Oilpressure

Today is always one of the most depressing days of the year. It’s even worse this year, because the calendar shifts next year. That means we have to wait an extra week for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 next May 29th. After four straight weekends up here and being so wrapped up into yesterday’s race all month – it’s all over. Even worse, we have to re-enter the real world with day jobs and such.

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The last fifteen laps of the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500 provided as good of racing as I’ve ever seen – and I’ve seen a lot of racing in my lifetime. The Top Four at that point consisted of Scott Dixon, Will Power, Charlie Kimball and Juan Montoya. The four of them jockeyed for position and you really had no idea who was going to win. I was assuming Kimball would be content to finish fourth, but he raced his teammate and earned a strong third place finish.

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Just a quick post before we head out for good. We headed to the garage area first thing and as son as we go there, it started sprinkling. Although it was enough to make us duck for cover, it lasted only a few minutes and amounted to nothing. As is usual on race morning, the tension in the garage area was palpable. This picture was taken around 8:00. Not long after that, the place became packed and there was a flurry of activity along with the occasional engine firing up. I love the smell of ethanol in the morning.

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Good morning from what is soon-to-be a sunbathed Indianapolis Motor Speedway! It is absolutely perfect weather as the sun was just peeking over the horizon as we arrived here at 6:40 am. The Pagoda was already bathed in sun as darkness started to disappear from the area on the ground.

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As we head to the track this morning to witness the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500, i have to ask myself “Has it really been fifty years since I went to my first Indianapolis 500?”. OK, it’ll really be fifty years next week since the 1965 race took place as that race was run on Monday May 31st. But do the math. My first race was the 49th edition and this is the 99th.

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By Susan Phillips

I must admit, at this point in the Month of May, I am pretty fried. The month of May is also one of the busiest months for my day job. It is graduation and “the new June” for weddings. I spent the weekdays writing “Congratulations” and “Class of 2015” on countless cakes in my territory, which includes 104 stores for a major retail chain. I went out to work in my stores, and then packed up to head 300 miles to Indianapolis every weekend of the month. Yesterday I was unsure if I could even walk around the track, much less carry on coherent conversation. George was in his element, and as the month wore on, I was happy to let him take the driver’s seat and just go along for the ride. It has been a great ride.

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Good morning from a slightly cool, but beautifully sunny Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I’m not sure that the weather could be more perfect. It’s slightly brisk at the moment but headed to a high of 78 today. The forecast for tomorrow is partly sunny at a high of 80. There is now no mention of rain in Sunday’s forecast.

We went to the Carb Night Burger Bash last night. It was the biggest crowd I’ve seen there since I’ve been going. It was good to see a lot of people we hadn’t seen since last year. It was also good to meet a lot of people that have commented here or that I’ve corresponded with through Twitter. I’d like to give a special shout-out to Bob Butler and his wife Andrea from Florida. They made a point to come up and say Hi to Susan and me, and we had a very nice visit with them.

Today is more of my kind of day at The Speedway. It’s Legend’s Day, this year honoring the career of four-time winner Al Unser. As promised, we started the day at Charlie Brown’s in Speedway for breakfast with my brother, his son and his son-in-law. We got there early enough that we didn’t have to wait. When we left, the line was backed up out into the parking lot.

The vintage cars are about to run, so we are going back out to watch them. After that, it’ll be a leisurely day at the track. That also includes the annual trip to the museum.

Anyway, I hear cars running now so that’s my cue. Susan will have a post up here later today. In the meantime follow her on Twitter at @MrsOilpressure and me at @Oilpressureblog. Check back later.

George Phillips