Shiitake Mushrooms

In the Q&A with Wade Cunningham a few days ago, I sidestepped any discussion specific to Wade’s 2006 season. A quick look shows he is tied for 5th in the Indy Pro points championship, which sounds like he has fallen to mediocrity. But if you examine some of the unfortunate circumstances he has encountered this year then you will quickly realize Wade is still outperforming the competition. Consider:

• In St. Petersburg, Wade was sidelined with appendicitis and missed both races (he finished 2nd there in 2005).

• In Milwaukee, Wade led 98 of 100 laps, surrendering a lead after a late yellow allowed Jamie Camara to close the gap and pass Wade on the restart.

• In that nail-biter in Kentucky last weekend, Wade probably would have won were it not for the fact that he suffered a cut tire as a result of a harsh bump from eventual winner Jay Howard. The league penalized Howard, but he got to keep the win.

So now Wade describes 2006 thusly: “It’s been a pretty s..t season”.

I can see now he might be upset at not being able to repeat as the Indy Pro series champion, but I beg to differ on his view of the season.
7 Races
6 Top 10s
5 Top 5s
4 Podiums
3 Poles
…but only one win.

I know everyone looks at wins, but Wade has led 245 of the 401 laps he has driven. Good gracious, he's led more laps in those seven races than all other drivers combined. That’s domination at any level of motorsports.

Wade, keep your chin up. If you continue leading laps then the wins will come, and they will be plentiful. You may think you’re having a “s..t season”, but as MoneyCJ would say, “You ARE the s..t!” (That’s a high complement here in the states, by the way).