Team-BHP > Motor-Sports > Int'l Motorsport


Reply
  Search this Thread
12,222 views
Old 31st October 2010, 07:03   #1
Senior - BHPian
 
14000rpm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 2,334
Thanked: 5,519 Times
..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan

one fine day, when I was browsing through the nascar website, something struck my mind...wait a minute..I'm sure I know somebody from India drives a NASCAR (apart from me .. ) ..that is who we all know as the fastest indian in the world -Narain Karthikeyan !!

NK started his NASCAR venture with the team Starbeast motorsports driving a Chevy truck in the NASCAR Truck series. more on this later.

now while browsing through NK's site I realized he lives in Charlotte, NC. I have a sister living in Charlotte who I keep visiting frequently. I then quickly found 'contact' link on his website and quickly emailed his manager..but I never heard back.

I forgot about it all..

then, for whatever reason I can't remember, I looked up the truck series schedule and was pleasantly surprised to see a race coming up at Talladega Super speedway..it's a 2 hr drive away for me. Back to 'contact' link on NK's site..found NK's manager's (in India) number and quickly called him..guess what, the request to meet him at the racetrack was treated positively and he said he'll work on it..

I did not hear from him for quite a few days and then comes the surprise ..an email from Megan Nagle ,PR and Media Rep. of Starbeast Motorsports. It was about the 'meeting' ..then on, we got onto discuss about this 'meet NK' event. That's it...I was set to meet the man who has made India famous in the motorsports field.
I respect him for all the achievements he's had by far..stuff we all dream of doing but end up nowhere close..

..cont'd

Last edited by 14000rpm : 31st October 2010 at 07:13.
14000rpm is offline  
Old 31st October 2010, 07:21   #2
Senior - BHPian
 
Ace F355's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Delhi NCR
Posts: 1,279
Thanked: 2,986 Times

Good going 14000RPM. So, when is the 'meeting'? Or you met him already!
Ace F355 is offline  
Old 31st October 2010, 07:24   #3
Senior - BHPian
 
14000rpm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 2,334
Thanked: 5,519 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ace F355 View Post
Good going 14000RPM. So, when is the 'meeting'? Or you met him already!
oh..I guess I did not mention that..it was today 30th Oct 2010..I got back from the race a little while ago..

Thanks @Ace F355
14000rpm is offline  
Old 31st October 2010, 08:51   #4
Senior - BHPian
 
aargee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TSTN
Posts: 6,230
Thanked: 9,597 Times

@14000 - Now, you pls don't keep us in surprise. Pls post the pics that you usually do. For all the knowledge you've on Nascars & road courses, I'm sure both of you would've enjoyed the conversation & would've lasted more than expected.

Pics pls?
aargee is offline  
Old 1st November 2010, 00:30   #5
Senior - BHPian
 
Klub Class's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: KA17|KL65|KL41
Posts: 4,866
Thanked: 1,935 Times

I'm already glued to this thread 14000rpm.And yes, I will be waiting for the next update.

Did you get his autograph by any chance?

Amith
Klub Class is online now  
Old 1st November 2010, 00:32   #6
Senior - BHPian
 
14000rpm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 2,334
Thanked: 5,519 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by Klub Class View Post
Did you get his autograph by any chance?

Amith
yes..and a T shirt !!
14000rpm is offline  
Old 1st November 2010, 00:34   #7
 
Cyrus43's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: London
Posts: 5,019
Thanked: 221 Times

Narain is a fantastic and chirpy fellow. Spent two days with him on the track and thoroughly enjoyed myself!!
Cyrus43 is offline  
Old 1st November 2010, 00:35   #8
Senior - BHPian
 
Klub Class's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: KA17|KL65|KL41
Posts: 4,866
Thanked: 1,935 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by 14000rpm View Post
yes..and a T shirt !!
I do really envy you brother!

When is the next update? I'm tired hitting the F5 button!

Amith
Klub Class is online now  
Old 1st November 2010, 07:08   #9
Senior - BHPian
 
14000rpm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 2,334
Thanked: 5,519 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by aargee View Post
@14000 - Now, you pls don't keep us in surprise. Pls post the pics that you usually do. For all the knowledge you've on Nascars & road courses, I'm sure both of you would've enjoyed the conversation & would've lasted more than expected.

Pics pls?
so you've been following my thread eh..nice nice..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyrus43 View Post
Narain is a fantastic and chirpy fellow. Spent two days with him on the track and thoroughly enjoyed myself!!
when was it ? must've been a good time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Klub Class View Post
I do really envy you brother!

When is the next update? I'm tired hitting the F5 button!

Amith
next update...here goes..


cont'd

...and then Megan called me on friday and gave me Narain's Schedule. He had a drivers meeting at 11.00 and he would be free by 12 ish..wasn't a problem at all for me coz I had absolutely nothing planned for the saturday..Atlanta to Talladega Speedway is a 2 hr drive and so I planned to leave at around 9.30am so I'd reach by 11.30 with 1/2hr to spare considering the traffic around the track area..sounds like a plan right? what can go wrong ? no ?
..and then the worst did happen.....once I got into Alabama the speed limit dropped down from 70 (in Georgia) to 55 mph.

not everybody knows that..the 25 harley group did not. they ripped past by at 90's..i did not want to get ticketed and my throbbing headache ensured I drove within the speed limits..the time? well, I was going to reach bang at 12.00..didn't get too worried..

I guess I spoke too soon..remember the bikers, well, guess what, one of them crashed out big time with parts of his bike strewn all around the median...he was alive..don't know the extent of injury though...this created a mess of the traffic..3 mile pile up..howz that..now I was screwed..messaged Megan about this so she'd know. cleared my way and got back on track with a 15 minute delay. Luckily there was no traffic and I reached at 12.15pm..

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5928.jpg

and parked up..I did not expect this big a crowd considering it was truck series and not the chase series.


..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5926.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5924.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5927.jpg

I was late and did get things out of schedule..did that affect my meeting ?
keep reading..

Last edited by Samurai : 1st November 2010 at 08:37. Reason: Rule #11
14000rpm is offline  
Old 1st November 2010, 08:14   #10
 
Cyrus43's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: London
Posts: 5,019
Thanked: 221 Times

Good Stuff. Love it when there is a Buildup in a Story. And I spent two days with him at the Chennai Track going sideways alot. This was September last year.
Cyrus43 is offline  
Old 1st November 2010, 08:32   #11
Senior - BHPian
 
aargee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TSTN
Posts: 6,230
Thanked: 9,597 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by 14000rpm
so you've been following my thread eh..nice nice..
How could I ever miss those Avinash? You're the one who taught me on road courses & Nascar races. Do you think I'll miss any of your threads?

This is getting interesting too with like a suspense movie on the write-up. Keep them coming, I'm watching for the pics.
aargee is offline  
Old 2nd November 2010, 22:55   #12
BHPian
 
kraft.wagen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cbe <- >Ams
Posts: 978
Thanked: 329 Times

WOW this is awesome, you met my city champ, and yea our country champ too
updates updates updates???
kraft.wagen is offline  
Old 3rd November 2010, 09:23   #13
Senior - BHPian
 
14000rpm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 2,334
Thanked: 5,519 Times

now late I was.I'd reached at 12.15 for a 12.00 appointment. quickly called Megan and apologized for being late but she said " all is ok,don't worry.Narain is just 10 minutes into his drivers meeting.it'll take a while.let me know where I can spot you and call me from there ".I hung up and then started to wonder..his meeting was at 11.00..did the meeting time get postponed? did he get pissed off that I was not on time? what to do next?

that's when I realized this stupid thing called time zone..Georgia is in Eastern time zone (GMT -5 hours) and Alabama is in central time zone (GMT -6 hours)..meaning my 12.15pm was actually 11.15 am..dang ..so I was actually early.So now, I had all of 45mins to spend before my meeting at north tunnel.


..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5929.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5930.jpg

so I went all around the souvenir area..merchandise is a big business for all teams..selling t-shirts, caps, sweatshirts..scale model cars..etc.



..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5931.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5933.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5934.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5935.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5936.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5943.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5945.jpg


earlier during my conversation during planning, I asked Megan to help me with a Pitpass so I could go and watch the race with the team. that would be fun. But it wasn't to be..apparently the teams have to provide all details of their pitpass entries 10 days in advance..NK's manager who I was interacting with communicated with her rather late and therefore all hopes died..so plan was to just meet NK and drive back home..
while I was busy roaming around all the stalls, Megan called me and told me that she was trying some back road approach to get me pitpass..her plan was that she'd come out and take me along with her so I could hang out with NK back at the pits..that'd be awesome right? but luck had other plans and it did not look like a possibility. She did try a lot but things did not work out..in the meanwhile, I waited along at the north tunnel entrance where people who wanted to go to the infield were waiting for their shuttle...

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5950.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5946.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5951.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5952.jpg


and bang at 12.00 pm local time, I get a call from Megan.."we are waiting around at the main entrance..we can't drive up to the north tunnel ..you'll have to walk over the bridge which has the banner 'this is talladega' and when you get down, you'll find a blue miller lite flag..we are near that in a white Taurus " .."aye aye..I'm on my way"..I told her that..but back in my mind, I was only imagining ..what am I going to look ahead for ? did she find a way to sneak me inside ? did she get me a pass ? what's happening ? in the meanwhile I reached the spot ...and there was the White Taurus..

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5953.jpg


I reached up and asked her " whats the scene? whats happening next ? that's when NK gets out of the car.." seriously this was the moment of pride..I swear it..a man representing my country was in a typical american sport ..he is one who has driven across a wide array of track cars ranging from Formula 1 to A1 gp to Lemans to Nascar..not too many have in the motorsports field have done this..

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5954.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-img_5955.jpg

after our brief conversation, he autographed this ...

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-ltptecopyeng_exchange_11012010171744.jpg

..and I meet the FASTEST INDIAN in the world-Narain karthikeyan-ltptecopyeng_exchange_11012010171916.jpg

coming up....my conversation with NK..
14000rpm is offline  
Old 3rd November 2010, 09:29   #14
Senior - BHPian
 
aargee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TSTN
Posts: 6,230
Thanked: 9,597 Times

That was an interesting read Avinash.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 14000rpm
that's when I realized this stupid thing called time zone..Georgia is in Eastern time zone (GMT -5 hours) and Alabama is in central time zone (GMT -6 hours)..meaning my 12.15pm was actually 11.15 am..dang ..
ROTFL; nice twist in the story!!!

Megan was manager of NK right & she made no fuss isn't it? Imagine it here in India!!!

Are you writing more now or later? I wish you do it now
aargee is offline  
Old 3rd November 2010, 09:32   #15
Senior - BHPian
 
14000rpm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 2,334
Thanked: 5,519 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by aargee View Post
That was an interesting read Avinash.


ROTFL; nice twist in the story!!!

Megan was manager of NK right & she made no fuss isn't it? Imagine it here in India!!!

Are you writing more now or later? I wish you do it now
time to sleep..its 12 am..rest tomorrow..
14000rpm is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks