And now, I have a great news for all of you! I just signed a deal to race for Conquest Racing at the Indy Japan 300. The deal came to me so fast that everything hasn't settled in just yet, but I am really looking forward to getting back in to an IndyCar machine. It has been exactly one year since I was in the car last and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about it. Having said that, I guess I am used to last minute deals by now so I know how to handle these pressures.

Everyone questions how do I cope with these one-off deals, but as for me, it's a standard routine that I was able to master. To be honest, doing one-off deals are very difficult. Perhaps, harder than being in a car full time. However, it is crucial for someone like me to maximize these few chances I get in order to build something for the future. Also, racing is different from any other sports because we don't get to practice everyday. That's why it is essential to train at the gym everyday, work really hard on mental training to build your confidence, and most importantly spend a lots of time on the simulator such as iRacing.com to simulate the race conditions.

The Indy Japan event has turned in to two-day event since last year, and the race will come up real quick, just as we start practicing and qualifying on Saturday. I will look forward to seeing all of you at the track and please be rooting for both me and Takuma Sato! I will give my best during the race, and hope to be able to enjoy the race together with all our fans !

Roger Yasukawa

IZOD Indy Car Series is definitely growing especially after the series has merged with Champ Car two years ago. We now have variety of drivers from all over the world including US, South America, Europe, and Asia. We are scheduled to have 17 races this year mainly in US but also in Brazil, Canada, and Japan. They are also talking about having a race in China in the future, which certainly would expand the fan demographic of the Indy Car Series, and I'm sure the team and drivers would be excited to go there. The league is turning in to an International series, which certainly is great thing for all of the teams, and sponsors that are involved in the IZOD Indy Car Series.

The season opener for the Indy Car Series was hosted in Sao Paolo, Brazil. I have never been to Brazil so I was really looking forward to this race. The people there were really nice and I definitely would go back there again as I had a pleasant stay during my trip.

It was the first time for Brazil to host an Indy Car Series race and the promoter had lots of obstacle to overcome, such as the track pavement as well as heavy rain during the race, which forced the race steward to red flag and halt the race for a moment. An Australian driver, Will Power ended up winning the exciting race battling his way past an American driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay who finished second. The local favorite, Vitor Meira rounded up the podium in third place. There were 24 driver from 10 different countries that participated in the race and the talent pool of this field is as deep as it has ever been in Indy Car Series history.

The second race of the year was in St.Petersburg, Florida. I really like going to St.Petersburg every year as the city and the fans treat us well every time we go there. The race was just as crazy as what we saw in Brazil especially after the torrential rain that postponed the race till next day. The city was generous enough to keep the streets shut down for extra day to get the race on Monday morning and the race itself turned out to be real exciting with lots of overtaking and lead changes.

I have been involved with Indy Car Series for 8 years now, and I can honestly say that this year is the most competitive and exciting years for the IZOD Indy Car Series. It really makes me eager to get back in to the car and race with the best drivers from all of over the world! I am working extremely hard and I hope to be able to land a ride with one of the Indy Car Series teams in the very near future!

Roger Yasukawa

As for my side as a racing driver, there are also lots of preparation that I need to undergo. The most important thing is fitness training. Since the race being so long, you will need to be very fit to keep your concentration level high through out the race. I actually went out for training camp last week in Santa Barbara so I can just concentrate on training for two straight days.

Mental preparation is just as important as physical training. A lot of driver uses a race simulation program like iRacing.com now days. I also like to watch the past race and in-car camera tapes so you can also learn from other drivers/teams tactics and mistakes. Besides from the racing concerns, since The Rolex 24 at Daytona is the first race of the year, I needed to get my medical exam done and apply for my FIA International Grade A license.

I will be heading to Florida tomorrow and will need to start packing tonight. I am going to bring a helmet, two racing suits, and lots of nomex underwear since I will probably have to do at least 6 stints of driving during the race! I am looking forward to driving the Interush Ferrari F-430 car in couple of days and hope to have a good smooth race!!

Live Free & Fast
Roger Yasukawa

Live Free & Fast,
Roger

My next race will be NASCAR racing in Fontana California next Saturday. That will be certainly fun to get back in the stock car. Then on October 24 I am going to shoot a new commercial for Nike with one of the Olympic athletes in Salt Lake on the ice track where we had the Olympics in 2002. This is going to be an exciting commercial for me to shoot and still have to spend some time on the creative content for this commercial.

It is still hard to believe I was just in Japan as it seems so long ago with the pace and schedule I have been keeping. I had such a great time seeing everyone there at the races and in Tokyo. Unfortunately, we had a problem in the race with the safety locking pin that holds the large wheel nut that keeps the wheel from coming off. The track is a very fun and challenging track to drive. Running some good lap times in the race gave me a more enjoyable experience and hopefully the fans enjoyed the event. After the race I got to spend some time at dinner with Dario Francetti and Scott Dixon, the winner of the race. They said my car and I were very fast in turn 3 and 4 and complimented me on how good I was driving. But, they felt the car had a lot of drag in turn 1 and 2 and down the straight. Turn 1 and 2 are turns where you do not lift the throttle. They felt that Motegi was the best that the number #98 car had run all year. Dario and actress Ashley Judd are now living in Boston and plan to go to dinner with me before I leave LA.

This Saturday's race in California will probably mark my last race of the year in a race car. I am looking forward to figuring out where and what I will be racing next year. For now, I will be making great movies and enjoying my family and looking forward to going to the Olympics in Vancouver to see the athletes that I have helped support through my charity.

It was so great to see all the Interush group in the Motegi stands with your hats, shirts and flags cheering me on! The whole experience was something so memorable and all of your support and enthusiasm just made it an amazing event for me!
Thank you!

I will add another blog and include some photos of the NASCAR race in California later this week.

Live Free and Fast!

Stanton

Here is a photo from the 2010 Ford Mustang Internet commercial that I did recently in downtown LA. We had a great time working on this spot and doing some super fun driving, drifting and creating a cool story spot. We had X-games gold medal winner Jake Brown (inferred to be driving) and 2009 X Games Gold Medalist vertical skateboarder Pat Duffy (Legendary street skater) in the commercial. I was the main stunt driver and also the stunt coordinator, but when I was busy on the main unit or need to be coordinating shots and safety during some of the street scenes I used Rich Rutherford who drove in the Fast and Furious - Tokyo Drift movie. We had tons of super cool driving, crashing threw parking barriers, jumping the car, drifting around spiral parking structure and killer skating. I got to hire my cousin and a few friends to help do rigging on the skate board jumps and more. A super fun day at the office for sure! And Interush will help Ford distribute the commercial online in Japan, Taiwan and the USA.

Live Fast and Free,

Stanton

NASCAR Nationwide Race day was Sunday, August 30th. During the race we had a brake issue because the brake ducts were not vented all the way. I lost a ton of time on the track when we had the longest green flag of racing. We lost a valuable lap after pitting however, we were really fast and got up to the lead position, one lap down and then got our lap back on the next caution flag. From that point on, the race never ran over 3-5 green flag laps at a time due to all the caution laps. Each time it was green, I could pick cars off every lap. Coming from the back we made it quickly from about 36th to 24th in a few green flag laps and through a variety of caution laps. It was a real bummer because there were so many wrecks that I could never get into a grove and just pick our way through the pack.

It ended up raining with about 19 laps to go. By the time we got racing again, we had 15 laps left, but every one or two laps there was a wreck and back to yellow again. At this point I had managed to stay out of trouble and could have really make ground up and got near the top ten. With 5 laps left, I was running in 12th and was looking at a top ten finish. Then on another restart in the first corner Steven Wallace slid right across the hairpin turn and slammed into my car, broke the rear track bar mount, flattened my left rear tire and took out about 7 other cars. I was able to limp around two laps under caution until we could get a new rain tire on the car and not lose a lap. We restarted again with two laps to go, when there was a big spin out with about 7 cars in turn one and now I passed up to 8th spot, but my car was so damaged from the crash that I could only go about 65% speed. The race ended as the second longest race in NASCAR Nationwide history. Our result was 24th and a torn-up race car, plus a very sore back and neck for myself!

I still have lots of work to do to prepare for the coming IndyCar Series race in Motegi, Japan. I cannot wait to see Japan and tour around a little. Team 3G says they have been working really hard on the car and think in the last weeks they have found some new technology that will allow us to race very well there in Japan. It has been a while since I was in the seat of the IndyCar due to the crash a few months ago. It is such an exciting car to drive and looking forward to my return to the IRL with all my Interush friends and fans there to watch! See you soon!

Live Free and Fast,

Stanton

This has been something I have been working towards for a few years, but have not had time to focus on until this year since I am not running the day-to-day operations of a race team. It is an exciting for me to be able to be working creatively in the film and television commercial industry. My production company specializes in anything to do with sports, and especially with anything motorized, like cars, trucks, motorcycles and of course race cars...!

Please click on this link and wait a minute for it to download...I hope you enjoy my film work too...

My Film

Live Free and Fast,

Stanton

St. Louis is a great track and always enjoy the challenges of this track. It is very similar to the layout of Motegi with two different turns, one very tight and slightly banked, and the other one flat and longer, in an oval shape that is 1.25 miles long.

After this race I am heading back to California to take some photos with all the new Interush Racing Team gear that will be available to everyone soon. Then I'll probably get to work on some movies over the next few weeks in between races.

But right now, I am really looking forward to getting on the race track this weekend. Practice is Friday tonight, qualifying is Saturday afternoon and the race is Saturday night, broadcast on ESPN2 to millions of race fans throughout the USA and Canada.

Live Free and Fast,
Stanton

As you may know I was not certain when and how things were going to workout after the IndyCar crash last month in Milwaukee. When the soreness did not go away after several days, I had x-rays taken to make sure nothing was broken or fractured... fortunately it was not.

Over the past week I have started feeling well enough to do some synchronized driving for a new Nissan television commercial in Los Angeles, while continuing to recover and while waiting to be able to get back into the race cars. The Nissan commercial was lots of fun and we were working with a director who is a big fan of both my father and I. My dad was also working in the commercial with me, and that is something that we do not get to often do together.

Last week I also went from LA to Irvine to work on a new video Google, highlighting the Google / Interush collaboration, along with Marty Matthews. It was great to have the NASCAR and the IndyCar together at the same spot, you'll be able to see this soon on a Google website, and posted on the Interush sites too.

Overall I am feeling a bit better now from all the soreness in my back and neck. It looks like next week I will be able to get back into the NASCAR series again to race in Chicago. This is a great track and the city is a great location to get away and enjoy yourself.

Both the NASCAR Team and IndyCar Team have been working really hard at making things work well for the rest of the year. Now that I'm starting to feel better, I'm eager to get back in the IndyCar again in the next month sometime. In the interim the team is using another driver to make sure we are able to enter each race.

I need to be back in full health before I drive the IndyCar again so for now, I'm taking the easier path of the NASCAR series and working on films, without dangerous stunts.

Each week we are getting closer to the September race in Japan where I look very forward to seeing everyone at the event and spending time with the Affiliates. You are going to have a great time together watching the super-hot Interush IndyCar.

So right now I am still in Malibu, California resting in my motorhome, overlooking the ocean and enjoying my friends and family. I have also been using my time to be in discussions about some great potential movie stunts, plus directing some commercials and also a new music video. We will see what comes of all the opportunities in the next few weeks.

Live Free and Fast,

Stanton

I got on the race track Friday in the first practice session. The car was very loose and we had to make a few pit stops to make some adjustments. We made some good changes and went back on the track. The car felt really good and was taking some good time off our lap times. We were running 10th and just behind some solid cars. I had only made 19 laps and the car was feeling really solid and into the race track. This is something that is hard to get is your car feeling like it has side bite and into the race track. We were working on shaving time each lap taking off 3-5 tenths per second each lap. Then in turn 2 all of a sudden the car just broke loose and lost control. This was completely unexpected and caught me off guard. I hit the wall hard backwards then came around and slapped the wall sideways on the right side.

Unfortunately it was such a heavy impact we were not able to repair the car at the race track and was not able to race this weekend. I have been very sore from the impact and taking some time to recover. Not certain what the next weekend is going to bring with regards to running the IndyCar. I have to make sure my back is not as sore as it is now to be able to race those cars. It is really unfortunate because it might keep me from running in a few races.

I am still looking forward to the weekend to race either in the Nationwide race in Nashville or the IndyCar race in Texas. I just have to wait a few more days and see how my physical health is before I can make the right decision on what I am going to do...

Stanton

The focus over the last few days have been completely towards finding more sponsors, and working on our amazing race car. I have spent a lot of time with the team working with them on the car, doing all we can to find more speed. There are a few things that I can help with and so I have tried to do that. Most of it relates to aerodynamic things on the car. This is not the most important aspect right now.. it is our set-up that is. It sure has been an up and down week and half. One minute we are pretty fast, and the next there is no extra speed. Most of all it has to do with changes in the car that are in the wrong direction or something that has just not been changed just as we had expected. Regardless, we have learned a lot in the last few days on the set-up and how to improve it.

Changing our geometry and starting from scratch again on Thursday has been frustrating. Keeping focussed and not getting frustrated at the wrong time and keeping your cool on the track is the most important and we were able to do that very well this week as a team. Today had its moments. We know we have good direction to go, but sometimes we are just taking the wrong turns and this sets us back. We made a lot of changes today and went for a late qualifying run. We knew that the weather is tough and wind was strong, so the goal was to make a good run and learn what we could, to make proper decisions for qualifying on Sunday.

All the hard work, the hope and desire to make the Indy 500 will come down to just one more day on the track. Only 14 cars still need to qualify into the final 11 spots and some basically locked themselves in today. But tomorrow the speeds are going to be higher, the track will be faster and more risks will be taken. The speed has been there this week at 219.4, so, it can come again plus more. We are only behind the other two cars in front of me by just .045 mph, which is such a small, small margin.

I am excited to get the opportunity to try again tomorrow, but the reality of what is at risk is something that is in the back of everyones mind. Being too comfortable with where you are, or with the speed you post could be something that can bite you tomorrow. I know that you can not just build a great team overnight, there is so much to this sport. Knowing this from history of motor sports, we have to keep working on the entire package from myself as a driver learning the car, to the crew making it the best car they can, and learning about the best possible set-up on these cars. Not to mention adding a few more full time employees so the few we have don't pass-out from a lack of sleep! Our crew has really worked so hard and committed so much to this program. I hope all our hard work will pay off tomorrow and believe it will.

Stanton

Arriving to the track I park my car and walk the steps through the gate that introduces us all to the concrete garages that stands as firmly as our commitment to offer our best. As I walk each step, the busy people, workers and fans both alike moving among what was empty space while we all slept. Step-by-step leads me to the garage marked for Team 3G #98, driver Stanton Barrett INTERUSH/Curb/Candlewood Suites Indy Car team. It is good sign that this is the place I am suppose to be!

My committed crew are working diligently when I walk through the door, as they have for the last three off days. Each one paying attention to the details with new intent, details that are now so important, massaging and tuning every aspect of our race car. Tremendous attention to detail, examining and uncovering ever ingredient that can potentially allow us the speed and the success we seek by days end. I start working on the car as well, covering areas of the suspension with special tape, cutting and molding artistically to reduce drag from the wind that kisses our car. Things I really enjoy, working on race cars, mechanics and aerodynamics is somewhat of an art form to me. Being a part of working on the machine that takes care of me on the race track is just something that seems like the right thing to do. This brings my mind back to the long days in the single car garage, building my own race car, hours on end, to the early morning, then finding myself waking from underneath the metal machine and the unique smells we know as a race car.

Looking forward to the moment today that we make our first laps on the track, high noon arrives, this moment comes before I know it. The shifting of gears as the red lights on my dash move swiftly while shifting up to speed. My excitement ends quickly as the reality sets in, this is not working so well. A new attitude different from last week takes hold as the crew keeps the tone positive and forward thinking to solutions. Belief in what we do, the goals we have set out for since last October has taken the lead for the day. This is what a team is made of and team work is defined as. Nothing came easy today on the track to where the heat blew in creating a slick surface, slowing speeds of the best teams. By the end of the day, we simply found with continued focus and efforts led to finding the way that closed the gaps to our competitors. Now that the night has come full circle, bringing closer to the day we must lay it all on the line, for the four laps that will define our efforts, and that will identify who will be among the 33 drivers that will start on the grid of the 2009 Indy 500.

Stanton

Today was not the best day for us on the track, in so many ways. Frustration tried to overtake us. In the end our crew chief Owen was wise to keep things in perspective for our team, to help us remain calm and focused to what our task was for that day; and not to worry about the entire week ahead.

A competitors desire to be fast is something that controls a burning instinct which makes us all pull from places not known, making the ability to keep the focus vital to succeed. All of us are competitors... everyone in a crew, and every owner watching their cars shuffle on the speed charts. When the stakes are high, the tension and demands escalate. The value of this trying day of practice brought information that did give us a some new direction, opening another another door to needed speed. We are looking towards building a new set-up package to return our #98 IndyCar to the track on Thursday. I hope to have set aside during the days to come, the discouragement of running wide open throttle at only 218 mph; turning into an experience that will give us stability of grip, a neutral set up, another negative setting in rear wing, ease of steering input that reflects the speed necessary for each car and driver seeking to make the Indy 500.

Stanton