This weekend gives fans of the NTT IndyCar Series an extra treat – we get two oval races in one weekend. The site is Texas Motor Speedway, with two separate races of different distances, on two separate days. The Saturday night race will be the Genesys 300, which will be 212 laps for 300 miles. Late Sunday afternoon, we will have the XPEL 375; consisting of 248 laps for 375 miles.
Archive for April, 2021
Texas Preview
Posted in IndyCar on April 30, 2021 by OilpressureIt Didn’t Have to be This Confusing
Posted in IndyCar on April 28, 2021 by Oilpressure
There is a very powerful phrase in the English language that negates an entire paragraph (or more), in just three words. You can got through a long diatribe of praising someone for several sentences. But when you follow that praise up with the phrase “…having said that”, it negates all of the wonderful things you just said about someone. Instead, it paves the way for you to rip into them. Unfortunately, that’s what I am about to do here.
Random Thoughts on St. Petersburg
Posted in IndyCar on April 26, 2021 by Oilpressure
While the 2021 version of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was not the most scintillating of races, there were some compelling elements to it. Colton Herta won the NTT IndyCar Series race in dominating fashion, pretty much leading it flag-to-flag except for pit stop shuffles. Herta led 97 of 100 laps from the pole; while Barber winner Alex Palou led two laps and Simon Pagenaud led one. There was very little change in the Top-Four from the start of the race, with the only difference being that Jack Harvey dropped from second to fourth. Josef Newgarden and Pagenaud each moved up one spot by the end of the race. So no, there was not a lot of drama among the Top-Four cars throughout the race.
St. Petersburg Preview
Posted in IndyCar on April 23, 2021 by Oilpressure
And just like that, we’re ready for Round Two of the seventeen race schedule for the NTT IndyCar Series. Alex Palou didn’t get a lot of time to savor his first career IndyCar win. Today, he and the rest of the paddock have another challenge in front of them as they take on the streets of St. Petersburg in this weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Could This Be the End of the Road?
Posted in IndyCar on April 21, 2021 by Oilpressure
One race is only a snapshot. Sunday’s snapshot shows that Alex Palou is the current points leader in the NTT IndyCar Series, with fifty-three points; while Ryan Hunter-Reay is last in points with a total of six points. I guess that’s your reward for taking the green flag. The tables could turn next week at St. Petersburg where Ryan Hunter-Reay wins and Palou comes down to earth with a last-place finish.
Random Thoughts on Barber
Posted in IndyCar on April 19, 2021 by Oilpressure
Of all the IndyCar race weekends we have spent at Barber Motorsports Park, this weekend may have featured the best weather of them all. For once, it did not rain a single drop this weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Normally in the south, a three-day weekend in April will generate some amount of precipitation, but not this weekend. It was cool and cloudy on Friday, and the same for Saturday morning. But by about 10:00 am on Saturday, the skies cleared and it warmed up to be a perfect afternoon. Sunday was pretty much a carbon-copy of Saturday afternoon. The Birmingham Chamber of Commerce did well with their weather machine.
Barber Preview
Posted in IndyCar on April 16, 2021 by Oilpressure
Fans of the NTT IndyCar Series have been patient and that patience has finally paid off. The season starts this weekend with the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL – just a few miles east of Birmingham off of I-20.
Oilpressure 