We Could Use Another Buick Today

Posted in IndyCar on May 5, 2026 by Oilpressure


It was less than two weeks ago that we got the thirty-third entry confirmed for this year’s Indianapolis 500. For the past few years, we generally have either the required thirty-three or an extra car to mandate bumping for one car. While it’s much more dramatic and entertaining than qualifying thirty-three cars, it still makes Bump Day feel like a former shell of itself.

This isn’t the usual rant from an old-timer yearning for the old days of the 70s, 80s and 90s. I know how we got here, and I understand it. It’s all about the current manufacturer agreements and money. Instead, I’m looking to open up a discussion for a possible solution.

I’m not sure it’s as easy and the series landing that always-elusive third engine manufacturer. If I’m not mistaken, the current agreement is that Honda and Chevy have agreed to be able to support half the field, up to thirty-six entries (I could be wrong on the second part). This year, Chevy is carrying the heavy burden of fielding eighteen cars, while Honda will have fifteen.

I don’t know of many fans that are in favor of engine leases, but I do see how they are essential to the series. For whatever the cost of a lease is, teams get engines along with support from the manufacturers. The engines are supposed to be as equal as possible. I think that goal is achieved, because if any one team got favorable treatment from a manufacturer – we would all hear about it. Twenty years ago, there were “factory” teams. Team Penske was a factory team for Chevy and Andretti-Green racing was the factory team for Honda. Being a factory team meant that you got all of the latest parts and equipment. That didn’t always mean the best, because some of the improvements turned out to be inferior.

Thirty years ago, Penske was the Mercedes factory team, Newman/Haas was the Ford team, Ganassi was the Honda team, while Dan Gurney’s All-American Racers was the Toyota Team.

Before we go any further, what I describe here is more of a hypothetical wish that I know won’t happen. I say that before someone reads what I say and stops halfway to write out what an idiot I am in the comment section. Just hear me out while I dream of what I’d like to see.now, continue reading.

But from 1982 up until the second year of The Split in 1997, there was another engine made available for the Indianapolis 500 – the Buick, which later evolved into the Menard. While all of the engines in CART were turbocharged V8s, the Buick was a stock block turbocharged V6.

Both engines made horsepower in different ways. I freely admit that I’m not a gearhead, and I’m about to be talking out of my league and comfort zone. In the early 90s, the CART V8 engines were running 45-inches of boost in their turbochargers. In order for the Buick too be competitive, they were allowed to run 55-inches of boost. At other races sanctioned by CART, the Buick was eventually allowed to run 50-inches, but never 55.

While the Buick engine was ultra-powerful, it was also unreliable. In 1985, Pancho Carter put his Buick-powered March on the pole for the Indianapolis 500. He lasted six laps. Scott Brayton, whose family had a hand in the development of the Buick engine, qualified in the middle of the front-row and went out on Lap 19 with a blown cylinder wall.

That was pretty much the story of the Buick engine. It would excel in qualifying, but would blow up early in the race – much like the Novi years earlier. It wasn’t until 1992 that the Buick even lasted the distance for 500. That was when Al Unser carried his Menard’s Lola-Buick to a hard-earned third-place finish, ten seconds behind the famous Little Al/Scott Goodyear battle. That was also the year that Roberto Guererro Put his Lola-Buick on the pole, before infamously crashing on the second parade lap.

One bit of Buick trivia from 1992 that has gotten lost today is that twelve cars in the starting field that day were powered by Buick. Think about it. More than a third of the field was powered by an engine that hardly raced anywhere else for the rest of the season.

What drove teams to choose the Buick engine? Was it the massive power it produced? Was it a low-cost option that one-off teams couldn’t pass up? Or was it because the one-off teams were shut out by the engine manufacturers who held engine leases with the full-time teams? The first two were factors, but it was the latter that was the most attractive factor to the one-offs.

Looking over the starting grid in 1992, very few full-time drivers ran Buicks. Dale Coyne Racing switched his drivers from their normal Cosworth DFS to Buick for Indianapolis. Scott Brayton chose to abandon his reliable Chevy-A engine for his family’s Buick engine for the 500, only to blow up in the race in one of the largest plumes of smoke I have ever seen in-person. Other than those exceptions, most of the Buick engines in 1992 were run by one-off or part-time teams (Menard, King, Hemelgarn, etc). The only Indy-only effort I can tell that ran a Chevy was Dominic Dobson, driving for Burns Motorsports.

Regardless if the Buick was cost-effective or not, it was available to any team that wanted to run it.

Seven drivers, including three-time winner Johnny Rutherford, made qualifying attempts for the 1992 Indianapolis 500 and failed to make the field. That means forty drivers made qualifying attempts, not to mention those that crashed in practiced and were either seriously injured (Pancho Carter, Hiro Matsushita and Nelson Piquet) or fatally injured (Jovy Marcelo). It was tough to even make the field in those days, but at least a lot of drivers got the chance to try.

Although I seriously doubt that Chevy and Honda would allow it, it’s a shame that there is not an alternative engine available for the Indianapolis 500 in today’s current environment.

Wouldn’t it be great if Ford and Cosworth could partner up again, to develop an engine designed exclusively for the oval of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? The current IndyCar rules do not allow it, and if they did – I am almost certain that Honda and Chevy would bail out of the new agreement they signed just a few months ago, if it were to happen. Just imagine the publicity Ford (or any other manufacturer) would enjoy by knocking a full-time IndyCar team out of the Indianapolis 500. That’s why Honda and Chevy would never go for it.

Engine leases are not the only thing preventing one-off teams from entering the Indianapolis 500. Exorbitant costs have a lot to do with it also. But for 2026 – I think we would have more than thirty-three cars lining up for qualifying next weekend. It’ll never happen, but it’s nice to think about.

George Phillips

What an Incredible and Inspirational Person!

Posted in IndyCar on May 4, 2026 by Oilpressure


The Month of May has gotten off to a very somber start. We are now mourning two racing legends who never once drove in the Indianapolis 500. Last week we were mourning the loss of Merle Bettenhausen. Over the weekend, we were saddened to learn that the motorsports world had lost Alex Zanardi at the age of 59.

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Welcome to the Month of May!

Posted in IndyCar on May 1, 2026 by Oilpressure


Welcome to another Month of May! Unfortunately, we begin the month on a sad note. Merle Bettenhausen passed away this past Wednesday. Many of you know that Merle had a stroke about three weeks ago. Reports were that he was stable, but had a long road ahead of him. Apparently things took a turn for the worse. He was the last of the racing Bettenhausens. His older brother Gary, who had 21 Indianapolis 500 starts from 1968 to 1993, passed away in 2014. His younger brother, Tony, was tragically killed in an airplane crash along, with his wife Shirley (McElreath) Bettenhausen in 2000.

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The Open Test is Now Complete

Posted in Indianapolis 500 on April 29, 2026 by Oilpressure


The 2026 Open Test is now in the books. It was a good two-day stretch that saw only a little over an hour lost to weather. Both days were partly sunny, cool and breezy – much like what everyone can experience in a couple of weeks.

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Day Two of the Open Test

Posted in Indianapolis 500 on April 29, 2026 by Oilpressure


Good morning from a damp Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It rained overnight as was expected; but I think the hope was that the track would be dry by 10:00 am, It wasn’t. It is now 11:15 am as I type and the first few cars have now taken they track. The new schedule is as follows: 11:15 to 1:15 all eligible cars; 1:15 to 2:15 Katherine Legge Refresher; 2:15 to 5:00 all eligible cars.

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What a Way to Spend the Day!

Posted in Indianapolis 500 on April 28, 2026 by Oilpressure


There is something about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that stirs my soul. I was talking to a friend of mine here today and he asked me how the appeal stays alive with me all this time. He is here covering the race as a way to make a living. I am here because this place has always been such a part of my life, I just can’t get enough of it.

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Welcome to the Open Test!

Posted in IndyCar on April 28, 2026 by Oilpressure


For the first time this season; Welcome to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway! I was late leaving Nashville this morning, and I can’t blame it on season. Instead, I’ll blame Mother Nature. Storms ripped through Nashville last night. I got up at 4:00 and it was still going strong. Storms ended around 4:30, but oddly enough – our power went out at 5:30. I was already running behind and still had some packing to do. Finishing up with a flashlight did not speed things up. Oh well, I got here eventually.

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