I fully understand that I will come off as an old man yelling at a cloud on this, and I know I am in the vast minority. Even my own household is deeply divided on this topic. Susan completely disagrees with me. But I have had conversations with a few people that do agree with me on this topic, so I know I’m not completely alone on an island.
Archive for the Indianapolis 500 Category
A Very Unpopular Opinion
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on June 6, 2025 by OilpressureRandom Thoughts on the Indianapolis 500
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 26, 2025 by Oilpressure
Another Month of May at Indianapolis is in the books. A new champion in Alex Palou has been crowned and we are exiting the month with many storylines that will continue throughout the summer. It seems like maybe a week ago that Susan and I were up here for the Open Test. It was actually April 23-24, when Kyle Larson and Takuma Sato both crashed on Day Two. Sato’s crash may have been an omen as to what was to come. His car unexpectedly snapped around quickly with little warning, before hitting the outside wall hard exiting Turn One. It was a hard enough hit that it destroyed the car, forcing his Rahal Letterman Lanigan team to purchase a new tub from Dallara for May.
Indianapolis 500 Wrap-Up
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 25, 2025 by Oilpressure
Well, that was different. From our walk to our seats, I was reminded of 1992. It was a cold and cloudy day, although not as cold as that day. I also don’t think that day was delayed by rain, although those skies were threatening. After a roughly 40-minute delay, the engines were fired. But like in 1992, a driver took himself out at the before the green flag.
It’s Race Day at Indianapolis!
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 25, 2025 by Oilpressure
Welcome to a still-darkened and quite chilly Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was 49° driving in this morning, and the most recent forecast is now calling for a high of 64° this afternoon. I think the green flag temp is to be around 61°. It won’t come close to the coolest in history, but it will probably be on the cool side for most of the race. The fans might be slightly uncomfortable, but the race cars should love the conditions. Best of all, there is little chance for the rainstorm that hit on Race Morning last year.
Carb-Day Wrap-up
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 23, 2025 by Oilpressure
Nothing really changed in the Top-Five for today’s Carb Day practice. Josef Newgarden was the fastest driver, but how much do we really learn from this? What we do know is that Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay both had fires in their cars, with Hunter-Reay’s causing damage to body work. Takuma Sato also had some type of mechanical issue that ended his day early.
It’s Carb Day at IMS!
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 23, 2025 by Oilpressure
Welcome to a sunny, but cool IMS. We had a bit of an issue this week at home and it delayed us getting into the track. Susan somehow misplaced her media credentials after Sunday. We don’t know if they slipped out of a bag, or if they possibly made their way into the trash can at home. Actually, we know that didn’t happen because we were both digging through garbage on Wednesday night.
Indianapolis 500 Preview
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 23, 2025 by Oilpressure
All but one practice is in the books for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500, and that one will run later this morning (!1:00 am EDT, on FS1). The field was set on Sunday, then re-set on Monday after two Team Penske cars were penalized for altered attenuators, sending Josef Newgarden ad Will Power to the back row, starting 32nd and 33rd respectively. Each team was fined $100,000, had their race strategists suspended for the 500 and also lost their choice of pit boxes for Sunday’s race – meaning that instead of pitting near the south end of the pits, these two cars will most likely be pitted to the far north end.
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