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Behind the Scenes at the Indy 500
24 Jun, 2010 By: Bill FaneAs guests of HP and Gil de Ferran's Dragon Racing Team, two car-loving CAD journalists see first-hand the computer power behind the engine power — not to mention a few celebrities.
Editor’s note: Although technically he’s retired now, Cadalyst contributing editor Bill Fane has hardly slowed down. On any given day you might find him teaching an AutoCAD course in Texas, covering a software launch in Europe, or spending the holidays in Hawaii. However, it was an invitation that he received recently that truly was the opportunity of a lifetime. “Have you ever wanted to be a CAD journalist?” Fane writes. “Read on to see what a tough life it is!”
Dear Diary:
March 1957: I learned to drive this month — on a '56 Jaguar XK-140 roadster. I'm rapidly developing a love of fast cars.
May 1966: I graduated from the University of British Columbia, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
September 1986: In my job as a doorknob designer for Weiser Lock, I've started using a program called "AutoCAD."
February 1987: I wrote my inaugural ”Learning Curve” column for Cadalyst. Hopefully it will be the first of many.
May 17, 2010: The PR firm for Hewlett-Packard (HP) contacted me today. It's not what you know that counts — and it's not who you know, either. Usually it's what you know about who you know, but in this case it was what the PR team knew about me. They were looking for a freelance CAD journalist/computer geek/engineer interested in fast cars. Bingo!
May 27, 2010: I boarded a plane headed for Indianapolis, where I'll be a guest of HP and Gil de Ferran's Dragon Racing Team at the legendary Indy 500 car race!
Just minutes before engine start on race day, Bill Fane gets an up-close look at the place where the rubber will meet the road.
May 28, 2010: I met up with CAD journalist/computer geek/car nut David Cohn, who is also a guest of HP and de Ferran Dragon Racing. We picked up a rental car and drove to the track offices to get our accreditation and passes, which afforded us general admission to the grounds, access to the media center, and the right to park in the infield about 100 feet from Gasoline Alley — but no grandstand seats. Oh, and we also received "hot" passes; these effectively made us members of the Dragon Racing pit crew, with full access to Dragon's garage and to the racing pits, even on race day.
Next, we went to the team garage, where we were re-introduced to team owner and manager Gil de Ferran, who drove to victory in the 2003 Indy 500, and driver Davey Hamilton (#21), both of whom we had met at the HP workstation roll-out held in Santa Monica in March. We were also introduced to the crew members, the engineers, and the other driver, Raphael Matos (#2). It takes about 30 people to run a two-car team like this one. They loaned us noise-cancelling radio headsets that allowed us to listen in on the chatter between each driver and his crew chief.
Track activity on Friday consisted of an Indy Lites race and the final one-hour "Carburetion Day" practice session. "Our" drivers did reasonably well, and the team seemed pleased. We also watched the "Pit Stop Competition" from the pits. Dragon Racing didn't enter, because they were running both cars in the main race. (Most teams enter a spare car in the pit stop competition because they don't want to risk hurting their main car or cars.) Late-afternoon activities included a concert by ZZ Top.
Evening found us at an exclusive cocktail reception in the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It was hosted by the head of the parent company of IZOD, which is a prime sponsor of the Indy Racing League series. There were about 200 people there — a very eclectic mix of NFL greats, Olympic gold medalists, car-racing legends, and so on. We even had a pleasant chat with Mario Andretti.
May 29, 2010: there was no track activity, so we spent much of the day in the garage, talking to the engineers and crew members. In particular, we had a lengthy Q&A session with engineers Eric Zeto (for Raphael's car), Carlos Gutierrez (for Davey's car), and Scott Raymond, who handles computer systems. The conversations, including discussions with other crew members, went something like this:
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