Mid-Ohio John Hall's pro debut

LEXINGTON, Ohio - Remember that young racer we told you about last week, John Hall, who was making his pro debut in the Barber Dodge race at Mid-Ohio? No? That's okay.

We're going to tell you how he did anyway.

He qualified 28th and finished 26th. Be still, my heart.

Early in the race, Hall had the majority of the front end of his Reynard Dodge shaved off by a fellow Barber Dodge neophyte. Her move was questionable, but it didn't faze Hall (Piece of cake, actually, at least in comparison to the day before. In Saturday's qualifying session, Hall did the same thing CART's Helio Castroneves did. No, not take pole; the other thing. Flipped the car over like a Western Omelet).

Anyway, Hall motored on -- make that raced on -- as he diced for position with Scott Mayer and Joe Vannini, despite no front grip. "Yea, it would have been easy to quit, but geez, it was my first pro race. You think I was gonna settle for a DNF?" Hall said afterward.

Cool. Hey, if it had been an F1 race, Bernie probably would have had him DQ'd because he raced with a "[re]movable aerofoil device."

Okay, let's see how he does in the next race, this weekend at Road America.

And yes, we're going to let you know how Hall does there.