Oilpressure

Well, we made it to IMS – but fairly late this afternoon. But first things first; Susan had her procedure done early this morning in Louisville. It was partially successful.

They were unable to replace the liver stent as we had hoped, but they did determine that the liver is now functioning properly and draining properly. They did remove the drainage bag, but not the tube – yet. They capped it, but are being cautious. They want us to come back in the very near future for a couple of scans to make sure everything is still functioning properly before removing the tube completely. This was a photo I took of her in the surgical waiting room, just before they called her back.

She was put under for a couple of hours, but after she came out of recovery, I gave her the option to go home or go to Indianapolis. She said Indianapolis. Surprisingly, she did not sleep on the way from Louisville to Indianapolis. But we stopped at our hotel to check in as we got into town. As she got comfortable there, she started fading fast. She decided she would go with me to pick up credentials, but would not go to the track today. After we got them, I took her back to the hotel so she could sleep.

I got back to the track around 4:00 with the cars already in place for qualifying. After saying Hi to old friends I’ve not seen since the Nashville race (and some not since last May); I headed to the pits to watch qualifying. Except for us coming up here for the Open Test, this is the first race weekend we have attended this season. It’s good to be back.

Qualifying was interesting. Some of those that experienced success last week at Barber, couldn’t get out of their own way this week. We all wondered if Barber would be the first of great things for Rinus VeeKay – especially coming to the track that gave him his only win. It didn’t happen. VeeKay didn’t make it out of the first round, and will start twenty-fourth on Saturday.

Christian Lundgaard is another that was looking for another step to take. He was another that did not advance past Round One. He will start fourteenth.

None of the Andretti cars made it out of the first round. Colton Herta will start thirteenth, while Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood will start twentieth and twenty-first respectively.

Scott Dixon’s bout of mediocrity continued. He will start sixteenth tomorrow – one spot ahead of Sting Ray Robb. Who will start last? That would be David Malukas of AJ Foyt Racing. If Dixon has been mediocre, Malukas has turned invisible this season. If Will Power does not return to Team Penske next season, does Malukas deserve to get that seat with the results he has posted?

His teammate, Santino Ferrucci, at least made it to the second round and will start eleventh – one spot behind Kyffin Simpson and one ahead of Felix Rosenqvist. Positions seven through nine belong to Will Power, Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi, in that order.

You’ll notice I have not mentioned the cars of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. (RLLR) It’s not because they were so forgettable that I overlooked them. Instead, it’s because I’ve not yet mentioned the Firestone Fast Six.

All three RLLR cars were in the Firestone Fast Six, along with Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin and Alex Palou. As the time went under a minute to go, it looked as if rookie Louis Foster was going to sit on the pole. Then with a few seconds to go, Foster’s teammate (and boss), Graham Rahal, bumped Foster off of the pole. But as time ran out, Alex Palou pushed Rahal off of the pole, and Foster to the second row. McLaughlin will start alongside Foster, while Devlin DeFrancesco will start fifth and Josef Newgarden sixth.

All three RLLR drivers were in the post-qualifying press conference. Graham Rahal is always candid, and when asked about Jay Frye’s contributions to the team, he could not stop beaming. Even though Rahal didn’t admit it, you know he enjoyed this being some sort of redemption for Jay Frye.

With the new tire rules for Saturday, it will be interesting to see how much this affects things. The big question is; will anyone have anything for Alex Palou? Tomorrow should be very interesting.

That will do it for today. We awoke in Louisville at 4:30 EDT, after getting to bed around 11:30 pm. Our bodies were still on Central Time, but we made it to the hospital by 6:30 am. After Susan’s procedure, it was around noon before we got on the road. To be honest, it seems like two to three days ago that she was undergoing that procedure. In short – I’m tired.

We both plan to be here tomorrow, but maybe not first thing. Please check back then. Hopefully, I will have her photos for posting rather than my phone. Thanks for hanging in there with us today.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on May 9, 2025 at 5:31 pm and is filed under Indianapolis 500, 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.