Yesterday was Veterans Day in the US. Today is the day that it is observed, but it was really yesterday. It is one of the few holidays left that has not morphed into a Monday three-day weekend holiday, such as MLK Day, President’s Day, Columbus Day and of course Memorial Day. Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Independence Day are about the only other ones left that are celebrated no matter which day of the week they fall on. The only reason we are observing it today is that it fell over the weekend. The actual celebration was yesterday, but many offices are closed today in observance of the holiday.
How Veterans Shaped The Indianapolis 500
Posted in IndyCar on November 12, 2018 by OilpressureIs The Gold Coast In IndyCar’s Future?
Posted in IndyCar on November 9, 2018 by Oilpressure
The hot rumor in the IndyCar circles for the past couple of weeks has been that talks may be underway for the IndyCar Series to return to Surfers Paradise in Gold Coast, Queensland in Australia as early as the 2020 season. Is that a good thing?
The Ever-Shrinking Sponsor Relationship
Posted in IndyCar on November 7, 2018 by Oilpressure
I was saddened to see that Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka has ended their partnership with Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR). Fuzzy’s has been on the sidepod of at least one ECR car since the inception of Ed Carpenter Racing in 2012. However, that was not Fuzzy’s first foray into IndyCar racing. Fuzzy’s was the primary sponsor for Carpenter’s 2010 Indianapolis 500 entry with Vision Racing. One mostly forgotten fact is that they were the primary sponsor on a second Panther entry in the 2011 Indianapolis 500 – the No. 44 for Buddy Rice; when Carpenter was driving the Dollar General car for Sarah Fisher Racing.
Remembering Mari Hulman George
Posted in IndyCar on November 5, 2018 by Oilpressure
The racing world awoke on Saturday morning with the sad news that Mari Hulman George had passed away at the age of eighty-three. She was, of course, the IMS Chairman of the Board Emeritus and former Chairman from 1988 to 2016. She was also the daughter of Tony Hulman and Mary Fendrich Hulman. The Hulman-George family has owned and provided oversight to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since Mr. Hulman purchased the track in the fall of 1945.
Another Import For IndyCar
Posted in IndyCar on November 2, 2018 by Oilpressure
Earlier this week, we learned that Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) has hired current Formula One driver Marcus Ericsson to drive the No. 7 car fulltime for SPM in 2019. He will drive alongside his future teammate, James Hinchcliffe.
A Change Of Heart For Good Reason
Posted in IndyCar on October 31, 2018 by Oilpressure
We’ve known for a few months now that Tony Stewart wants to run the Indianapolis 500 again. Stewart’s plan was to run another oval race before tackling the “500” in order to re-acclimate himself to Indy car racing and to this new car in particular. Since there will be no ovals before next year’s Indianapolis 500, that meant in order to follow that plan Stewart would be aiming toward the 2020 Indianapolis 500 and probably running at Pocono in 2019 for his “refresher” race.
Should IndyCar Adopt A Playoff System?
Posted in IndyCar on October 29, 2018 by Oilpressure
Last week, I was reading through Robin Miller’s Mailbag. I came across a very lengthy letter that had a well-thought out suggestion on how IndyCar could structure a season-ending playoff method to crown its champion. It involved racing on fall holidays (Columbus Day, Veterans Day) on a street course, road course and an oval. The finale would be the oval contested in prime time on Veterans Day at Fontana.
Oilpressure 