For the past few years, Susan and I have driven up on the Thursday night before Carb Day and stayed on the outskirts of Indianapolis so that we could get to the track early. Then we go check into our regular hotel for the weekend. With nothing going on besides the two-hour practice today, we decided weeks ago that we were not going to do that this year. As I was driving back home from Qualifying Sunday night, Susan called and said she had found a cheap hotel for Thursday night in Greenwood if we wanted to drive up. It was her idea, but she didn’t really have to twist my arm – so we drove up here last night after I got off work. After all, I didn’t want to disappoint her.
Indianapolis 500 Preview
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 28, 2021 by OilpressureIt’s Yet Another Set of Opinions
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 27, 2021 by Oilpressure
Just in case you haven’t heard enough people blather on about last week’s qualifications, you get to hear another pair of talking heads discuss it.
We Have a Winner!
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 26, 2021 by Oilpressure
Congratulations to fellow blogger, Patti Nolen of I Kissed the Bricks, for knocking down almost all of the thirty-three questions in this year’s Oilpressure.com Indianapolis 500 Trivia Contest. She correctly answered all but four of the questions. Runner-up was a tie between Rick Johnson and Billy the Skink, who got his entry in with six minutes to spare. both of them missed five. As usual, there were a couple of questions that there were answers slightly different than what I had. After researching them, I decided to accept the other answers too. There was also one that I mistakenly misworded, so I had to throw that question out (noted below).
Special Liveries of the 2021 Indianapolis 500
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 25, 2021 by Oilpressure
One of the many good things about the Indianapolis 500 is that it brings a lot of special liveries for the Month of May. A couple of years ago, Marco Andretti ran a special commemorative livery for the fiftieth anniversary of his grandfather’s win in the 1969 Indianapolis 500, that fans seemed to love. Unfortunately that car did not perform well at all in the race, but that’s another story.
Random Thoughts on Qualifying
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 24, 2021 by Oilpressure
The Grid for the 2021 Indianapolis 500 has now been set. It did not exactly go as planned for many of the Chevy teams, especially Team Penske. I mentioned this in my post yesterday after qualifying, but I’m still at a loss why the Honda teams responded to the extra boost that was given prior to the Fast Friday practice and most of the Chevy teams did not. What is it about the Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR) Chevy-powered cars that made them perform with the extra boost, while all the other Chevy teams were lagging behind?
Day-Two Qualifying Wrap-Up
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 23, 2021 by Oilpressure
As far as the Last Row Shootout, there was not really a whole lot of drama – at least not enough to justify the word “Shootout”. Each of the five cars made an attempt once the the session started, and this was the order on the bottom of the pylon after those five attempts.
Welcome to Day Two of Qualifying
Posted in Indianapolis 500 on May 23, 2021 by Oilpressure
Welcome to a somewhat overcast Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The temperature is 72°, and is supposed to be around 78° for the Last Row Shootout. By mid-afternoon, the temperature should be around 83° when the Firestone Fast Nine runs.
Oilpressure 