Thru Noggles Goggles .::. October 26th

Racing announcer and TNG reader Bob Jenkins sends this sad news:

“My wife of 44+ years passed away Thursday afternoon at our Carmel, IN home surrounded by family, friends and both of her beloved miniature schnauzers.

Pam was diagnosed with primary peritoneal cancer in 2005 and underwent surgery and two rounds of chemotherapy. Long term survivors of that type of cancer often see it spread to the brain, and that’s exactly what happened to her. After 6 1/2 weeks of proton radiation therapy at IU in Bloomington, IN Pam came home but it was obvious she could not survive the disease.

Her death comes 2 1/2 weeks after my only brother, Tom, died in Richmond, IN. A memorial service for Pam will be held sometime next week in Carmel.

Thank you in advance for your condolences.

Bob”

Our condolences, Bob. You certainly have the support of the 230+ readers in “Thru Noggle’s Goggles”. We are all here for you and many prayers go up on your behalf.

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Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star reports on the latest in the racing world:

If former open wheel ace Tony Stewart is Nascar’s most versatile driver, Sebastien Bourdais is IndyCar’s equivalent. The Frenchman who won four consecutive Champ Car World Series titles and excelled in Formula One, LeMans-style racing, Grand Am, the American Le Mans Series, the Superleague Formula, IROC, the Race of Champions and IndyCar, again was the top international driver in last weekend’s V8 Supercar race in Surfers Paradise, Australia. The prize was a second Dan Wheldon Memorial Trophy. Yes, Bourdais benefited from being Jamie Whincup’s teammate in the championship-leading Team Vodafone entry, but he did his share, winning a race for the second straight year. The V8s are rear-wheel-drive, 5-liter machines driven on the right side. In a sense, asking an IndyCar driver to be competitive is like asking the world’s best tennis player, Roger Federer, to compete with a top racquetball player with one day of practice.

“That’s my strength,” Bourdais said of his adaptability. “IndyCar is not the only thing I have driven recently, and I know how to adapt and do the job when I jump into another car.” Bourdais said the V8s are a blend of a GT sports car and “a very soft rear-powered tin top.” A soft race car is easy on the tires. Bourdais and Whincup won the Saturday race and finished second to Will Davison, the cousin of former Indy Lights driver James Davison, and former F1 driver Mika Salo on Sunday. Will Power was third in both races in the car running as a partner to Davison and Salo. Ryan Briscoe was fourth in the first race and fifth in the second with the Holden Racing Team owned by Tom Walkinshaw. That’s the team Dan Wheldon was to drive with last year.

Graham Rahal was eighth and 11th last weekend with the Jack Daniels Racing team. The only other IndyCar driver with a top-10 finish was Simon Pagenaud. He was eighth Sunday. Marco Andretti, Justin Wilson, Mike Conway and James Hinchcliffe also participated.

Hinchcliffe’s car stalled at the start of the first race — the series has standing starts — and was struck from behind. The contact ignited a multi-car pileup that saw teammate Ricky Taylor, get knocked upside down.

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Sebastien Bourdais said he still hasn’t signed a 2013 contract, but he hopes to be back with Dragon Racing’s IndyCar team.

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IndyCar officials denied an Autosport report that a deal has been reached with an Italian promoter to stage a race there next year.

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The menu for the Race Chaser luncheon tomorrow is Baked Steak, Chicken & Noodles, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Rolls, Tea or Lemonade, and Dessert. And just a reminder that due to getting an early start to eastern Indiana tomorrow, there will be no TNG. Next report will be Monday. Looking forward to seeing an even 60 of you at “The World’s Fastest 1/2 Mile Speedway” tomorrow.