Okay, Eddie wasn't much of a threat on the Mile but he did have the thousand yard stare down early. Bike by Shell Thuett. Helmet by Bell. Boots By Red Wing. Steel shoe by Dad. image: thanks shooter

Judging by my e-mail in-box, there might be just as many European fans at the Indy Mile dirt track race next week as there are Americans. Nearly every Euro-based GP worker-bee I know are making plans to hit the Indy Mile on Saturday night.

For the Euros this will be a rare chance to see a Mile dirt track (no one besides the AMA calls it flat track, by the way) race in the flesh. 120 mph drafting, et al. For everyone this will be a great way to see a legendary event reborn.

Americans who raced dirt track before making the switch to Grand Prix racing are just about every rider who entered a GP in the 1970s through Nick Hayden. Roberts, Spencer, Lawson, Rainey, Chandler, etc. Hayden spent all of 2002 trying real hard to win a mile which would get his name on the Grand Slam list.