Josef Update: Milwaukee Mile 2014

Yay!!!  No!!!  Yay!!!

 

This is what you heard from Alex during the Milwaukee Indyfest, because Josef had a very up and down race.  But luckily it ended on an 'up' and he finished 5th!!

 

Josef started 5th, stayed in the top 6 for the first stint, dropped back to 12th, up to 2nd on a pit strategy, and with 12 laps had to pit, and dropped back to 12th.  That didn't stop Josef. 
He made his way in 12 laps to finish 5th!

 

IN OTHER 'JOSEF' NEWS...

 

Alex wants to make sure that you don't miss the Forza 5 showdown starring Josef, and Justin Wilson,  They're racing the Forza Motorsport 5  game on xbox to raise funds for Teen Cancer America. 
Fans can win an opportunity to race the drivers by donating to Teen Cancer America through August 23rd.


 

Josef did the ALS ice bucket challenge along with some other drivers.
Josef's video is her favorite although she pointed out that he did use a rather smallish bucket of ice water.

 

 

The Indy Family Foundation

Check out this cool charity!!

 

Name: The Indy Family Foundation

Goal: To work together to help people in motorsports who have financial problems from an injury, sickness, or death. 

Who they help: Race car drivers, crew members, course workers, public relations, media , team owners, their family, and more.

Why is this really great?

* They help people involved in motorsports who really need some help.

* They have lots of fun stuff that they do to raise money for people.  Like bowling tournaments, golf outings and drivers Simon Pagenaud and Tristan Vautier 'sumo wrestling' at their street festival in Speedway last year.

 

Okay, know that you know who they are, go check out their great website,

 'Indy Family Foundation'!

 

 

 

P.S.  Josef is 2nd to the left. (Alex wanted to make sure you noticed him)

Plus there's some other great drivers who support the charity pictured, like Conor Daly, James Hinchcliffe, Zach Veach Graham Rahal, Martin Plowman and Simon Pagenaud

 

 

Indycar Calendar for Charity

 

You might have a dog or flower calendar hanging on your wall, but do you have a 2014 Indycar calendar yet? 

 

Well, now is your chance to get one and
help out some great charities!

 

 

Great, huh?
So hurry and get some for all your Indycar-loving friends!!

Go to the Indycar 2014 Wall Calendar site to learn more. 

* It has images of the teams pit crew, drivers, cars and more!

* It has a ton of useful information about the teams

* It comes with a cool super-cool poster with all the drivers from the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500!

* You can start a collection of these awesome calendars

* You can bring one to races to get it signed by all the drivers

* You'll be supporting four Indy-related charities!
   1. Racing For Cancer
   2. Indy Family Foundation
   3. Racing For Kids
   4. Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation

 Santa, we want this for Christmas!!

 

Go to the Indycar 2014 Wall Calendar site to learn more.





 

Who wants to ride around the Indiana State Fair in a beaver costume?

Dixon wins the Power of Two contest!

 

 

 

 

That means that Alex Tagilani rode a tricycle around the Indiana State Fair in a Beaver costume.  

 

 

Here is a video of tagliani riding around:

Power of 2 Charity Campaign

Alex Tagliani and Scott Dixon

are raising money for charities

with the Power of 2. 

The power of 2 is a fun way for two Indycar drivers to raise money for a charity they support. 

 * Alex Tagliani is raising money for Anaphylaxis Canada 

*  Scott Dixon is raising for CanTeen which helps young people living with cancer.

The Graham Rahal Foundation

 

 

Some Indycar drivers are involved in different charities, but  Graham Rahal started his own, The Graham Rahal Foundation
 

 

*Graham Rahal started the Graham Rahal Foundation in 2009 after the death of his team owner and friend, Paul Newman.  He was inspired by Mr. Newman's charities. 

*Graham's foundation benefits Alex's Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer and the Serious Fun Children’s Network.

 

*He involves his racing in his charity, like in summer 2012 he hosted a helmet design contest and he wore the winning design in the season finale. 

*He has hosted a driver's golf tournament prior to the Indy 500 the past two years.

*He will be hosting an Alex's Lemonade Stand ambassador at the Pocono Indycar 400 in July.

*Beyond his charity he also auctioned of his helmet, gloves, and shoes to benefit the Dan Wheldon Memorial Foundation in 2011.  His generous gesture began a wave of athletes donating items to be auctioned and eventually over $600,000 was raised.

*As of May 2013 Graham and his girlfriend still run the charity 'from their kitchen table', but have raised about one million dollars!

 

Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation

 

Sam Schmidt was a race car driver that our mom and dad used to watch race at Indy in the late 1990's.

But he got paralyzed in a really bad crash practicing at Walt Disney World Speedway in 2000.

 

 

Since he couldn't race anymore he started a race team to help other drivers race.  

 

He now owns cars that race (and win alot) in the Indy Lights Series and in Indycar (where he got his first win with Simon Pagenaud in Detroit on Sunday). 

 

 

 

He also started a charity to help find a cure for paralysis.

 

 

 

Each year for the past 14 years before the Indy 500 there is a Racing to Recovery Gala and auction to benefit the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation. 

 

Many drivers attend the event and support the foundation.  This year included Tristan Vautier, Katherine Legge, Simon Pagenaud, Pippa Mann and Ed Carpenter.

 

 

Our dad is paralyzed too, just not as badly as Mr. Schmidt, so this is one of our favorite charities that was started by and is supported by drivers.

 

We hope they continue to raise lots of money to cure paralysis some day.

And THANK YOU to Sam Schmidt for starting his foundation, and to all the drivers who support it!

 

 

Racing for Kids Charity

Indycar drivers aren't just great racers, they also do a lot of great stuff through charities.   
Racing for Kids is a charity that consists of drivers.  The drivers visit kids in hospitals wherever they race.

 

 

Racing for kids was founded in 1989 and since then drivers from many forms of motorsports have visited more than 25,000 kids in 500 hospitals worldwide and raised more than 6 million dollars.

  Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe, Tristan Vautier, Michael Andretti, Katherine Legge, Justin Wilson, Simona deSilvestro, Oriol Servia, and Graham Rahal, are just some of the drivers who have made a sick kid feel special in the past year.