Oilpressure

By Susan Phillips

I’m so happy to be back at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—I can’t say the temperatures here are not a lot different than being here in May. I’m still trying to be fully hydrated from last weekend—it was so much fun in our hometown, but there was a lot of walking. My legs are much shorter than George’s, so I have to take two steps for every one step he takes. He is very patient with me and has to wait for me to catch up, but I can feel my stamina coming back every day—or every track that we go to.

I have enjoyed talking to people who read our posts and putting faces with the names that we have heard. I am thankful for the number of people who have me on their prayer list. This is the second of our race weekends in August. Next week we will be in St. Louis for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.

I have enjoyed taking photos of the drivers and what is going on at practice. I’m not great at taking pictures of the cars, but I really enjoy taking pictures of the drivers. The gamut of emotions that happen in pit lane is truly remarkable and makes the drivers seem more human. That’s my favorite part is to catch them in an unguarded moment—you actually do get “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat,” but I won’t post a bad photo of someone, nor will I photograph them in a really private moment. I like sharing these moments with you and helping fans get to know the drivers better. I also follow them (and their significant others) on Instagram.

We got a special treat yesterday, as one of our readers brought us into the PA booth and onto the victory podium. It was great to see Jamie Little and Allen Bestwick in action. We also got to get on the victory podium—if those “walls” could talk! It is a great privilege to be here and to get to see things up close and personal.  I’m not bragging or anything like that and George really works his butt off to make sure he has content three times a week—even in the off-season.

I’m deeply grateful to the tracks who have made special allowances for me—I’m getting better at walking, but I’m not quite there yet. My hands and feet are numb most of the time and when I stop walking, my feet stop, but my body is still going forward. I don’t know how to describe it—I promise I’m not invading your personal space! It’s a small price to pay, but it is getting better. It takes a while for the nerves to grow back. I feel fortunate that I can still do some cake sculpting. All in all—even with everything going on in the world—it’s a great time to be alive!

This entry was posted on August 14, 2021 at 11:01 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.