Oilpressure

It dawned on me today that the last time I was at IMS, was probably the longest day I ever spent here. I have been coming to this track since 1965, and I know for a fact that no day was as long as Race Day was last year. We arrived at the track at 5:40 am and left around 10:00 pm, after about a five-hour rain delay.

While the day was a success in that they got the race in, by the time we got back to our hotel (after a lengthy dinner at Waffle House); I was borderline delirious.

Today was much more enjoyable. It helps that we missed the near three-hour delay. After a quick trip to the gift shop (which I’ll discuss further down), we spent the afternoon wandering the garage area, the pits and sitting in the stands watching race cars go by. Is there a better way to spend a Wednesday afternoon? The best thing is, we get to do it again tomorrow.

The perfect weather conditions brought the fans out. Not only were the Turn Two mounds open, but so were the stands on the outside of Turn Two.

We went to the gift shop which is right off of the main entrance to the museum. It was an odd feeling going in. As we walked up the walkway leading to the museum, it felt very familiar. As soon as we entered the building, it was like walking into the twilight zone. Going through the revolving door (which I don’t think used to be there), it all seemed very different. The entrance is very dramatic and looked totally different from what we are used to. I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product in May.

As we entered, we went to the right to go into the gift shop. It resembles nothing that we saw two years ago. Here are a few pics. Notice the milk-bottle lights over the cashier area. Also notice the Yard of Bricks that runs through the shop.

After the museum, we went through the garage area and then back to the pits as the all-skate session was about to start. After the cars got going, we went up into the Tower Terrace stands in front of the media center and engaged in one of my favorite activities – watching race cars go around the historic oval. I’m not sure Susan was as enthralled as I was, but she enjoyed sitting out in the warm sunshine.

I will let you in on a secret – we did not stay until the bitter end. Susan was getting tired, and I was getting hungry. As I was wrapping this up, there was still around 40 minutes left on the clock. Josef Newgarden had held the top spot for a while, with a speed of 225.125 mph. He was nowhere on the no-tow list, so he obviously caught a fairly healthy tow. Still, it counts. Behind Newgarden was a slew of Hondas.

Tomorrow morning, they do turn up the boost to what they will be using in qualifying. With the cool April morning temps, we have the potential to see some fairly quick times. It all starts at 9:30 am and will be avavilable for viewing on the IndyCar You Tube channel, with Allen Bestwick and James Hinchcliffe providing commentary (at least, that’s who did it today).

That will do it for us today. We are headed to Dawson’s for the first tenderloin of the racing season. Please check back here tomorrow. Our May in April continues.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on April 23, 2025 at 5:39 pm 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.