By Mike Kitchel
I’ve been around for more than 30 Veterans Days, and probably let most of them pass without much notice. I’m sure somewhere in the back of my head I understood what Veterans Day was all about, but I never gave it the respect it has earned. This week I started thinking how much my perspective has changed – having spent a better part of the last five years working on an IndyCar dressed in camouflage, and interacting daily with people wearing the uniform that symbolizes the importance of what today really means.

The offseason in 2007 was like many in IndyCar; a year had flown by at 230 mph, another championship had been celebrated and – like a lot of teams – we’re back to wearing suits and ties in board rooms, presenting business executives with the laundry list of advantages that come with motorsports sponsorship. Somewhere along the way that offseason, the National Guard started to explore expanding their involvement in motorsports into the IndyCar Series. And by the time engines were fired on the 2008 season, our No. 4 car was painted red, white and blue and the corporate executives that once filled our hospitality area were replaced by men and women in camouflage uniforms.