After a week's hiatus thanks to seasonal illness, Paddock Pulse is back for a very special St. Patrick's Day edition!

Okay, it's not all that special. But if nothing else it certainly will put you in the mood for the traditional St. Patty's alcohol overindulgence.

• What's Not to Like? [Drive Hard, Turn Left]
  "You had it all in the São Paulo Indy 300 - a Carnival-like atmosphere in the crowd, a ridiculous start (complete with clown music), passes for the lead (that happens on road/street circuits?), gaffes, late passes for the lead (again, this happens?) and comeback stories galore. Again, what's not to like about Brazil?"

• Sarah Fisher's signing Graham Rahal to drive her car for two races a smooth move [ESPN/John Oreovicz]
  "By stepping aside in favor of Rahal, Fisher will turn the spotlight onto her team and her sponsor, Dollar General stores. The limited program with Rahal (which includes a test day at Barber Motorsports Park) will also greatly benefit Fisher, her team driver Jay Howard and SFR's road course development program in general by giving them feedback from an established IndyCar star."

• Things Might Be Looking Up [Oilpressure]
  "After producing one of the best street races I have ever seen, the Izod IndyCar Series scored another round of good luck when it was announced on Monday that the seven month battle between DirecTV and Versus had come to an end."

• Do You Have Any Buffalo Sauce for that Crow?? [Planet-IRL]
  "...it is with a sense of honor that I request a bit of buffalo sauce for the crow that Steph will be making me eat until the IZOD IndyCar Series fires up again in St. Petersburg, Florida, in just under two weeks. The IndyCar Series event in São Paulo, Brazil, yesterday was one of the most exciting and entertaining races I’ve seen in quite some time."

• May Indy Tweetup [the_race_gIRL/MayIndyTweetup.com]
  "A lot of hard work has gone into the planning and launching of the new website for the May Indy Tweetup. Your founders have endured the blood, sweat and tears needed to get this thing rolling. And by 'blood, sweat and tears,' we mean, 'having a great time discussing and planning whilst eating sushi and drinking wine.'"

• Willy T. Ribbs Report: Sao Paulo [The Silent Pagoda]
  "About three seconds after the green flag dropped at Sao Paulo, a very unsurprising thing happened: all hell broke loose. And as the thick clouds of baking soda & chaos had cleared, Mario Moraes opted to park his car on Marco Andretti’s forehead. Yeah, well — whadayagonnado? Welcome to Brazil, folks — step lively now. This place is many things, but predictable is not one of them."

• DE SILVESTRO: Pinch Me! [SPEEDtv.com]
  "I'm at the airport waiting to leave for Indy as I write this and I really have to pinch myself. It's still sinking in. All of it. The fact that I completed my first IZOD IndyCar Series race blows my mind."

• MILLER: Sao Paulo Samba [SPEEDtv.com]
  "Tony Cotman blah blah awesome blah Tony Cotman blah blah IndyCar Jesus blah blah blah Tony Cotman."

Final Thoughts

Today everyone is wearing green, but for my part I'm wearing yellow - Dollar General yellow! That's right; I'm committing the unpardonable journalistic sin - but universally-applauded blogger action - of abandoning all pretense of objectivity and blatantly rooting for Sarah Fisher Racing and Graham Rahal at St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park.

That's not to say that I'm not hoping for the best for folks like Simona de Silvestro, the Swiss Miss who had such a stellar season opener before mechanical problems wrecked her day, or Vitor Meira, who narrowly escaped getting his scrawny Brazilian butt kicked by the fossilizing A.J. Foyt by successfully keeping his tears in their ducts following his podium finish.

But Sarah has done more for IndyCar lately than... well, anyone. And you have to love that.

So I will.