something called a Tyson Beckford.
Don't know who he is, but he's always here and he's always wearing a backpack.
They put him on TV more than they put me on TV. Not sure why.

Ducati and Yamaha don't often work on projects together, but when they do...

Last year we checked out the Indy Mile action, so this year we went downtown to see the Motorcycles on Meridian scene. Quite the scene! Tons of people were downtown, especially after dark. Gen Con was taking place on the same weekend, but those folks didn't mingle too much with the motorcycle crowd. The highlight of the evening was an expected announcement from IMS that MotoGP would return in 2014. Woot.

This burger recipe won me a $150 gift card for Weber Grill Restaurant last year.
There's no Weber Grill Restaurant in Kentucky (they should fix that), but there is one in downtown Indy.
Time to eat!

Dinner with some industry friends.

The Weber Grill Restaurant is awesome, if you like grilled food. There are only a few locations, so if you ever find youself near one, give it a shot. Four of us got better food than we can cook and more food than we could eat for $153. Three dollars over the target... not bad!

OK USA!

Raceday Breakfast.
Leftover Weber Grill food & hotel fruit.
Yeah...

On Sunday we walked into the track with a high-ranking DMG official who praised Michael Jordan's team's Superbike performance this year, specifically praising Roger Lee Hayden. I'm guessing he didn't know then that Jordan would ditch the AMA's untelevised final race of the year and race World Superbike instead? Bravo, Jordan. Bravo...

The Racing Capital of the World.
Our race seats are up on top of that roof.
If you're scared of heights, it's not a fun trip.

Back in the paddock, we tried to go all paparazzi on a journalist type, but he was too quick with the block.
[Image by Juice.]

Factory Ducati Garage.
[Image by DFA.]

Coolest thing ever! We got to visit the Ducati garage a couple hours before the race. We had no business being in there at that moment, because it wasn't exactly downtime. Nick was on one side of the garage working with his engineer, and Dovi was on the other side working by himself with a laptop. The mechanics were working on the bikes; in fact, three of them were naked (the bikes, not the mechanics). I couldn't believe they let us slip in there for a picture. Who gets to see a naked MotoGP bike on raceday? Thanks, Mr. Ciabatti!

When Nick finished up with his pre-race meeting, we finally caught up with him.
[Image by Juice.]

Mission Accomplished.
Nice little chat, too. The Haydens love talking football.
Time to watch some racing...

Terrifying.

Catwalk to the Penthouse.

Turn 1.

T1 - T4.
This section will look different next year.

Before the race starts, I should probably mention that I called Marquez to win this race a year ago. He owned this track in Moto2 and there's no reason to think he can't dominate the MotoGP race on a factory Repsol...

2013 Red Bull Indy GP MotoGP race start.
This was the first time in years that Pedrosa didn't lead into Turn One.

The Attack bike made it through two corners, but not three.
Ben Spies has had a rough season, but Blake Young's has been worse.

The next few laps all looked just about the same.
Lorenzo is doing all he can do -- get out front and stay there as long as possible.

Same ol', same ol'...

The Doctor fell all the way back into Ducati territory before mounting a most impressive charge toward the front.

Before long, Marquez made his way around Pedrosa...

...and inevitably got by Lorenzo.
All over.

For most of the race, the Ducatis rode around in front of Smith's Yamaha, led by Hayden...

...but then the teammates started swapping places in T2.

The T2 passes didn't normally stick, and Smith just enjoyed the view while waiting for something to happen.

Pedrosa eventually relegated Jorge to third.
It was an all-Spanish podium, of course.

Dovi made the T2 pass stick on the last lap.
Boo!!!

Marquez liked to win the Moto2 races by at least a whole straightaway, but Dani kept him in sight on this day.
For whatever that's worth.

Some may have predicted Marquez would win this race, but nobody predicted he'd have the season he's having. He's swept all three American races, so I guess that means the King of America is a 19-year-old Spanish kid? Impressive. He's not just winning races; he's changing the sport. He's fun to watch and I hope he has a long healthy career.

What's this?

Hayden finished the weekend by making a kick ass move in the last corner to beat his teammate. It wasn't pretty and it allowed Smith get by both red bikes, but who cares? You have to beat your teammate at your home home track and Hayden did. Awesome!

Dovi didn't think it was awesome.

I hate this part...

...and this part.

The Ducati garage was a popular place after the race as Hayden was interviewed about that last corner.

Ciao, Gasoline Alley.
See you next year.

We followed this beauty out of the track.

We also gave Nicky's older brother (and manager), Tommy, a sticker and both are visible in this pic from Nick's phone.
We didn't see Rog or Earl, but next time I do I've got a sticker for them, too...
Keep up the good work, Haydens!

Things will be different next year. Nicky will be riding a different bike (probably a faster one). The track itself will be faster and offer better spectator views with a revised course layout. Perhaps Roger Lee can score a wildcard ride? That would be cool. With the Laguna Seca race being cancelled, perhaps the crowd will grow again? That turn of events is probably more likely to help COTA. Media reports said the 2013 crowd was smaller than 2012, but those numbers are estimates and it looked about the same to me. Here's to hoping we can keep MotoGP in the Midwest for many years to come... Cheers.

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Grilled & Marinated Heirloom Tomatoes (Recipe)

'Tis the time for tomatoes. I used to think there were two kinds of tomatoes -- big & small. At last year's Heirloom TomatoFest I learned that there are a bunch of different tomatoes, and a lot of them are ugly. We like the ugly ones. This year the TomatoFest moved from the farm to the market and I learned my new favorite way to use them.

2013 Heirloom TomatoFest @ Community Farmers Market BG.
That's like twenty different varieties of tomato.  Who knew?

Chef's Table.

Chef Josh from Home Cafe was manning the Chef's Table during TomatoFest and I'm totally stealing sharing his idea. See the sliced tomatoes in the pan pictured above? That's the idea. We grill the tomatoes just long enough to give them some fire flavor and then we marinate them in equal parts honey, olive oil, and vinegar. Before long, they taste like candy. What you do with them after that is up to you, and I reckon the possibilities are endless. Below I'll show what we've done with them over the past two weeks. We've kinda been having our own TomatoFest at home...

Grilled Portabellas and Tomatoes

Tomatoes, Honey, Olive Oil, and Red Wine Vinegar.

These tomatoes all came out of our CSA basket from Need More Acres. The little ones are a combination of Black Cherry and Snow Whites and they are so tasty that they don't really need to be grilled and marinated (I ate half the bag on the way home), but they're gonna be anyway.

Cut the big tomatoes into thick slices and cut the little guys in half. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Oh, and mix up your marinade. Josh says you can use sugar instead of honey, but we've just used honey. You'll want to whisk it up again right before you add the tomatoes because it does tend to settle in layers.

Grill 'em. This grill was at medium-low heat on purpose because I thought the little tomatoes would be hard to handle. They weren't, and a hotter grill is preferable. We don't grill the tomatoes for long -- once they have some nice grill marks they're ready for the marinade.

Grilled Tomatoes in the Marinade.

They absorb flavor pretty quick, so they don't need to soak for long. They bathed for about ten minutes here while the mushrooms finished grilling.

Grilled Portabellos w/ Gorgonzola, Mozzarella, Tomatoes, and Basil.

Grilled & Marinated Tomato w/ Iced Cream, Balsamic Vinegar, and Basil.

The dessert idea was also stolen from Josh. At the market he served the tomatoes with goat cheese iced cream from Meltdown and a grilled corn/berry/pepper relish that added some texture and heat to the sweetness. Being less ambitious I just went with sweet on top of sweet. I'm not typically a dessert guy, but this was awesome.

[Speaking of iced cream, you never know what Susan is going to bring to the market. She comes up with some pretty interesting flavors -- the first one I brought home was made with beets and the kids loved it (I didn't tell them what it was). This one was Goat Cheese Iced Cream w/ Heirloom Tomato & Peach Sauce, and not surprisingly it went well with these tomatoes and with peaches.]

Grilled Chicken Bruschetta

We had to wait for another CSA basket to do this one and it was worth the wait. I cut the smaller tomatoes smaller this time and grilled them on a plank to make them easier to handle. Turned out to be a great idea...

A medium-hot grill is definitely better for the tomatoes.

Planking in the rain... 

Grilled Chicken Bruschetta w/ Grilled Okra & Tomato Wedges.

After marinating the tomatoes in the same oil/vinegar/honey combination, we added some chopped garlic and basil to make a quick bruschetta. The chicken was marinated in a balsamic vinaigrette and topped with provolone on the grill.

Same dessert; better picture.

Grilled Chicken & Bruschetta Pasta

Uh... the plank is preheated.

When plank grilling, you want to preheat the plank to get it smoking. You don't want to forget about the plank you are preheating. Fortunately, we have plenty of planks.

Take II.

Grilled Chicken with Planked Tomatoes & Garlic.

This time we cooked and marinated the garlic along with the tomatoes before adding the basil and tossing it on some angel hair pasta. Pretty pretty simple. Pretty pretty tasty, too.

Grilled Chicken & Bruschetta Pasta.

Porterhouse Steak w/ Grilled & Marinated Caprese Salad

First middle school scrimmage.

#5 and team got a W in their first seventh-grade scrimmage, so a big steak is in order. OK, fine... he would have got a big steak even if they didn't win.

Farmers Market replenishment.

We've been going through honey and the CSA tomatoes too fast, but that's nothing a quick trip to the market can't fix. I stocked up on Hillbilly Grillers honey and Sunny Point Gardens basil & tomatoes (Rosalita, Snow White, and Sunsugar Hybrids). I also picked up some mozzarella from Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese and ran over to Rian's for a big ole steak.

Yeah, I burnt another plank...

Post-grill Marinade.

This time we used balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. It worked out well, and after a few minutes of marinating we just added some basil and shredded mozzarella. Easy peasy. I tried to trick my assistant into taking the bigger strip side of the steak, but he's smarter than that and he snagged the fillet...

Porterhouse with Grilled & Marinated Caprese Salad (of sorts).

Grilled Caprese Burgers

This is probably the simplest one so far using more Need More Acres tomatoes and cheese from Kenny's, some Dolan Farms ground beef, and basil from the neighbor's garden. Just put 'em all together on a bun and it's done...

Grilled tomatoes marinating in Balsamic Vinegar, Red Wine Vinegar, and Honey.
The double vinegar thing was a mistake, but it was delicious.

Grilled Caprese Burgers.

After mentioning that I needed better hamburger buns, my friend Gabe from Esters Farm Baked Goods brought some samples to the farmers market. Time to try again...

Proper marinade this time.

Grilled Caprese Burger... w/ better buns!

Summary

So, that's the idea. It's fun. I think the only way to mess up is to overcook the tomatoes on the grill -- the big tomatoes are harder to work with and I did lose a couple slices on the first attempt. I suggest having a well-oiled grill grate and a hot fire. Don't cut the tomato slices too thin, and use a spatula instead of tongs. For the small 'maters, tongs and/or a plank.

It seems kinda silly to try adding flavor to already flavorful tomatoes, but I'll keep doing it! And if I ever fire up the pizza oven again, I have a feeling these guys will end up on a dessert pizza or two...

The obligatory motorcycle or Corvette pic that has nothing to do with nothing.
KTM Super Duke R on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

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