Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Speedy Vintners' - 2015 Vintage




Tuscany Hillside Vineyard. (Image source: shutterstock.com)
Still don't know what thee HELL a Shiraz is; Hya! But keep making 'em 'Scooter, nee Scott Pruett...

During a recent Autosport Radio Show, one of Don Kay's guests was Anthony Joseph Foyt IV, Grandson of the legendary SuperTex and better known here at No Fenders simply as Quattro. Who reminded me of an 'Ol Post I'd scribbled regarding racing personalities dabbling in wine making, which was titled Speedy Vintner's.

A.J. IV is the 2002 Infiniti Pro Series champion and contested six Indy 500's with a best finish of P14 in 2007 when driving for Tony George's Vision Racing before effectively hanging up his helmet.

Married to Casey Irsay, daughter of somebody named Jim who owns the Indianapolis Colts, Quattro now splits his time between Scouting Assistant duties for the Colts and Family life as the father of A.J. Foyt V, including taking the youngster to Hockey practice, a sport totally foreign to Quattro.

Foyt IV is now spending considerable time at the new A.J. Foyt building purchased in Speedway, Indiana, on Main Street, where the Foyt's have set up shop for tasting and purchasing of their Vino at their wine vault along with racing memorabilia on display - including A.J. Foyt's final Indy 500 car raced in 1992. As Foyt has renovated the 45,000 square foot building as the team's summer facility.

Quattro mentioned how he thought it'd be kOOL! To have a variety of racer's brands on hand for comparison, including the likes of Mario Andretti's wine, The Mayor 'O Hinchtown's beer and CFH Racing's Fuzzys' premium vodka, naturally as long as Foyt's Vino was preferred over Andretti's; Hooah!


2015 EDITIONS
The following racing personas names have surfaced upon revisiting the original Speedy Vintner's story, albeit 'Juan isn't Vino related but  how can Y'all pass over Thy Mayor, eh?

James Hinchcliffe
What can I say 'bout thee Mayor 'O Hinchtown, other than he's one kOOL Cat and very happy he's successfully recovered from his frighteningly nasty accident at Mother Speedway last May! Along with hoping to see a resurgence to his winning ways at thou Minnowesqe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2016.


As a beer drinker I'd enjoy trying some 'O Hinches' brew but really don't know where its available, so I'll most likely have to wait 'til next May's intended visit to Speedway to sample some hopefully...


Jeff Gordon
Really don't have to say much 'bout this driver's accomplishments, as the four time NASCAR champion was the first Chase Driver to punch his ticket to the B-I-G' DANCE at Homestead. Becoming the first of four championship eligible drivers upon winning for the umpteenth time at Martinsville.


Vince Neil
Yeah, this 'Juan's a stretch, but the band leader of Motley Crue did indeed try his hand both at single seater racing and wine making briefly, since it appears his Vince Vineyards which produced two 2003 vintages in '05 along with a limited run of some  spicy wine from EOS Estates Winery in '06 have gone by the wayside? Having previously scribbled 'bout Vincent Neil's motorsports activities in;


Benny Parsons
Whenever I conjure up the name Benny Parsons, I immediately Flashback to those vintage Dazes 'O ESPN's trio Announcers Extraordinaire, Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett, as BP's driving career was before my day.

As I've prattled on previously 'bout how fine of a person Bob Jenkins is and I still enjoy hearing his voice over the Public Address system at Mother Speedway each May...


Yet Parsons was the 1973 NASCAR Champion along with the victor of the '75 Daytona 500 along with a total of 21 career victories in the Roundy-round's elite series.

Benny died relatively early, age 65 in January of 2007 due to complications of lung cancer, having founded the Rendezvous Ridge Winery just prior to his death.

Alas, unfortunately, cannot find any pertinent information on Rendezvous Ridge in North Carolina. Since when I gOOgle' said Rendezvous Ridge, the site's Homepage has a whole slew 'O Muscle Building tips for 'Lucy, Thy ARSE-Steamed Screen Reader to read instead; URGH! so Y'all are on your own to figure out if Parsons Vino is still available or not?

Jason Priestly
This Kuhnaidiun' actor's name is most prominently associated with his fictional character from that 'Mega Beverly Hills, 90210 TV Show during the 1990's, where he starred as teenage heartthrob Brandon Walsh for nearly 250 episodes.

As I tend to forget he briefly raced cars, mostly campaigning Saloon Tintops before trying his hand in single seaters before a nasty accident in an Indy Pro Series chassis at Kentucky Speedway circa '02 effectively ended his career!

Jason has since dabbled in team ownership, reportedly most notably with the Rubicon Race Team, who backed Mad Max Papis's Twenty-oh-Eight attempt to qualify for the 92nd Indianapolis 500 in a chassis prepared by Sam Schmidt's fledgling IndyCar operation to NO avail, failing to make the B-I-G' Show.

Thus, Jason now spends his time mostly producing various TV Shows, having recently been thrown from a horse and suffering a concussion during filming of his latest project The Code, along with numerous film and television roles, most notably 48 episodes of the show Call Me Fitz.


Priestly also dabbles in the wine making business Up North Eh! In collaboration with Blackhills Estate whilst  allegedly being a serious Vino collector.


2008 VINTAGE
As mentioned before, after a cursory perusal of my previous Speedy Vintner's post, it appears that A-L-L of the original Vintners: Mario Andretti, Franck Arciero, Kevin Buckler, Richard Childress, Tom Hedges, Randy Lewis, Scott Pruett and Jarno Trulli are still in business, which I previously chronicled in;