Oilpressure

This will come as surprise to some, and a sacrilege to many. Readers here know of my deep love, passion and respect for the Indianapolis 500. I cherish every visit to the hallowed ground at 16th and Georgetown (or the roundabout, or Polco…or whichever snarky nickname you have for that piece of land now that Georgetown Road no longer extends to 16th Street) that I have made since 1965.

Having said all that, in some ways – I almost prefer the laid back quaintness of Race Weekend at Road America to the sometimes overwhelming and pressure-packed Race Day at IMS. Don’t get me wrong. I love the Month of May and everything it brings, but without a doubt – our favorite non-May race venue is the 4.048 mile track nestled between Plymouth, WI to the south, and Elkhart Lake, WI to the west. Dubbed America’s national Park of Speed, Road America is both charming and fascinating at the same time.

It’s hard for me to explain it to people that have never been there, but if you’ve been there even once – you know what I’m talking about. Indianapolis has the history and the sheer size of the venue. Barber Motorsports Park has the beauty of a well-manicured golf course. Laguna Seca has the signature turn, while Long Beach has its own history and is popular with fans and drivers alike. Road America is all of the above.

The Indianapolis 500 is a stand-alone event and has history dating back to 1909. It also has attendance figures no sporting event can rival. But many of those fans are there simply to party. They couldn’t care less if they see a race car or not. Fans that attend races at Road America are perhaps the most knowledgeable racing fans in North America. Whether it’s stock cars, Indy cars, sports cars or even club racing – patrons of Road America regularly follow all.

There are so many iconic sections of this track – Station 5, Hurry Downs, The Carousel, Canada Corner, Thunder Valley and of course that long straightaway that climbs the hill, then goes back down the hill as it enters Turn One. Most fans and drivers say that Road America is the finest road course in North America.

I will also say that Road America offers the best concessions on the IndyCar schedule. While I’ve not been to every track, I have heard this from several people that have. Whether it’s an Egger for breakfast at the Gearbox, ice cream at Parker John’s near the paddock or cheese curds and brats at the stand overlooking Turns 7 & 8; you won’t find any better concessions that Road America.

I’ll now stop raving over this special place and talk more about the race, but trust me – you need to attend at least one race at Road America. Chances are, it’ll end up being more than one. Susan and I decided to give the place a try, when IndyCar returned to the track in 2016. We haven’t missed one since – including the double-header during 2020. That was the only race we attended in person all of that miserable COVID year.

The XPEL Grand Prix of Road America comes off of the heels of a general mess of a race in Detroit. Scott Dixon avoided the chaos and came out on top. He is one of three drivers in this weekend’s field, to win the race more than once. Dixon won in 2017 and in Race One of 2020. Josef Newgarden won in 2018 and again in 2022. Alex Palou won in 2021 and in 2023. Single winners of this even are Will Power (2016), Alexander Rossi (2019) and Felix Rosenqvist (Race Two in 2020).

In the nine races held since IndyCar’s 2016 return, Chevy has won three , while Honda has taken the tjop step of the podium six times.

Speaking of engine manufacturers, this is the only track where the sound of the engine sounds different for each manufacturer. If you are sitting in Station (Turn) Five, as the cars come racing toward the 90° left-hander that goes up the hill to the Corvette Bridge – the Chevy gives sort of a repetitive grinding sound. It’s hard to describe in writing, but it is a distinctive sound the Chevy makes going up the steep hill that the Honda does not make.

Susan and I actually drove up yesterday (Thursday). We are staying in Sheboygan this year, which is about twenty miles due-east of the track, sitting on the edge of Lake Michigan. That is also where our traditional Friday night dinner each year here is located – Majerle’s Black River Grill. Friday night fish-fries are common in Wisconsin, and this is a good one. Saturday night, we always eat at PJ Campbell’s at the Depot in nearby Plymouth – just south of the track. Sunday night is always open to something new.

When the racing is done, we plan to do a little vacationing up here. Monday we will take the four-hour trip across Lake Michigan on the car ferry SS Badger. It is the last remaining coal-fired steam passenger vessel in North America. It should be interesting.

Then we will travel to an area that sits right on Lake Michigan, just south of the Upper Peninsula. We will be there for several days relaxing and enjoying the area and the cool temps. I can tell you now, although I will put a reminder out on Monday’s Random Thoughts post – I will not be posting while on vacation. After Monday’s post on June 10, I will not return here until June 19.

But that’s next week. We will be at the track all day and will be posting from the track throughout the weekend. Today’s practice will not get started until 3:00 pm local (Central) time. All times referred to here this weekend will be Central Daylight Time (CDT). Practice One will go until 4:15 pm CDT and will be shown live on Peacock.

Tomorrow’s practice gets underway at 10:10 am CDT and will last for one hour. IndyCar Qualifying begins Saturday at 2:25 pm CDT on Peacock, while the morning warmup will run Sunday at 11:15 am CDT on Peacock. The Big NBC race broadcast gets underway at 2:30 pm CDT, with the green flag at 2:35 pm CDT, so it doesn’t look like there will be much of a pre-race show.

This is a later start than usual, which I like. Lately this race has started around 11:00 am local time and is done around 1:00 pm. It seemed like the day was over, before it ever got started. It almost seems like we are going to get another full day at the track this year, with the race ending somewhere between 4:30 or 5:00. If we were driving back to Indianapolis that night, I might be miffed – but selfishly, this suits us just fine.

My predictions are still holding true as they always have. I picked Will Power to win the Indianapolis 500, and he ended up in the wall. However, last week I picked Kyle Kirkwood to win at Detroit and he almost pulled it off – so I’m not always the kiss of death.

Who am I picking this time? It’s a driver we saw completely dominate the field one year. He passed the pole-sitter going into Turn One and never looked back. He has had some adversity since that day, and has won only once since that day several years ago. But he seems to be finding his way again, and I think he will find his way back into Victory Lane this weekend. Alexander Rossi will win the XPEL Grand Prix of Road America on Sunday. We’ll see.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on June 7, 2024 at 4:04 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.