While I intend for this blog to be lighthearted and a source of joy for readers, well, life gets in the way sometimes. Today, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, is a prime example of how that can happen.

I woke up to eggs and pancakes atop my bowl of Holistic Select and then enjoyed chasing Pops around the yard on an unseasonably warm fall day. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better day. Pops strategically finished up working in the yard a bit early in order to clean up both he and I before it was time to settle in on the couch and watch the IZOD IndyCar Series World Championships from Las Vegas.

After all, 2003 Butler grad Ed Carpenter was starting third and coming off his first career victory just two weeks prior at Kentucky Speedway. It was shaping up to be the perfect Sunday.

And that’s when things went downhill.

I’m certain you know what happened next. Just 12 laps into the race, 15 of 34 cars were involved in a horrific crash that claimed the life of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and 2005 IndyCar champion, Dan Wheldon of Sam Schmidt Motorsports.It was shocking, surreal and more than anything, just saddening.

So what does this have to do with me?

You see, I come from an IndyCar household. From 2005 to 2010, Pops moonlighted in the Series as the public relations coordinator for Vision Racing where he worked with many a driver, but none more than with Butler Bulldog, Ed Carpenter, or “Uncle Ed” as he’s known at our house.

In addition to Uncle Ed, one of the last drivers Pops had the pleasure of working with was none other than Dan Wheldon. As it turned out, the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season became Vision Racing’s swan song which saw Carpenter compete in just a handful of races in collaboration with Panther Racing and their driver, Mr. Wheldon. The two became teammates in May of that year for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the Indianapolis 500.

Of course, the 2010 Indianapolis 500 came on the heels of complete euphoria for us Butler Bulldogs, and for the City of Indianapolis for that matter. Just weeks before, the Butler Men’s Basketball Team had come within inches of claiming the NCAA National Championship and while that magical run ended in heartbreak, the fever pitch was still palpable.

The team served as grand marshals for the 500 Festival Parade, the state governments made proclamations in their honor and naturally, yours truly was invited to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a day of practice. At the time, I didn’t realize what the big deal was, after all, I go to work with Pops almost everyday, the only difference that day was that Pops had on a different attire and we bypassed 46th & Sunset in exchange for 16th & Georgetown.

My day at the track was dampened, literally, by one of the rainiest days of the month. The bad part of that was that I didn’t get a pace car ride nor see any cars practice. The good part of a rain out was me being the story of the day at the famed Brickyard and getting to spend some quality time in the garages and transporters.

Here I am posing with the No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka Special

Most of that day was actually spent in the Vision/Panther Racing team transporter office with Pops, his fellow PR cohorts, Mr. Bulldog Club – Kyle Smith, and chipper Dan Wheldon.

Dan knew exactly who I was and boy was he enamored. In fact, he was knowledgeable about the entire Butler MBB team and really took a liking to future Butler hall of famer, Matt Howard. Dan, Pops and Mr. Bulldog talked for quite a while about the recent Final Four experience as the rain fell outside.

At one point, Pops mentioned something about wanting an Indianapolis 500 championship ring after just missing out on collecting a National Championship ring with Butler. Dan was so taken by me that he told Pops he’d deliver on the Indy 500 ring in exchange for me. Of course, Pops would never go for such a thing, but if you know Dan, well, once he gets something in his head, he just can’t let it go.

For the rest of the month, and anytime since,  Dan would ask Pops in a cheerful, English accent, “How’s my dog?” You should know that Dan finished second that year at Indianapolis. Of course, he won it all again this year. Thankfully he never tried to collect on his one-sided wager.

So today was certainly a sad day for me and for many that I know. I consider this blog as a means of honoring Dan and coping with the tragedy.

As I tweeted immediately upon hearing the confirmation of Dan’s passing, “Rest in peace, Dan Wheldon. I may be just a dog, but it was a pleasure to have met you. I’m a good judge of character and you sure had a lot of it.” No doubt, Dan Wheldon was a character, a great champion, ideal ambassador and a fine human being.

They called Dan “Lionheart,” but make no mistake, the Brit was a true bulldog.  God rest his soul and God bless his family.