For the second time in five days, I was at a race track as darkness began to fall with cars still on track. It was not near as dark at IMS as it was in Nashville this past Sunday night, but a few dark clouds crept over as the final round was being run.
Friday Qualifying Wrap-Up
Posted in IndyCar on August 13, 2021 by OilpressureWelcome to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Posted in IndyCar on August 13, 2021 by Oilpressure
Welcome to the hallowed grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As I type, I am having to do so while doing something I haven’t done since attending the 105th Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May – I am wearing a mask. This is a NASCAR mandate, something they instituted about ten days ago. That only applies to inside the media center. The paddock and pits do not require masks.
Brickyard Preview
Posted in IndyCar on August 13, 2021 by Oilpressure
As you read this on Friday morning, Susan and I are on our way to Indianapolis for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. What is that, you ask? It is the long and awkward title sponsor name for the IndyCar race on the IMS road course for the Brickyard Weekend.
Remembering Bob Jenkins
Posted in IndyCar on August 11, 2021 by Oilpressure
Most of my childhood heroes are gone now. That’s one of the problems with growing old; all of the people you looked up to as a child are no longer around. AJ, Mario and Big Al are still with us, but Father Time spares no one. I consider my adulthood to have started when I went off to college in the fall of 1976. Many of those that I have looked up to as an adult are still with us, although even some of them have been taken from us, far too soon. One of those left us on Monday, when Bob Jenkins passed away at the age of seventy-three.
Random Thoughts on Nashville
Posted in IndyCar on August 9, 2021 by Oilpressure
Based on what I’ve read on social media, there were not a lot of kind things said about the racing that took place in yesterday’s (last night’s) Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. When I first heard the 4:30 pm starting time, I figured the race would be over well before dark. When I learned that there would only be eighty laps run over the 2.17 mile circuit, I feared in might only take an hour and a half to run the race. Silly me.
A Wild Day/Night of Racing in Nashville
Posted in IndyCar on August 8, 2021 by Oilpressure
This was one of the more bizarre races I have ever attended in person. I can’t imagine what it was like watching on TV. It all started on Lap One. Despite all predictions, the field got safely through Turn Nine as the race started. But Dalton Kellett either scraped the wall or stalled. Whichever it was, it brought out the first of nine cautions. On the restart, Marcus Ericsson ran up the back of Sébastien Bourdais and the car of Ericsson went airborne at a 45° angle, with his nose pointing up in the air before crashing down.
Welcome to Nashville!
Posted in IndyCar on August 8, 2021 by Oilpressure
By Susan Phillips
At last the Music City GP weekend is upon us! It seems like it has been a long time since there was a race weekend that wasn’t just 2 days. Nashville is the perfect city to host a long race weekend. There is so much to do, and this city does not shut down on weekdays. Nashville has definitely earned the title of the top destination for Bachelorette weekends (watch out for the numerous party buses—don’t follow too close behind). Good sense does not prevail on the pedal/party trucks. I think I am going to try one of the Big Machine Spiked Coolers this weekend. I am allowed to drink in moderation, but I try not to push my liver too hard.
Oilpressure 