You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize that oval track racing is becoming an endangered species in the NTT IndyCar Series. Just a quick glance at next year’s schedule compared to the schedule as recent as 2015 shows a shocking decline in just a few years. The 2015 scheduled featured six oval races; the Indianapolis 500, as well as races at Texas, Fontana, Milwaukee, Iowa and Pocono. The 2021 schedule has the Indianapolis 500, a double-header at Texas and Gateway – four races at three oval tracks.
Will the Ovals Ever Come Back?
Posted in IndyCar on October 21, 2020 by OilpressureThe Short and Chaotic Reign of Joe Heitzler
Posted in IndyCar on October 19, 2020 by Oilpressure
There was a loss in the IndyCar world late last week that probably went unnoticed by many. Some may have seen the name and it didn’t ring a bell. Others may have callously smirked and silently thought “Good riddance!” to themselves.
The Grass is Not Always Greener
Posted in IndyCar on October 16, 2020 by Oilpressure
Although it has yet to be officially announced, it looks pretty certain that Felix Rosenqvist will be leaving Chip Ganassi Racing to replace the recently fired Oliver Askew at Arrow McLaren SP for 2021. This leaves Ganassi in somewhat of a pickle. Word has it that he had every intention of extending the second-year IndyCar driver for 2021 and beyond.
A Disturbing Pattern That Has Been Emerging
Posted in IndyCar on October 14, 2020 by Oilpressure
If you are a fan of the show Curb Your Enthusiasm, you may have seen the episode of Larry David and Richard Lewis encountering a blind man on the street, who needed some help moving some furniture into his apartment. Giving the fact that he was blind, of course they agreed to help. When they got in there, they found him to be extremely rude, nasty and demanding; as he guilt-tripped them into helping him. As it turned out, he was simply a rotten person who treated people poorly. The point of the episode was that just because someone has a disability, does not automatically make them a saint.
The Good and the Bad of the 2021 Schedule
Posted in IndyCar on October 7, 2020 by Oilpressure
The NTT IndyCar Series did a smart thing last week, when it released to 2021 schedule just hours before the first practice for the Harvest Grand Prix. They knew it wouldn’t be completely overlooked, but that fans had a race to pay attention to and they would mentally place the schedule on the back burner.
Random Thoughts on The Harvest Grand Prix
Posted in IndyCar on October 5, 2020 by Oilpressure
For years, I have been as skeptical as anyone about the IMS road course. Although we’ve been seeing cars run “backwards” down the front straightaway at IMS for twenty years now, it still seems like a crime against nature when I see cars going “the wrong way”. But that hasn’t been my complaint about the course. I just thought it wasn’t very racy. It didn’t seem that way in Formula One, nor did it with Indy cars – until this past weekend.
Harvest Grand Prix Preview
Posted in IndyCar on October 2, 2020 by Oilpressure
I’ve been following the sport of IndyCar racing for a long time. The last time I can remember a race taking place on a Friday was the 1969 Indianapolis 500, win by Mario Andretti. More than fifty-one years later, we are looking at our next Friday IndyCar race later today, when the green flag flies for the first of two races at the Harvest Grand Prix – also at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Oilpressure 