The Month of May officially comes to a close on Sunday. Last weekend was the first time I have been home for Memorial Day since 2002. From 1996 through 2002, I did not go to the Indianapolis 500. It wasn’t necessarily a protest of The Split. At that time, I was in the throes of going through a nasty divorce; but I also had no desire to attend and watch what I considered a diluted field. I continued to buy my tickets for the race from 1996 through 1998, but by then it had become obvious that The Split would not end anytime soon; so I let my tickets go.
Archive for May, 2020
Did You Have Month of May Withdrawals?
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 29, 2020 by OilpressureNothing is Carved in Stone These Days
Posted in IndyCar on May 27, 2020 by Oilpressure
If this current pandemic world we are all living in has taught us nothing else, it has taught us all to be flexible. It didn’t take very long either. If you had told me back in February that the Final Four would be cancelled and the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500 would be postponed for several months – I would have thought you to be certifiably nuts.
Race Day Memories
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 24, 2020 by Oilpressure
This would normally be Race Day for the Indianapolis 500. Instead, it is just another three-day holiday weekend to rest up and relax. Rather than spend my holiday behind a keyboard, I’ll take the time to relax. But instead of taking days off, I thought I’d take a cue from the sports networks and run a couple of personal favorite posts I’ve put up here from way back. Friday, I re-posted what I posted on Pole Day of 2009. Then today, on what would have been Race Day, I am re-posting something I wrote for Race Morning in 2009. Keep in mind, this was as it was written in 2009. Many things have changed since then. This will serve as Monday’s post also, but I will return here with new material on Wed May 27. Enjoy your holiday!
Pole Day Memories
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 22, 2020 by Oilpressure
This would normally be Race Weekend for the Indianapolis 500. Instead, it is a three-day holiday weekend to rest up and relax. Rather than spend my holiday behind a keyboard, I’ll take the time to relax. But instead of taking days off, I thought I’d take a cue from the sports networks and run a couple of personal favorite posts I’ve put up here from way back. Today, I’ll re-post what I posted on Pole Day of 2009. Keep in mind, it was written in 2009 – so some things have changed since then. Then on Sunday (not Monday) on what would have been Race Day, I’ll re-post something I wrote for Race Morning in 2010. That will serve as Monday’s post, but I will return here with new material on Wed May 27.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has produced its share of personal memories for me over the years. When I think of going to Pole Days as a wide-eyed kid in the sixties, the first word that comes to mind is COLD. Qualifying for the 1967 race was a mixture of rain, cold temperatures and wind. Our seats were covered, so at least we kept dry as the morning started with a drizzle. It was hard for an eight year-old like me to stay entertained when there were no cars to look at. Finally, the rain subsided and, one by one, the cars began to roll through Gasoline Alley. Our seats in Stand A were just across from the scoring pylon, so we had a perfect view as each car made it’s appearance onto pit road.
Under the Radar, as Usual
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 20, 2020 by Oilpressure
No one has really mentioned one of the things we are losing this Month of May. For the last several years, it has become something of a “new tradition” to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of famous wins of the Indianapolis 500.
A Strange Reason to Follow a Driver
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 18, 2020 by Oilpressure
There is no rational way to explain how or why a child will latch on to a name or an athlete to follow. When I was really starting to follow football, for whatever reason – I gravitated to Roman Gabriel, the quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams in the sixties. I don’t know if it was his name or those helmets, but to a kid in the third grade – No. 18 for the Rams in the sixties was about as cool as it could get.
That Shows How Much I Know
Posted in IndyCar on May 15, 2020 by Oilpressure
One thing that I have always tried not to do is shy away from a topic where I ended up being completely wrong. Such is the case with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It seems like it was more than a year ago, but it was really only two months ago that the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg had been apparently cancelled, and not postponed.
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