 Day 3 (Race Day)
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Speedway, Indiana
7:50 PM - It's Bitter Sweet; The Weekend is Over (bitter); but I Get to Go Home Now (sweet)
Video Update #8
I was able to attend the post race press conference with Tony Stewart and got some great pictures. The entire exprerience this weekend was awesome as I have such a passion for this sport and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With 5 laps to go I practiced taking a pictures of cars coming down the front straight and crossing the yard of bricks. I had one and only one shot to do it with #20 and fortunately I hit it almost perfectly (practice makes perfect -- thanks to Gerald for letting me use his camera after mine broke yesterday).
I'll be uploading photos from today and posting a photo gallery as well (just as there is one below for day 2).
I hope that some of you had as much fun reading and watching the videos as I did creating them. I am optimistic that we can take Bronco's Pitstop to a whole new level and I'm excited to be a part of it.
Thanks Jimbo for all you do!!! Thanks Mark for the great writing!!! Let's keep it going guys!!!
--Burzy
6:37 PM - Tony Stewart Wins The 14th Running of the All State 400 at the Brickyard
I got back to the Media Center after spending the first 120 laps in turns one and two and realized that I am a "crispy critter." My nose looks like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. Wow it was hot out there, but I just didn't notice it because I was having such a blast taking pictures.
Well, the race finally got going after being very caution filled at the beginning.. I attended Jeff Gordon's press conference following the race and I liked his answer when someone asked him what was going on with all the aggressive driving at the beginning. He said something like, "well, when you tell people there's going to be a 15 lap caution, then they race for 15 laps." Juan Pablo Montoya was also in the press conference.
I'm going to try to get in there for the Tony Stewart press conference, but I doubt I'll be able to get in there as it's going to be sooooo crowded. And who knows how long Tony will take to get there as he's still out on the Victory podium celebrating and taking pictures (so many sponsors; so many hats).
We'll be back soon.
--Burzy
5:07 PM - Mid Race Update from Inside Turn One (is this race ever going to end?)
Video Update #7
Is this race ver going to end? :D Anyway, I spent the first part fo the race in turn one and actually had some excitement there with two wrecks. They sure were going at it for as early in the race as it was, but this is a BIG RACE. I wasn't able to get the crashes on camera as they were happening, but I did capture a little of the after affects (smoke and crashed cars).
I'm now back at the Media Center and will have my final updates from here.
We'll be back soon.
--Burzy
1:07 PM - Morning and Mid-day Festivities
Video Update #6
I've been spending some time on pit road, the garages and back by the team haulers. Had a chance to see a lot of the drivers as they went to their mandatory driver meeting at 12 noon. Not much else at this time. Going to walk over to see if I can get some driver pictures during driver introductions.
We'll be back soon.
--Burzy
9:16 AM - Gentlemen Start Your Engines - It's Race Day at IMS
Video Update #5
I arrived at the track this morning at 9am this morning, parked and walked to the IMS Media Center. Got a chance to talk with Mark Theisen about our game plan for covering today's race and now I'm updating this online blog.
One of the first things I want to do this morning is thank my wife for her kindness, consideration and support of me covering this event this weekend (considering yesterday was our 17th wedding anniversary). I usually like to help my wife out on the weekends considering she is a full-time Mom who takes care of our 4 wonderful children all day long during the week: Riley (5); Ellie (4); Haydn (2); and Mason (1).
I'm not quite sure where I'm going to be today. I figure I'll take some photos in the garage and pit area and then locate in one of the corners for the race (I'm leaning toward turn 1, but not quite sure). I'm going to ask around to see what other people may recommend.
Keep checking Bronco's Pitstop throughout the day as I'll try to update as the events unfold.
--Burzy
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Day 2
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Speedway, Indiana
7:50 PM - Ganassi Teammates on Front Row for 14th Running
Video Update #4
The front row is set and it's Chip Ganassi teammates of Reed Sorenson on the pole and Juan Puablo Montoya right next to him. It was a great afternoon and a great day. Wow, I am so beat. I covered a lot of ground today and I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow. Time to head home and help my wife with our 4 kids (bathy night). :D
I didn't do too well in my picks from my post at 5:12pm. Oh well, thought I'd take a couple of long shots. Although I believe Bill Elliot had a nice run and so did Mark Martin (a couple good ol' veterans).
See you tomorrow from the Brickyard on broncospitstop.com. Good night.
--burzy
5:12 PM - Ready for Qualifications
We are almost set to start qualifications for the 14th running of the All State 400 at the Brickyard. The top five drivers in practice today were:
- #41 Reed Sorenson: 184.098 mph
- #40 David Stremme: 183.940
- #5 Kyle Busch: 183.831
- #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 183.809
- #19 Elliot Sadler: 183.767
I won't be too surprised to see the wiley old veteran, Jeff Gordon post a pretty good qualification run. He seems to always do very well here. The others I'd keep an eye on are: Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, and good ol' Awesome Bill from Dawsonville (Bill Elliot) is making a return in the Wood Brothers #21 Ford.
I am up in the Media Center right now and not sure where I'm going to locate once the qualifcations start, but I'm guessing down in the pits somewhere. I'd like to get some pictures and potentially be a part of some post-qualification interviews, but that remains to be seen at this time.
--burzy
2:38 PM - Sprint Nextel Cup Practice Completed
Video Update #3
This afternoon's only practice session just wrapped up and it was certainly filled with some pretty good speeds. Since this is an impound race the vehicles will be impounded after qualificaitons, which will begin at about 5:30pm. I'm going to head to the garage and see if I can get some good driver / car photos and possibly get a chance to talk with someone. There's a Gretchen Wilson concert getting ready to start as well as I'm hearing now in the background.
--burzy
1:34 PM - Photo Album Update
I was able to take a few minutes to use the "little boys" room and to get some lunch. Wow, what a day so far. I just wanted to make a quick post to let everyone know that I've updated the Photo Album with a few pictures (many more to come). Click here to view today's photo album.
--burzy
12:11 PM - Practice is Underway
Video Update #2
Practice has begun and it's once again such a site to see the show that NASCAR puts on. It looks like a bunch of boxes going 200 miles per hour. Practice will be running from until around 2:40pm and qualifications will begin around 5:30pm local time (eastern). I believe the #18 Interstate Batteries car is the only car to take it into the wall so far, you'll be able to see his car come by in the above video #2 (I hope you can hear me talking, but not sure if you'll be able to because of the noise).
There's a lot of people here at the track despite the cloudy skies. I'm very hungry and need to go to the bathroom, but can't seem to pull myself away from pitroad (I've had a banana and some water so far today).
Keep checking back for further updates and remember to email me at sb@imavex.com if you have any questions or requests for me.
--burzy
9:59 AM - New Day / New Camera
Video Update #1
Got here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). It's a gray day so far, but the weather is starting to cooperate. I would guess we'd begin practice within the next hour or so. The garage area is "HOT" right now so I can't get in there for photos as this time as I have "COLD" pass credentials, but I assume we'll be getting some good shots here shortly.
Myself and Mark Thiesen will be posting updates over the weekend so check back for updates to this blog as well as stories and photos.
--burzy
7:47 AM - New Day / New Camera
Good morning. It's my 17th year anniversary and my wife is being very gracious to allow me to head to the race track today (as we have 4 kids and the oldest is 5). "Thanks Honey!!!" Anyway, I'm heading to the track where practice is set to begin at 8:30am this morning (since yesterday was a complete wash-out.
I'll have more to post later on (including photos) so stay tuned.
--burzy
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Day 1
Friday, July 27, 2007
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Speedway, Indiana
4:53 PM - Wet Day / Broken Camera
Hi this is Steve Burzynski (burzy) who will be covering this year's All State 400 at the Brickyard for BroncosPitstop.com. Today was a crazy day. I arrived at the track around 11am, got parked, started walking into the facility and realized that I left my digital camera batteries at home charging. I called my wife who was so kind to meet me half way to get me the batteries. I then returned to the speedway and it began to rain. I sat in my car and decided to get my camera working for when the rain stopped (which it never did). I plugged in the battery and nothing. My Canon Digital Rebel XT stopped working. I called around and talked with a camera repair shop and it didn't sound good.
I called my business partner Gerald (who has the same camera) and he said he'd gladly let me use his for tomorrow and Sunday (race day).
I hope for better things tomorrow. Please keep posted to Broncos Pistop for updates and hopefully some excellent photos from the weekend.
--burzy
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