Tux500 is in the 91st Indy 500!

As some of you may know I love open collaborative efforts! I find that no matter what the project is when you put like minded people together you can end up with some new friends and sometimes some amazing stories to tell.

The Tux500 project has been yet another one of these amazing projects! No matter how you feel about the subject it has been wildly successful in terms of monopolizing on the larger media coverage provided for the Indy 500. Immediately after this footage appeared on television the number of Google searches for Linux skyrocketed!!!


There were some scary moments though. The original driver Stephan Gregoire was caught by a large gust of wind while qualifying for the main event! The back end of the car was whipped into the side of the race track Gregoire was amazingly able to control the slide and walked away from the accident. We later found out that he had fractured his spine and was not going to be able to drive the "The Blue Car" in the big race. It was amazing the out pouring of get well wishes that came pouring in. Get well soon Stephan. :) The whole project was on pins and needles. It was one of those moments where I felt like holding my breath. Stephan is going to be fine he is recovering and is not in too much pain. Mr Tom Chastain the car owner immediately started looking for a new driver. Stephan came through once again by personally recommending Roberto Mereno. What a recommendation that has turned out to be!

Robert and Tom decided to take a bit of a risk in order to ensure that the car would be in the main event. They removed the first qualifying speeds for the car and decided to requalify. 220 mph later we were in the # 11 slot for the 91st Indy 500!

The donations are going through the roof!!! We still have time to brand the side pods of the car. If you were waiting to see if the car would qualify for the race your wait is over!

I can not really explain how cool it has been to be part of this project. There has been so many doors opened by this project. It has really brought a lot of like minded people together. I am getting really excited to see what comes next!

VRRRRROOOOOOMMMMMMMM! VRRRRROOOOOOMMMMMMM!