Oilpressure

By Susan Phillips

I think I survived my first double-header race. At the moment, I am in the Media Center writing this while keeping one eye on the race. I don’t know if it is age or the remnant of chemo, but I have a very short tolerance for heat. The weather is pretty nice—there’s generally a breeze blowing and the occasional cloud cover makes for a pretty comfortable day.

I wanted to go to this race because it was a two-for-one weekend and the concerts sounded awesome. I did manage to make it through the first half of Luke Combs—who I really like, but I had run out of steam for Eric Church. Saturday was a late night—that’s why the attendance seems so low today. I’m sure it will pick up closer to concert time. I don’t know how the drivers turn it around from evening to morning. I think today I will take it easy and watch most of the race from the Media Center—I’m afraid I will overdo it if I don’t stop walking around everywhere in the heat.

I really like how accessible the drivers are with the fans at Iowa. That’s a real plus for this track. There’s sort of a casual feel to it that helps people relax. The fact that the drivers have twice the amount of time on track doesn’t hurt either. I’ve heard a lot about tires and the new paving on the track, but I’m not sure what that means exactly. Saturday, I saw several crashes and some drivers cutting their way through the cars. The second day seems to have settled down some and there’s not as much passing. I’m not supposed to play favorites, but I can’t wait to see Ferrucci’s first win—he just seems fearless.

One of the things that is great about this race is the sponsor, Hy-Vee. They have embraced IndyCar and there’s no doubt as to who sponsors this race. The people have been so friendly, the food is great, and it is spotless. They have also been really good about keeping fans hydrated. During the Luke Combs concert, there was an abundance of water. I must have looked like I was on my last leg because people kept asking me if I was OK. Never-mind that I was one of the rare senior citizens in attendance. I guess I’m not cut out for summer concerts anymore.

I took a lot of driver photos over the weekend and at the risk of repeating myself, here are the photos I took on Sunday, with a few from Saturday.

This entry was posted on July 14, 2024 at 1:33 pm 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.