Oilpressure

Over two weeks have passed since I’ve been here. In that time, a third race at a brand-new venue was run. Also, Susan and I have traveled far and wide for our celebratory retirement cruise. We are now facing the fourth NTT IndyCar Series race in the past five weekends. The season is marching along and it is still March.

First things first. To say we had a blast on our cruise would be an understatement. We sailed over ten days to four ports, well three considering the weather did not allow us to dock in one scheduled port. It was relaxing and really seemed to rejuvenate Susan. She seems to feel better than she has in a couple of years, which is a good thing. I gained nine pounds in those ten days, but I have already lost four of them. Hopefully I’ll be down to my semi-slender self, by the time May rolls around.

Before we get to the most recent race and the upcoming race, I will share just a select few photos from our trip.

After we got back last Saturday, the first thing I did was to start watching every broadcast of the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington. I’ll admit I fell asleep during the DVR broadcast of Practice Two, but I picked it back up on Monday (after watching basketball on Sunday – Go Vols!).

The racing was decent for a street circuit, especially the pass for the lead on Lap 55 when Kyle Kirkwood made a clean pass on Alex Palou – proving that the four-time champion may be human after all. It also showed me that Kirkwood has grown into a bona fide contender.

What I liked most about the race at Arlington was how good it looked on television. This came off as a world class event. The track looked pristine with its painted corners and sweeping turns. It was obviously very well promoted, because all of the stands and even general admission areas looked packed. Hats off to the Cowboys, the Rangers and Penske Entertainment for pulling this off.

When was the last time in March, when you heard anyone say that IndyCar has momentum? For the last few seasons, the series has stumbled out of the gate with maybe two races in something like seven weeks. TV ratings would usually be decent for the season-opener but had a tendency to plummet by Race Two.

This year is far different. The season started off with the usual decent race at St. Petersburg, along with decent ratings. But instead of going back into hibernation before race two, the series headed west to the 1.0-mile oval at Phoenix Raceway. I don’t think I was alone in fearing a processional race in front of about 3,000 friends and family, that no one would watch on television. Far from it. We got a great race in front of a lot of race fans in the stands. Better yet was that the TV ratings pretty much held from the opener. Then they went into unknown territory at Arlington. The stands were packed, and fans on TV were treated to a very polished product. It came across as a very big deal, because it got the attention from all parties involved because it was a big deal.

After a well-deserved one weekend off, the series heads south to one of our favorite tracks – Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama, just east of Birmingham. Susan and I went to a test session at Barber way back in 2009, before the series ever raced there. It seemed like another world to us. At the time, we had never been to anything in person but ovals. Hearing the tires screech as the cars navigated the multiple turns was all new to us. Watching the cars go up and down the hills throughout the natural terrain of the 2.3-mile road course was something we had never seen before. Combine that with the manicured flower beds, azaleas and dogwood surrounded by tall pines – it created an atmosphere that was surreal.

When the series announced they would start racing there in 2010, we put it on our calendar – especially since it was only three hours from Nashville. Over the years, that date became a staple for us. We attended every year up until last year, when we made a conscious effort to cut back on our racing trips. It felt odd watching Barber from home, so we decided we would return for this year’s race. However, the week before we left on our cruise – I made the call to not attend. I figured we would still be tired from our trip and I thought it would be rough on our old bodies to hit the road less than a week after being gone for a week and a half. As I type this on Thursday night, I think we made the right call. We don’t bounce back as easily as we did just a few years ago.

It’s a shame, because I predict the scenery will be gorgeous this weekend. For the first several years, this date was juggled around Easter, but it was usually held in early to mid-April. Some years, the weather was cool due to a late spring and nothing was blooming yet. Other years, the date was too late and the blooms had already come and gone due to an early spring. For the last few years, Barber has been run in May. I didn’t like that because all blooms were gone. Plus, a May date put Barber after the IMS open Test in late-April. By that time, everyone’s mind seemed to be in Month of May mode and everyone seemed to be going through the motions to get done with Barber so we could settle into the Month of May.

This is the earliest the Barber race has ever been run, but we seem to be having an early spring in Nashville. I am guessing that things will be already blooming three hours to the south of us. Coming off of all the momentum from the outstanding start to this season, Barber is getting all the attention that it deserves, instead of serving as an appetizer for the Month of May.

The entire paddock seems to be rejuvenated as we are entering our second straight race weekend with someone other than Alex Palou atop the points standings. Heading into Arlington, it was Josef Newgarden leading the points. This weekend it will be Kyle Kirkwood with the target on his back. But don’t think Alex Palou is an afterthought. He is in second place, and only twenty-six points behind – and it’s still very early. But after he won Barber last year to take his third win in four races, we all felt like the championship was already decided by the fourth race of the season. Turns out, we were right.

Palou may very well win the championship by a large margin again this year, but at least we feel like everyone else has a chance. Alex Palou may not sleep as well at night, but it’s good for the sport to have more intrigue going into a race weekend, than what we had last season. Credit Palou with handling this situation with some dignity. I’m sure he understands that fans don’t like seeing domination year after year. While I like seeing other drivers having a chance, I also can appreciate greatness and feel like we are in the midst of watching an unusually good talent on display before our eyes each week. I am learning to appreciate the greatness in his drives.

As far as the weekend IndyCar sessions go, things kick off at 3:30 pm EDT Friday afternoon for Practice One on FS2. Practice Two begins Saturday at 11:00 am EDT on FS1. Qualifying gets underway Saturday afternoon at 2:30 pm EDT on FS1.The morning warmup starts at 10:00 am EDT on FS2, then the race coverage begins Sunday at 1:00 pm EDT on Big FOX.

Alex Palou won last year’s race a Barber, and he also won there in 2021. I have had plenty of time to decide who to pick as my winner for the weekend. Of course, my winners rarely win (although I did win my last pick – Newgarden at Phoenix). It has come down to a sentimental pick and one that I think will really win. My sentimental pick is Will Power, who finally had a good weekend at Arlington. As much as I would like to see it, I can’t convince myself it will happen. I think Alex Palou is going to win at Barber and reassume the points lead. We’ll see.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on March 27, 2026 at 4:04 am 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.