Oilpressure

Our two days of Indianapolis 500 practice and then Qualifying sure did go by fast. Such is the way things are when I spend time at IMS. It all goes too quickly. When we first arrived at the track for Thursday’s practice, the talk was about how Santino Ferrucci was in trouble. By the end of Fast Friday, that talk had dissipated.

By the way, in case anyone noticed my title. I usually abstain from using the phrase “Indy 500”. I always prefer using “Indianapolis 500”. However, that made the title too long to fit – so I had to go with “Indy”. I hope the purists will forgive me.

Saturday was punctuated with two very scary crashes, both of which had the potential of being worse for the drivers than they were. I was actually surprised that Marcus Armstrong was cleared to drive by Saturday afternoon, after I saw him holding his head while being loaded on the ambulance. I was also worried about Colton Herta, but once he was quickly cleared and seemed very lucid in his interview – I figured he would be fine.

The weatherman cooperated for us. The two days before our arrival were both affected by rain. Once we got to town there was rain at night, but nothing that affected practice. It was a very enjoyable time that we spent at IMS the last few days.

When it was all said and done, we had an inexperienced rookie going home, a rookie sensation at the top of the pylon, and three Penske cars that did not qualify on Sunday. With the way the rules are now, they were able to sit on their times from Saturday and start no worse than twelfth. In the old days, they would either be starting at the back of the field or be left out of the race altogether.

TV Coverage: Although I was onsite at the track, I still heard a lot of the FOX coverage of practice and qualifying. I was a little surprised of all the negative comments I saw on social media. I saw that my friend Paul Dalbey had a good response to all of the complaints. He advised thewm to go back and re-watch coverage of qualifying in the 90s. ABC would cover the first hour of opening day at 11:00, then they would cut away until about 4:00 to cover the last couple of hours on ESPN2. You would have to wait for their recaps to see what happened in that four-hour gap.

I realize there are a lot of commercials, but we got spoiled watching Peacock that had NO commercials. FS! And FS2 are real networks that will have real commercials in order to pay the bills.

I thought the on-air talent did a good job keeping things fresh for six hours of practice per day, with seven hours on Saturday and fivbe more on Sunday with a one-hour gap.

Penske Perfect? It’s a shame that the feel-good story of Robert Shwartzman is having to share time in the spotlight with the embarrassment at Team Penske. Since the run for the pole ended yesterday evening, social media has been split between celebrating Shwartzman and crucifying Roger Penske and his team. I have to say, a lot of it is justified. After last season’s push-to-pass debacle, fans are already suspicious of the team that is owned by the same man that owns the series and IMS. Many were saying this tarnishes those twenty Baby Borgs that are so proudly lined up next to each other.

I don’t know if I would go so far to say that, but you have to wonder if those attenuators had been streamlines all week, as the Team Penske cars seemed to be the one to beat.

There’s an old saying in racing that if you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying. Well, in Team Penske’s case – they need to be trying not to cheat. This wasn’t a simple software foulup. These attenuators had been manipulated in a way that would make them slip through the air easier. That’s understandable that they would want to do that, but the rules apparently make it clear that attenuators are a spec piece, and they are not to be altered in any way. The attenuators I have seen pictured were very obviously altered. Was this someone who didn’t know any better? I have an idea that someone inside Team Penske is going to be dusting off their resume this week. I don’t see this going away quietly this week.

Not a Throwback: This past week, everyone was celebrating the car of Jacob Abel as being a throwback to Danny Sullivan’s winning1985 Miller American. It wasn’t. The car we saw all week and making futrile qualifying attempts had little resemblance to the famous spin-and-win car. The Sullivan car was more of a cherry red, while the Abel car was closer to maroon. Also, why did the Abel car have white all over the front of the nose (notice I didn’t say front nose). There was no white star behind the sidepods. Overall, about the only thing the two cars had in common was that they both sported Miller in their familiar script.

Out of Nowhere: Those that were very familiar with Robert Shwartzman’s career in Europe will tell you they are not surprised at his success. I don’t put myself in that category, because I had never heard of him until he was announced by PREMA in the offseason. But I don’t believe tem either. I think they are trying to come across as the overly elite and pompous race fan.

But I will say this – I’m now a believer. Shwartzman impressed me over the last few days. So did PREMA. Everyone talked about how lost they were going to be at Indianapolis once Michael Cannon quit about ten days into his tenure at PREMA. Apparently, that wasn’t the case.

I noticed how well this new team presented themselves this past week. They had a hospitality suite that would rival the posh suites of Andretti or McLaren. Their garage area was also a showplace, with custom walls in that distinctive PREMA red. When that impressive hospitality suite first appeared the week of the Grand Prix, the general consensus was that they should worry about their on-track product instead of the glamorous off-track stuff. I don’t think they are saying that today.

All in All: It was another fun trip to IMS. But what happened on the track far exceded whatever we did off-track. There was drama building through the week, but I don’t think anything surpassed what we all got to experience on Sunday. I’m old school and like the old format, but what we say Saturday and Sunday mau actually have me coming around on this “new” format that I think has been in place for ten or so years now.

Now we are ready for next weekend. Both of my brothers are coming to Indianapolis, and we will all see the new museum for the first time, together on Saturday. The weather for next weekend is looking good so far. I’m thinking this could be a really good race next Sunday.

Please remember that I will continue to post here every day this week. Also remember your answers to the Trivia Contest are due Tue May 20 by 6:00 pm EDT. Please check back tomorrow for another post regardinbg the Indianapolis 500.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on May 19, 2025 at 4:01 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.