A Change of Plans
I’m back from Idaho. I had a great time visiting with my son, his family and especially my grandson. I did have a chance to ask as a few Boise residents if they had heard of Sting Ray Robb. Unfortunately, they had not. Oh well, maybe that will change if he has a decent season.
A little over a month ago, Susan had a post here asking for recommendations of whether we should attend the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg or The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Since Oilpressure.com is a relatively small organization that primarily consists of Susan and me; there is no operating budget. There is no advertising done on this site. In fact, I pay $48 per year to keep this site add-free, because the revenue would go to the host (WordPress) and not me. This is a long drawn-out way of saying that any expense that this site incurs, comes out of our pocket – including traveling to races.
That’s why Susan posed that question at the end of January. We couldn’t really afford to do both.
I started this site on May 1, 2009, and was credentialed for my first race in April of 2010 at Barber. The following month, I was credentialed for the entire month of May. That gave me access that I couldn’t even think of in my wildest dreams. The following year, I was able to get Susan credentialed as well for Barber and the Month of May. She served as my photographer and contributed with her own writings, as she gave her interpretation of a race weekend from a much more casual fan aspect. In a lot of ways, readers were more receptive to her postings than my own.
In 2013, we added the season-finale at Fontana to our resume of races. In 2015, we also added the one-and-done race at NOLA to our annual visits to Barber and IMS. By the end of 2015, I inquired about an IndyCar hard card – the season-long credential that gave unrestricted access at every track on the schedule. The requirements were to attend at least half of the domestic races on the IndyCar schedule. We put the pencil to it and decided we could afford to do that, and it would be fun doing it. I was issued my first hard card prior to the beginning of the 2016 season. The first race we attended with my hard-card at a new venue besides Barber and IMS was Road America. We immediately fell in love with the place.
We proceeded to attend at least half of the races every year after that, except for 2020 – due to COVID. Even then, Susan and I attended Road America, even though we weren’t allowed in the media center – so we paid our way up there and attended as fans.
About the same time that Susan posted that St. Pete/Long Beach question to readers – I was notified that, for various reasons, I would not be issued a hard card for 2024; for the first time since the 2015 season. I have my own suspicions behind the real story as to why this happened, but I’ll save that for another day. The official explanation is that IndyCar is cutting back on the number of hard cards they will be issuing this year for liability reasons. My understanding is that it costs about $2,500 each year to insure every hard card holder – and I am a casualty of that.
There is a bright side. Now that we no longer have to meet the 50% minimum of races – we are going to cut back on the amount of races we go to, Last week a reader asked in the comment section if we had made up our mind on which race we are going to – Long Beach or St. Petersburg. The answer is – neither. Now that we are not bound to attend x-amount of races each season, we plan to cut back – some.
If anyone is really interested, our tentative in-person race schedule for this season will start with Barber on April 26-28. Prior to that, I am hoping to go to the Open Test on the IMS oval by myself on April 10-11.
After Barber, we will attend the usual three weekends in May and I may do what I’ve done a couple of times and spend all of practice week up there. After May, we will go to Road America for our annual pilgrimage to Wisconsin.
After Road America, things get a little fuzzy. We may attend Iowa, but that remains to be seen. Our next definite race will be Gateway on Aug 16-17, giving us two and a half months between races. We may make a second trip to Wisconsin for Milwaukee on Labor Day weekend, simply because we’ve never attended a race at that historic venue. But that will be determined later on in the summer. We obviously plan to make the season finale in Nashville, since we live here.
Not counting the Open Test in April, that still gives us seven definite weekends at various racetracks, and possibly nine if we go to Iowa and/or Milwaukee. Since those are both double-headers, if we attended both – that would give us ten points-paying races plus 500-Qualifying weekend. That’s assuming we get approved for all of the tracks we now have to apply for.
I’ll be honest that for a week or two, I was seriously considering pulling the plug on this site – I was that frustrated over this move. After all, I’m 65 and am looking at retiring from my day job in another two years or so. When that happens, I don’t want to be saddled with three articles a week. May 1 will mark the fifteenth anniversary of this site. I was thinking that’s long enough. But after I cooled off and the season started getting closer, I decided that I would give this year a try to see how it goes with getting credentials directly through the individual tracks. If all goes smoothly, I might stick around for another couple of years or so. If not, well…it’s been fun.
George Phillips
Oilpressure 
March 6, 2024 at 6:28 am
Really hate to hear all of this. Always look forward to your posts especially at the track. Nothing lasts forever I guess. ☹️
March 6, 2024 at 6:48 am
ditto but I hope you keep the show on the road as long as possible if you are still enjoying it. We do!
March 6, 2024 at 6:47 am
Ok George -Good to hear you had a good time seeing your family in Boise. I am intrigued about your suspicions of why they yanked your hard card this year. Can’t wait for you to write about it . You must feel really frustrated. I don’t blame you for wanting to quit but with that out of the way, I wish you would keep going. There are times where I often question why I am a fan. I am sure I am like most that look forward to reading 3 days a week. Sometimes I feel like IndyCar looses touch with the expense incurred on fans to attend events and it is frustrating for me as well. I don’t attend nearly as many events as you but it adds up quick. I wish I could go to every one but with financial and time constraints I can’t. In a way it must be a relief that you don’t have to attend 50% of the races. That is a huge expense if you are paying for this out of your own pocket and the time investment as well.
March 6, 2024 at 7:42 am
Sorry to hear about the hard card but happy that you avoided pulling the plug on the site. I took over OpenWheelAmerica (now Fastest33) in 2011 so I understand there are times when you wonder if it’s really worth the commitment. Hope to see you at IMS and Road America this year.
March 6, 2024 at 8:03 am
Don’t feel bad, some of us got dropped from the hard card list many years ago. Our friends at 16th and Polco don’t understand how powerful the hard card is in terms of attracting media coverage. Making people jump through hoops (like apply to each individual track for credentials) just caused them to lose interest in covering the series.
March 6, 2024 at 8:29 am
George, I’d hate to see you go – even a once-a-week Oil Pressure fix would be better than none at all – but you need to do what makes you happy.
March 6, 2024 at 8:30 am
As long as you enjoy the blogging life, keep doing it! You will know when it’s time to quit. I’m a few years older than you and although I do miss a few things… I also very much enjoy not having to do certain things on a regular schedule…. So when it’s not fun any more, turn out the lights and pass the torch.
March 6, 2024 at 10:42 am
Tremendously frustrating about your hard card. A few thousand dollars in insurance seems a small price to pay for the coverage and fan engagement you give the series at no other cost to them. If you aren’t getting a media hard card, then I cannot imagine more than 5-10 people are… which is wild to me.
As much as I want you to write and run Oilpressure 3 times a week until eternity, I get the challenge of the schedule and the fact that one day it may not be fun for you. But if you write it, we’ll read it. You’ve given us so much over the years, George, and we are very grateful for that.
March 6, 2024 at 10:52 am
It’s not so bad to view races from Fort Livingroom. I was never aware of your obligation to attend 50% of races to keep the hard card. With more water under the bridge after Penske took ownership the more I can see the Hulman/ George family did not include the old soul in the sale of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. IMO, Penske is still in the red from COVID at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Money was flying out the doors with next to zero revenue streams in 2020. Roger was a bag holder when COVID took grip on the nation. With Penske, I do not foresee a long-term future owning the IMS. This is your time for the growth of subscribers and get edgy with some topics. I like David Land over on YouTube when he gets edgy with Indycar.
March 6, 2024 at 12:35 pm
You on site coverage articles are usually the highlights of oilpressure.com every year. That and episoodes of One Take Only.
I was so looking forward to your coverage of Milwaukee, as TV has shown me throughout the years that this is the best place to view drivers work through traffic.
It’s great that there is still a chance that you and your wife make it out there in September, in spite of the cutback regarding the so-called hard card.
March 6, 2024 at 1:39 pm
The Roger Penske Era of Indycar and the speedway continues. I won’t set people off asking “Do you miss….” I am looking forward to hearing what you think the real reason might be.
One thing for sure, a lot of us would miss your blogging. I hope if you do decide to cut back that you don’t stop altogether. Once a week or a couple times a month would be better than not at all. I think we all get a lot of information and insights from your posts.
I am retiring myself next month (no accident right before the Glorious Month Of May). In addition to Indy, Milwaukee is on my list this year. I attended the 2013 race and loved the race and the area/venue. Might add one more as well.
Will even be at IMS for the eclipse on April 8. Another great reason to go to the speedway.
March 6, 2024 at 3:42 pm
“I think the thing to do is to enjoy the ride while you’re on it.”
― Johnny Depp
March 7, 2024 at 9:34 am
As I’m seeing posts from people headed to St. Pete I wondered what you and Susan had decided. Never would I have guessed that you lose your hard card. I hope you fill us in on your thoughts about that soon. As a fellow blogger, I will say there is still joy in blogging without a schedule. I hope you continue for many more years even if it is less frequent in the future. I always enjoy reading.
March 13, 2024 at 10:32 pm
Sorry to hear that. Yours was the first Indycar blog I found and I’ve enjoyed it greatly over the years. Remember, if you ended the blog, that would be a change…and change is bad.