Brack

I arrived in Long Beach on Tuesday night. This is really neat event. The city and people of Long Beach really get into this race. Long Beach has held a race for over 25 years and they really know how to welcome the drivers and teams to their city.

The crowds that come out to see us race at this place are unbelievable! The stands are always full all around this track, plus there are people watching from all of the office buildings and condominiums that have a view of the track. When I'm finished racing, I want to come out and just enjoy this event as a fan.

When I was out in Long Beach last week, I was able to play guitar at a place called the Blue Cafe in Long Beach. What a blast that was! The guys in the house band there can really jam. If you like live blues and jazz music, that's the place to go. We played a few songs and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. I think in my next life, I'll be a rock star. I love playing music. It's the only thing that I enjoy more than racing.

We had a pretty good race in Long Beach last week. This was the first race for our team since we were taken out on the first lap down in Mexico. I qualified fourth and finished fourth, but I felt like we could have been a few positions better. Not that fourth is all that bad, but as a driver you're always looking to improve your position.

I had been running in second for a good portion of the race and Jimmy (Vasser), as well as most of the rest of the field, were on the same pit strategy as us. The two guys who weren't were Michael (Andretti) and Max (Papis) -- those two had pitted on a different sequence and were running in first and second at the time.

They were scheduled to pit in a few laps and I would have returned to second place. But a yellow came out and picked up Jimmy as the leader. Michael and Max sped up, pitted and came out in front of Jimmy and I. But that's racing. Sometimes the breaks go your way and sometimes they don't. I'm glad to score some points and get back in the championship race. It was a good weekend for Team Target. Bruno and I were both fast all weekend and I can feel the momentum starting to build for us.

I returned from Long Beach on Sunday night following the race and headed out to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday morning to test the IRL car. What a great feeling to turn laps at the Speedway. I have great respect and admiration for that track. The cars have changed quite a bit from the last time I ran them in 1999. There are new chassis rules and a 3.5-liter engine, which is different from the 4.0-liter engine that we used to run.

	Brack is currently eighth in CART points.

The test went pretty well. We focused on tuning the car to make it comfortable to drive. Once you get the car so that it can turn in the four corners, then you can work on the speed of your laps. It is a very tricky track to set up a car on. The wind, weather and track temperature can all change how the car feels. It's important to have a car that will run in the corners for you.

We leave for Japan on Monday of next week and I'm very excited to get back there. I won the race there last year and I know we have a great shot at doing it again this year. Team Target has a great oval setup and with the success I have had on ovals, I'm really looking forward to it. I'll say Sayonara for now and talk to you next week in the land of the rising sun!

Kenny Brack, the driver of the No. 12 Lola for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, will be providing a diary to ESPN.com throughout the CART season.