It doesn’t mean I’m going to become a racing blogger (I prefer to keep my racing opinions to myself)- and besides, there’s already a good group of bloggers covering that spectrum for all of us.

What do I know? I know style, gadgets, fashion, and cool stuff. So that’s what you get from me today (and possibly subsequent posts).

Whether you’re a driver, mechanic, photographer, blogger or dedicated race fan – you’ll find the following items, ideal additions to your racing season.

Add a little style into your life, while giving a nod to the sport you love.

First up – I’m going with an easy win. And it involves Steve McQueen. Grab a pair of these Persol Steve McQueen Special Edition sunglasses. They may cost you around $250.00, but how cool will you look walking around the Milwaukee Mile? Answer: exceedingly.

Steve McQueen™ Special Edition Collection

After you’ve eaten 6 brats and arrived home from the Milwaukee Mile, you’re probably going to want to sit on the couch and relax. If you’re tired of watching Driven over and over (I know I am), go ahead and treat yourself to Senna on Blu-ray. I’m a big fan of this film, despite no interviews with Gerhard Berger. Regardless, sit in your man cave and watch Senna drive the sh*t out of these machines.

I am in love with these Autodromo watches at the moment. They’re a bargain at $425 and combine a vintage race feel with a classic, contemporary look. Buy one and you’ll feel like Sir Stirling Moss or Juan Manuel Fangio. You will, trust me.

Beautiful watches from Autodromo

A comfy IMS t-shirt

May is just around the corner and you’ll need a hip racing related t-shirt. This might be the most comfortable t-shirt I’ve ever worn (aside from anything produced by RobotoWear). So grab this from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway gift shop or online, for just $28. When you call in ‘sick’ on carb day, this shirt will make you feel better. Maybe you can get ZZ Top to sign it, too. Seriously, buy it.

This is slightly old news, but still decently cool. If you’re like me when you travel, you get lost constantly. I’ve learned to drive with an iPad in my lap using Google Maps and invariably missing exits, turns or a donut shop. If you like gadgets, driving and not getting lost, invest in a GPS device. Or even better, a TomTom device with voice instructions from Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti or Scott Dixon. Here’s a quote from Franchitti, most likely written by a PR person or intern:

I’m lost without my TomTom, and use it daily whether I’m in the US or back home in Scotland. It’s impressive to see a company like TomTom leveraging their relationship with the race team and doing some real activation by getting all three Target drivers’ voices online for race fans. I hope a lot of people will get a kick out of this.

Who am I to judge? It’s a cool device and brilliant idea, so well done TomTom. Now how do I get a version with Tomas Scheckter giving directions and advice?

Spitfire tie

People don’t wear enough ties. So whether you’re going on a job interview, a date, an awards dinner or prepping for a court appearance, you always need a good tie at your fingertips. What says “I’m an affluent race fan” better than this Spitfire inspired tie from The Goodwood, Festival of Speed online shop? For one, it’s INSPIRED BY A SPITFIRE. That’s enough by itself. But it’s also got strong ties (see what I did there?) to Goodwood – one of racing’s holy lands. And let’s face it, it’s a rather dapper tie – I’m wearing three right now.

I used to want to be Nelson Piquet when I grew up – so I hung up posters and got stickers and so on. Nowadays, technology lets us get even closer. Now you can pretend to be Nelson Piquet, Jr., with this incredibly well (and beautifully) designed SimRacingWorld Steering Wheel. It’s compatible with a slew of video games/platforms, including the incomparable iRacing. Boot up your Commodore 64, don your Piquet Jr. sweatpants and start racing with this geekalicious steering wheel. Oh to be a kid again…

One amazing steering wheel

That’s it for now, but I plan on adding in some more ideas as the race season progresses. Start shopping – it’s not a bad way to spend a $1000.

If you’ve got suggestions or ideas, I’d love to hear them. Zoom Zoom.

This Friday, I’ll be departing 16th and Georgetown to begin the next step in my career with ExactTarget and their interactive marketing department.

I’m both sad and excited.

I’m proud of the work I accomplished in two years.  I’ve met colleagues that will be friends for years to come. I spent hours on planes. I took hundreds of photos. I was part of some very special events and exceptional digital projects. I saw web analytics sky rocket and dealt with more content than I could ever imagine. I was challenged. I made mistakes. I got stronger. I grew. I learned a great deal about myself. And I got better professionally.

Me and dad

I’m especially proud that I worked at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while my father was still alive. I know he was proud of me. And it offered me a new opportunity to become more connected to him. What a gift.

There is a lot I’ll miss about IMS. It’s especially difficult to walk away from such a sacred institution. It’s given me something indescribable. It will always be a part of me.

The Pagoda at sunrise

I’m thankful for the unconventional path my career has taken.

I went from an art museum to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And now I’m headed to ExactTarget with a lot of energy, excitement and at least one million ideas.

I’m so thankful for my opportunities.

Here’s to the next adventure.

This is my top-5 viewed images post of 2011.

And I’m slightly surprised. Two of them aren’t technically photographs. Two of them were taken with my iPhone. One is a real photograph. This is so different from my top photos of 2011. Go figure.

Here’s number 5. A collage I made of my Dad in the 70′s. I’m not surprised he made it – his photographs got lots of views this year.

A collage of my Dad

Keep reading for number 4….

This is a gift from my friend Brian Darrow, a brilliant Lego Creator. In 2010, his LEGO replica of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway lived at the Hall of Fame Museum over Christmas. He gave me this as a thank you gift. This is an incredible 1911 Marmon Wasp replica. But a horrible photo. Again, go figure.

Lego Marmon Wasp

This is a photo I really like, taken on Bump Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Danica Patrick was facing a tough day ahead of her, trying to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. I remember thinking she would easily qualify, simply because of the look in her eye. She did.

Danica on Bump Day

A simple photo of a LEGO shop in a Sao Paulo shopping mall. It just goes to show, sometimes content popularity is about the right tags or metadata (or feature a clown). This is my 2nd most viewed photo of 2011! Seriously.

Lego in SP

And my most viewed photography of 2011? Well it’s an image. A scanned image of one of my Collectible Robot Boxes. I’m pretty sure this image got embedded by another site. But it’s number one and it’s not even my photograph, although it is my scan. Break out the champagne.

Watch out for those beams

Those are the top-5, no kidding.

Goal for 2012 – get more views for my actual photographs!

The metrics point in the right direction

The reflection part is what determines the next step forward. It guides the guidebook. Here’s what occurred digitally this year and it revolves around three themes – content, personality and relationships. These 3 simple, but often overlooked methods point to positive results, analytics and overall metrics.

Content. I agree with the saying, content is king, but how about an amendment? Engaging, thoughtful, authentic content is king

2011 saw a big shift in the type of content IMS distributed online. Traditionally, press releases were the main focal point of the site. Towards the end of 2010, we began initiating new content, first through the IMS blog as an experiment and then into the forefront of the IMS site. If you look back on our blog, it provided some incredibly successful content case studies – Gasoline Alley Unplugged, live blogging,even a piece on a LEGO replica of IMS. It quickly illustrated a void in the online experience for our fans. Publish more content.

The incredible work of Brian Darrow

In ’11 we began shifting a lot of blog material directly to the main site, mixing together official press releases, news reporting (working with external writers) and informal pieces. We broadened our horizons to post more content related to our events: Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and Red Bull Indianapolis GP. Additionally, we looked to the past and highlighted the history of IMS through photo galleries, the drivers that have raced at IMS events, and mixed that with some modern technology to enable Facebook  comments and instant sharing to your wall. One-way communication now became a dialogue. We are listening to our fans. It’s helping us gauge the type of content embraced by our visitors.

In support of the Centennial running of the Indianapolis 500, we also produced a fan focused micro site called The Greatest 33, that in many ways challenged us to pull together and generate new digital assets – bios, images, audio and video clips. This in turn, fed our main site. Overall, we leveraged content around the IMS brand as a strategy, with the end result being a new, engaging experience for our customers in the online space. In 2012, we’re actually redesigning aspects of the IMS site to help support more content for our visitors, continued two-way dialogue and the tools for us to be more responsive to the ever changing world of motorsports and entertainment.

Some key indicators that helped shape this direction – over 50% increase in overall page views, significant increase in time spent on site, and dramatic growth, reach and engagement via Facebook.

Personality. I can bore you to death my thoughts on giving technology a personality. But on the most basic level, your website should have a personality. Do corporations have personalities? Yes.

Use history or the brand to reveal a personality

Adding personality into the online space was directly tied to integrating content into our online consumer experience. The content itself provided a new personality. Our content spanned a number different areas or immersive experiences and was based on current events, one of our 3 main races races or something more emotive, like history, a Q&A with an expert, live video streaming, or first person authoring. Instead of mandating the personality through static, one-way communication pages, we provided an every-changing, varied perspective on IMS, the events and it’s strong connection to motorsports and entertainment. The overall voice was controlled, but there was a new menu to choose from and the content items offered new, unexpected experiences online that encouraged feedback.

The success of this is reflected in our overall social media growth (specifically Facebook), much higher international traffic when compared to 2010 and a lower bounce rate.

Relationships. Even in the online, digital realm, success comes down to relationships. We looked within and stepped outside, to strengthen our relationships that led to stronger online partnerships, better promotion, improved sponsorship ROI, and importantly new content opportunities. Sometimes that requires a birds eye view.

Sometimes you need a fresh perspective

Leveraging relationships can lead to new online traffic, especially when social media is part of the collaboration – this opens the door for a new (unique) visitor that may not know your brand. This is all easily achieved through cross-promotion, RT’s, Facebook posts, contests and shared emails. Not rocket science, but I don’t think we can ever do a good enough job at this.

Other relationships emphasized content (I’m sure you’re noticing a trend here). We stepped outside of our own world to hire some very good writers, knowledgeable about our history and types of motorsports associated with our different events. They brought a fresh perspective and a different form of credibility. This also shifted the assumed role of the IMS website to integrate current news and events into the existing platform of PR and ticket/event sales. It was a slightly different handshake with out customers.

In the digital space, we focused on improving our relationships and collaborative opportunites with NASCAR, Grand-AM, SPEED, LAT Photography, MotoGP (Dorna), and more. which resulted in, you guessed it, new content for our fans. This was a perfect compliment to our existing relationship to INDYCAR and gave our online visitors new reasons to visit us. We had up-to-date news on racing.

Compelling content added value to someone visiting the IMS website, improved our distribution through social media, and enhanced the overall messaging we communicated via email to our subscribers.

We're trying to bring fans closer to the experience

Our unique views for the IMS site are considerably higher when compared to 2010. It shows we’re on the right trajectory with content, forging partnerships and allowing the company to express itself online.

I’ve not told you anything you probably didn’t know already, or could be gleaned by simply studying the IMS website.We’re essentially using common sense, standard practices and creativity.

What I am very clearly stating, is this: we’ve barely scratched the surface. The infrastructure is there. The interest is there. And the content is there.

What does 2012 look like? That part’s a secret, but I’m very confident.

But here’s one hint. It will be all about our fans.

Sit back and enjoy. Mostly pictures here on out. Thanks!

1) Some images are down to luck and timing. This is one of them. An adoring fan looks on as Takuma Sato signs autographs. It was one of the few times the lensbaby lens actually did what I wanted it to do.

Happy fan

2) I’d never been in a helicopter until my friend at work, Ron Pitman asked if I could grab some shots for him. I obliged. I love how the streets frame the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and lead the eye downtown.

Intersection of streets

3) It was gorgeous Spring morning in Chicago and I was staying near the John Hancock. I went with the fish eye and love how it seems like the other buildings are reaching out for a hug.

The John Hancock

4) A very simple composition, but I like the repetition and this particular color blue.

Smurf seats

5) I love this shot because it captures the vastness of Sao Paulo and the fish eye plays nicely with puffy blue clouds.

Clouds sprinkled over Sao Paulo

6) For all the lavish colors at the Nikko Toshogu Shrine, I fell in love with monochromatic roof colors. I love how they blended that day with nature, the overcast sky and deep green of the trees.

Lush and roof tops

7) Definitely timing on this one. The early bird catches the worm, even in the Valley of Fire desert.

Arch and Moon

One of the coolest places in Las Vegas – The Neon Museum. The colors just pop in the bright sunlight.

Lady Luck

9) This was definitely the year of the fish eye lens. And also, my first visit to Times Square. I just like this shot.

THE Times Square

10) I love the rituals and preparations drivers go through before taking the track. Love this shot of Danica Patrick readying.

Getting ready

There’s my 10.

Which one would you submit?

Like a British postcard - a pint, taxi and The Guardian (sitting in Covent Garden a couple of years ago).

A couple of years ago, I was quoted in a Guardian story about ArtBabble – and although I was pretty proud of that, I was more honored to have made it into The Guardian (because it features the Football section I had come to adore). I’ve been loyally following their coverage for a good 10 years now.

Outside of match reports and general coverage. I quickly fell in love with The Fiver – “Football’s most tea-timely email brought to you by the Guardian’s team of hacks”. Imagine sport reporting brought to you by a team of comedians, surrealists and potentially drunk or hungover journalists.

But importantly, despite the tongue-in-cheek commentary at times, I quickly built a strong connection to the writer’s – Amy Lawrence, Louise Taylor, Barry Glendenning, even David James (who thought a goalkeeper could write so well?). The minute-by-minute match reports are usually better than watching the real thing. An example of Mr. Glendenning’s match coverage from England’s recent match against Sweden.

Despite having already had to change out of a blood-stained shirt and have a cotton wool bung stuffed up each nostril, Sweden midfielder Pontus Wernbloom is still gushing blood from his nose. He sticks out a tongue, licks some claret from his top lip and smiles. If anyone on the pitch is a vampire, I think it might be him.

As someone that regularly works with motorsports journalists – I really do appreciate good sports writing. It can be elusive.

It’s possible to get completely lost in the Guardian Football site for hours each day, while at work (I did in a past job). There is so much to discover, all ping ponging between credibility and hilarity – The Gallery, YouTube Classics, The Rumour Mill, The Knowledge, The Secret Footballer and much more. Including Our Favourite Things of the Week – a scan of what other football websites are up to. I’m still hoping my Perfect Penalty Kick makes it one day.

Their transition from a paper publication into the digital realm has been impressive. And nothing makes this point clearer than their Chalkboards feature. It takes game analysis to the next level. Here’s an example – Blackburn Rovers vs. Queens Park Rangers on October 15 of this year, analyzing the number of tackles. No surprise, it was a hard fought 1-0 win for Blackburn (and probably boring). See below.

 by Guardian Chalkboards

It’s impressive to say the least, and smart use of technology. What I love about The Guardian, is that they surround useful technology with exceptional content. It’s a model everyone should follow. It always comes down to the quality of the content, the story and writers. Adding in bells and whistles, only works when it points back to this. It’s something I’m trying to emulate at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

So – whether you love or hate The Beautiful Game, at least take a look at Guardian Football. You’ll at least see how to operate successfully in the digital space.

They’ve scored (sorry about that pun).

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Donald Davidson kindly wrote this piece on him. So did others, including Racer, SPEEDTV, AutoWeek, blogs and many more. It has meant the world to me and my family. The emails, texts, phone calls and every thought and prayer have been overwhelmingly touching. So a big thank you to everyone that has been there for all of us.

A thank you really doesn’t suffice – you’ve been wonderful.

There will be an Indianapolis Memorial for Sal on Saturday, November 5th from 3-5. It will be held at the Brickyard Crossing Golf and Conference Center: 4400 W. 16th st. Indianapolis In 46222. Click here for Google Maps. You’re invited.

Please join us in celebrating my Dad’s life, your friend’s life. And if anything, please stop by to give my Mum a hug. She loves a good hug.

There will be laughter, tears and lots of stories shared. I hope to hear some from you.

A young whippersnapper - McLaren at Hockenheim

 11/2: Some more details since my original post -

• All are welcome
• Dress comfortably/respectfully, we don’t want this to be an overly formal affair
• Hunter Floyd will deliver the memorial service
• Donald Davidson will speak about my father’s career
• Members of the family will also speak
• We will encourage others to share their stories
• Lots of photos from my dad’s career and some embarrassing family pics
• Cash bar and some food
• Time to mingle

Catching him in action

Growing up, some of my favorite drivers were Japanese. And when my parents owned a race team in the 1990′s, they had a couple of Japanese drivers race for them – Hideki Noda and Shigeaki Hattori – both of which won in Indy Lights. So let’s just say I’ve always had a soft spot for Japanese drivers.

Of course, it’s an honor to actually come here as a professional and experience this event first hand. My role for this race is part web support and part photographic support. And I’ve taken a good number of pics, including the one below. It’s quickly become a favorite of mine.

Happy fan

I consider it an honor to photograph any IndyCar or Indianapolis Motor Speedway event. I never take this privilege lightly or for granted. To have access and the freedom to shoot at these venues, is an incredible gift. It brings me a lot of happiness to explore these race tracks (some of which my father visited in his career) as a professional – documenting moments or providing my own interpretation. It’s hard to believe sometimes.

Danica prepares for practice

So this weekend, in a very hot Japan, I’ve explored the facility looking for shots I consider worthy for race fans, colleagues, sponsors, teams and drivers. I’m inexperienced as a photographer, but I can honestly say that a lot of thought goes into every photo I publish. Each one means a lot to me.

I’ve included a sampling of some shots so far. Please enjoy my jet lagged point of view. From Motegi, Japan.

Twin Ring Motegi

Takuma Sato at Motegi

A screwdriver and springs

Danica turning right

Tony Kanaan during practice

Around the corner

B/W Graham Rahal

I loved my time in the museum field. I will always look back with fond memories and understand that it was a critical period of my professional life. It was a time to make mistakes, learn, take risks and importantly, deliver success. But I don’t miss it. I left at the perfect time.

Before I left I got to present in New Zealand

There are considerable differences between the museum field and the for-profit racing industry. In my current role, ‘more’ comes to mind. More projects, more content, more deadlines, more expectations, more opportunities and so on. These are all good challenges. I’m in a smaller team but with more resources. More/larger departments to interact with, across more companies and stakeholders, more collaborative relationships with drivers, teams, race tracks and sponsors. More. In fact, I’ve never seen so much content in my life. Speed comes to mind too – which is an obvious parallel to draw, but it’s true. Everything happens in a New York Minute. In the museum field, I remember working with exhibition calendars planned 3 years out. In racing, we have that kind of planning, but there’s also intermediate, current, pressing and last minute schedules. It’s an amazing juggling act that is sometimes smooth as glass and sometimes rough as sandpaper.And when you work online, you have to respond instantly. I’ve never worked so many hours in my life, or been awake and such strange times. I’ve slept with my laptop countless times, sat in a million meetings, traveled at the drop of a hat, over committed, barely hit (and missed) deadlines, consumed lots of energy drinks and so on.

You can catch me in the mirror

The bigger the challenge the greater the reward. That’s what I love about this job. As a museum professional, I felt a similar objective – be the best, be innovative, develop projects that would change the field, be immensely proud. I did all of these things. Which is why I can look back with no regrets. It was an incredible career.

Museum me, in Havana

Racing presented all of the same challenges and a higher peak. It was also an opportunity to follow in my father’s footsteps (albeit, in my own way).It was the chance to challenge myself in new (masochistic) ways, develop huge projects, trail blaze, test myself and so on. So far so good.

My approach to new media or technology hasn’t changed. I’m geeky but not a full geek. I’m not terribly technical. I believe in the experience over the technology. I believe in providing a real personality through a digital experience. Content and design should be simple. Storytelling is key. And, it’s always about the visitor or customer or fan. I’ll never budge from these beliefs.

The job has been a 15 month challenge, involving almost every conceivable emotion. I’m tougher, smarter, more strategic, more willing to take a risk, more productive, and a business person. It’s exactly what I needed.

Producing with Gordon Ramsay

I’m proud of lots of projects already. The work we’re doing on Flickr is outstanding. The Greatest 33 was a perfect example of engaging an online community and challenging them to feed the site’s supplemental content. Analytics (kind of boring) has been fascinating, and our web numbers are through the roof. Producing video content, determining new approaches to our video distribution and rethinking what fans want to see has also been a positive transformation. Social Media has grown over 300% in just over a year – damn impressive (and I don’t even really like social media). Photography has changed a lot in the past year, and it now features edgier, diverse imagery for our sites and fans. I could also discuss our WAP successes, new approaches to our Verizon IndyCar Mobile App, a QR Code program and influencing public relations and publications. A lot to celebrate.

I won’t be in racing forever. I’ll move into another job/field at some point. That part is hard to predict. Is there an equation or algorithm? Art museum + racing industry = ___________. Either way, I’ll be ready for the next big challenge. And I’ll be sure to look back on what I accomplish in racing with pride.

In the meantime, I’m going to continue putting my creativity and motivation into creating the next big project. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

A determined look (Danica Patrick)

A snapshot of my current job

And that’s where I am right now.

I look back on my career and notice a few key moments -

A focus on content over marketing. Storytelling over selling. Authenticity over fabrication. Personality instead of technology. I can say that I’ve weaved these principles into almost all of my major professional projects.

Video has played such a huge role for me. It led to many amazing projects at the Indianapolis Museum of Art – projects that utilized video, but became bigger than that. ArtBabble is a prime example. Even today, video is a big part of what I do. It’s not going anywhere.

I’m at a critical crossroads in my current role at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corp., with increased web traffic across all sites, community engagement, a new acceptance of technology, limitless possibilities and the freedom to act. I have some clear ideas and the groundwork is being laid right now. There are no doubts that it will be incredibly successful.

So I’m in the middle of another career defining moment. Stay tuned to see what happens next. Maybe I’ll be surprised. After all, I’m not sure I could have scripted the last ten years of my career.

Here come 10 more.