Word emerged Wednesday that long-established IndyCar blogger Jeff Iannucci, of MyNameisIRL.com, has decided to stand down for personal reasons. You can read his ‘letter of resignation’ here.
I very much respect the decision, it shows certain priorities are in order. Many lesser bloggers would attempt to carry on under what I presume to be difficult circumstances (without knowing details, without needing to). Sometimes a break is needed to focus on more important things.
Nonetheless, My Name Is IRL’s absence in the community will be greatly felt. His was one of the first racing blogs I started to read, and became one of the first of what I consider the ‘big’ IndyCar blogs. This was at the time of the ChampCar/IndyCar ‘merger’ and his site had been running for a while by then. It has grown in popularity quite substantially since.
Personally-speaking, I said it in my very first post at the old site and I’ll say it again, without My Name Is IRL, Pressdog and Meesh, I would never have started blogging. They were the first to link little ‘ole me, even when I had little to add. I was astonished they’d even give me the time of day. Don’t take this the wrong way, I’m no way comparing my humble efforts to any of them, just they were jointly the inspiration to start writing.
I get the impression from the comments to his post, there are others who can relate similar stories. Jeff, I thank you for that, even if it were unknown and unintended. Not only that, but the quality of writing was always impeccable, whether it be a race report, a snippet of news or hilarious piece of satire. I like to think that attitude rubbed off on several bloggers.
Jeff: the blogging community owes you, mostly in the IndyCar community but also in a wider sense in the racing world, maybe even wider than that. I wish you well going forward, and hope that some day you will be able to return to take your place, whether it be weeks, months or even years from now. We’ll keep the seat warm. Stay in touch..
I Watch Too Much Racing 