Oilpressure

We are a day late, due to coverage of the NTT IndyCar Series race at Barber Motorsports Park, but now I can truly say – Welcome to the Month of May! This is always one of my favorite posts, because it officially kicks off the Month of May. This is the favorite time of year for IndyCar fans. While other races are important in the quest for the Astor Challenge Trophy, which symbolizes the IndyCar championship – the Month of May is all about the Indianapolis 500.

On a completely selfish note, this is also a very important post for me each year because it is another anniversary of the start of Oilpressure.com. It was May 1, 2009 when I reluctantly started blogging away here. My oldest brother, and my lifelong best friend Bruce Yarbro, suggested I start doing a blog site in mid-April of that year. I told them both, they were crazy. But Bruce set it all up for me, and showed me what to do.

Fourteen years later, my little site is still going after many more slick looking websites have come and gone in that time. I would never say that I am the best, I’ve just been around longer than most amateur sites. I will say that I’ve probably got the most loyal following of any fan sites out there. Many regular readers have been here since Day One. I hope you all know how much I appreciate you.

How much longer will I go? I can’t do it forever. I was 50 when I started this site. I will turn 65 this fall. That’s a big chunk of my life spent behind a keyboard. But this site has afforded me so many experiences and opportunities that I never thought possible. Most importantly, I still enjoy it. When the time comes that this is drudgery for me and I am continuously going through the motions just to put something up here – that’s when I will stop. I have no real desire to be the world’s oldest blogger. But until that time comes, here’s to starting Year Fifteen at Oilpressure.com.

As I have always done, I plan to post here every weekday in the Month of May through the day after the Indianapolis 500. Since Susan and I will be spending each of the three weekends at IMS, that means only the weekend of May 6-7 will have no posts here. As always, however, I reserve the right to skip a day in case life gets in the way.

I am also happy to say that Susan plans to travel with me this month. She is approaching three years since her pancreatic cancer diagnosis. She is still scanning cancer-free, but is now prone to liver infections as a result of the chemo. That is why she was hospitalized last May and most of last summer. She is doing much better now and her issues seem under control. After missing many races last year, including the Indianapolis 500 – she is looking forward to going to many races this spring and summer.

Once again, there will be an Indianapolis 500 Trivia Contest. For your planning purposes, it will drop in on Wednesday May 10, and the answers will be due back on the afternoon of Tuesday May 23. Start dusting off your research books now.

This year’s Indianapolis 500 appears to have many storylines. There will be nine former winners in the field, one shy of the record of ten set in 1992. Thirty-four drivers will be vying for thirty-three spots. Katherine Legge will be making her first attempt to qualify in ten years, while Helio Castroneves will be going for his fifth Indianapolis 500, something that AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears could never do. It’s debatable how many more chances Helio will get. Many wish that he never breaks that record. I hope he does.

On yet another personal note, for the first time since 2016 – both of my brothers will be attending the race this year. We are scattered across three states; Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. Since our mother passed away in the summer of 2020, we only see each other at Indianapolis. We all missed the 2020 race due to COVID, my oldest brother did not make the 2021 race and my middle brother missed last year’s race, as well as a few races after the 100th Running. This will be the first time we have all been together, since we cleared out my mother’s house in the fall of 2020.

So, get in the habit of coming here daily in May. There will be discussions about the history and traditions of the Indianapolis 500, I’ll have some personal reflections of my own experiences at IMS, there will be the annual trivia contest and of course previews and recaps of each weekend of track activity in May. There may even be a small, but pleasant surprise that I’ll announce sometime around the middle of the month. Get ready! It’ll be a fun month as we kick off Year Fifteen at Oilpressure.com.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on May 2, 2023 at 4:02 am and is filed under Indianapolis 500. 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.