His name is synonymous with Southern California, making him a perfect fit to get the state of California's largest spectator event under way.

I grew up with fantastic Southern food. In Southern California.

Like so many named places in California it was less an identifiable city than a grouping of concepts--census tracts, special purpose bond-issue districts, shopping nuclei, all overlaid with access roads to its own freeway.

When we look at events, we look at them in two ways. There are certain track rental opportunities that have better (profit) margins than others ... so we'll look at those. We also look at things that will bring notoriety to the track. Anything that can brand the speedway is something that's of interest to us. That plays a role when we're deciding who gets preference on certain days.

Obviously, we are big fans of open-wheel racing. The door is open for IRL to have conversations with us with regard to coming back to California Speedway. But, in my mind, it's a business decision. We need to see what the sponsorship situation is going to be.

I am also thankful for the efforts of the local firefighters who are willing to give of their time for this, and for the Muscular Dystrophy Association that understands the need to come to the aid of our fellow Americans at this difficult time. I'm also thankful to our legions of race fans who are coming together to raise money for the relief effort.