A Rough Start To The Offseason
The season is over and the championship has been decided. Is there a better (or worse) way to kick off the offseason than to have another episode of One Take Only? For those that don’t come here that often, One Take Only is the poor excuse for the videoblog of Oilpressure.com. My friend John McLallen and I sit down with no script or outline. We don’t rehearse (as you can tell). We just start the camera and start talking about anything that has to do with IndyCar. We do everything in one take, hence the name. What you see is uncut and unedited. Some have likened it to two old friends sitting in a sports bar having an informal conversation. Others have compared it to hearing one’s nails on a chalkboard.
We have been doing these since August of 2011. That’s over six years of wasted time – time wasted by us taping them, and by you watching them. But we enjoy doing them, so that’s all that matters.
In this episode, We discuss Sunday’s race at Sonoma and Josef Newgarden’s championship. We also look ahead to 2018 and some of the driver changes going on. So pour a cup of coffee and spend some time with us; but I can’t guarantee that you’ll be glad you did.
George Phillips
Oilpressure 
September 20, 2017 at 7:00 am
Random thoughts on “One Take Only” : It is better than “The View”. It is better than “The Chew”.
September 20, 2017 at 12:00 pm
George in the classic Marlboro Penske shirt balancing out the day-glo chevron-less Hornish/Briscoe die-cast.
September 21, 2017 at 2:27 am
I always enjoy One Take Only.
September 24, 2017 at 2:59 am
It’s always good to see you and John.
I don’t get your disgust for Belle Isle. That Detroit Belle Isle circuit has got 3 distinct overtaking opportunities: Turn 1 (which is the tightest), Turn 3 and the corner at the end of the back stretch.
That’s what makes it superior to Sonoma which has got elevation changes but not much else.
Given Milwaukee is still the town with the highest TV viewership figures for the Indy 500, the Milwaukee Mile deserves to be given another chance. Is the weather good enough in mid-September for a season finale there?
The season finale is a date on the calendar that needs some serious attention. George, here’s a suggestion for a new blog article you might be interested to write over the off-season: an article on season-ending events and the tracks that hosted these throughout US open wheel racing history would be a very interesting read. Thanks for considering. The question remains: when was there a season finale race that was really successful? And which tracks held a successful season finale before? Surfers Paradise sure did. Chicagoland and Homestead unfortunately didn’t work not even 10 years ago. LVMS failed for all the wrong reasons. Fontana went out the window as well. What was the season finale like back in the 80s and 70s?
If SMI is great at hosting season finales, another of their tracks should be taken into consideration. Sparta, Kentucky, might be a great place for the local crowd at Indianapolis to get to, yet a big city in close proximity would be required for the sponsors. I’m not sure if Atlanta could be considered suitable for IndyCars. Charlotte surely wouldn’t be attempted as the season finale again, for similar reasons that LVMS wouldn’t.
However, as mentioned above, there are no such suitability issues with Milwaukee.