Oilpressure

We have reached that time of year again, where it is time to push away from the keyboard and take a little time off. Not only do I feel like taking a break, but readership drops significantly in December – especially the last two weeks. Conversely traffic picks up here substantially in January, so it’s good to get my rest in now.

Overall, it has been a rough year. After bouncing back to normal in 2021 after cancer surgery, Susan’s health took a sharp turn for the worse in January of this year. The good news is that her cancer has not returned, but the effects of chemo and radiation in early 2021, took it’s toll a year later. After attending Qualifying weekend, Susan went into the hospital and missed the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 2003. She got out in time to attend Road America, but returned to the hospital shortly afterward and remained hospitalized for most of the summer from that point on. We had a good trip to Florida in October, but she had a small setback in November, and spent Thanksgiving week in the hospital.

She has bounced back strongly since then, and was able to go with me to Idaho a coupe of weeks ago to see my new grandson. She did real well out there and said she felt like her old self for the first time in months. Right now, she seems to be doing much better. I am hopeful she is gaining momentum to get back to semi-normal for 2023. Her goal is to be ready for our in-person racing season starting at Barber in April. Here is the obligatory selfie, which sort of looks like a Christmas card, of our whole gang while out in Idaho – including my grandson, who was actually much happier than he appeared here.

The NTT IndyCar Series did not have the best second half of the season either. The silliest of silly seasons dominated the headlines and overshadowed much of what happened on the track. Then the offseason has been peppered with negative press, from scrapping the 2.4 Liter engine to perceived ticket-gouging at Iowa and a not-well received announcement of a docuseries for The CW.

All the while, fans are getting very restless for some good news. Penske Entertainment is making a lot of prudent and financially sound decisions; but that does not always register as sexy with fans. IndyCar did announce a hefty increase to the marketing budget, but that didn’t move the needle with much of the fan base.

Things generally turn brighter with the start of the new calendar year. That’s when cars actually return to the track. When race cars are on the track, fans feel a lot better about things, and the season-opener won’t feel too far away.

For now, I am taking some time off of work and I will do the same here. Today is my last day to work until Tuesday January 3. Consequently, this will be my last post here until Wednesday January 4.

I will close with an oldie, but a goodie – one of Susan’s Photoshop creations from a few years ago.

Susan and I both want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and much happiness in the New Year. We are both looking forward to another fun season here at Oilpressure.com. We will see you in 2023.

Susan & George Phillips

This entry was posted on December 21, 2022 at 4:04 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.