Road America 2022

When I learned I would be able to attend all track days at the Indy 500 for the Month of May, I inquired about getting my media credentials. I was shot down before I could even say what my criteria was. Oh well. A couple friends and fellow bloggers suggested I try to get my credentials for Road America. I did not follow through mostly because I attend Road America with family and didn’t see myself really using them. We camp at RA so I have access to pretty much everything and lots of time at the track. What I wasn’t thinking of though was wifi. Cellular coverage is not great at Road America and we camp near the media center. If I had the password for their wifi I might actually be able to post my blogs and include the pictures I want with it too. I guess I need to try to get them for next year.

We arrived at Road America on Friday around 2:30 pm. We are camping on the front stretch and have a much larger site than we usually do. That didn’t help us though as the camper across from us had their giant motor home with their motorcycle and car parked in front of it. We couldn’t make the swing to back up the camper until they moved their truck. Randy had been bragging about his great parking jobs in past years and we joked that he would struggle this year. He didn’t but the way the neighbors parked made it difficult and we needed them to move. We got it all set though and Randy and Zach picked up the golf cart as I got things set at the site. We then went to watch the first practice.

Zach chose to relax in the camper and Randy and I went to check out some new vantage points. We hadn’t watched from Canada Corner or the carousal in past years. We found great new places and especially love a quiet spot we found in the trees off the carousel. We miss having video screens but love the view and the location. We watched practice and then walked through the paddock after. We caught up with Zach and went to check in with our friends, Joel and Amanda and their kids, we met them our first year here and have met up every year. We talked for a bit and then went back to make dinner. We did our traditional chicken sandwiches. After we walked through the paddock at night after everyone had gone home. It is pretty cool walking through the paddock when no one is around.

Saturday morning we were up and got breakfast going so we could enjoy the track activities. We watched the morning practice from the kettle bottoms. We ran into our friend Kathy while there. After practice we walked through the paddock. The Foyt Team was completely taking Kyle Kirkwood’s car apart. Kyle walked by and I asked what had happened. He said they had a small issue. It didn’t look small to me but the car made it out for qualifying. We got lunch and decided to watch qualifying from the carousel. Zach finally joined us for some track activity. We all had a favorite in the fast six but it was my pick, Alexander Rossi, that won the pole. Good to see Rossi doing well again.

After qualifying we all walked through the paddock. We saw some drivers and met up with our friend, Scott. Scott seems to switch teams every year and this year he is working with HMD on the Indy Lights side. He is really enjoying working with this group and as always it was great to see him and catch up.

As we headed back to the campsite we ran into George Phillips and he said that Susan was resting in the car. I had the boys drop me off so I could catch up with Susan. If you follow Oilpressure.com you know Susan was just released from a two week hospital stay. I’m so thankful she was able to attend Road America and am even more thankful that she is doing well and is cancer free. It was good to spend so time with her and look forward to future races when she is feeling even better.

For dinner we had chicken tacos that had been cooking in the crockpot all day. After dinner I walked over to say hello to the neighbors. I was mildly curious if they were just there for a weekend of drinking or if they followed IndyCar. Turned out it was a group of friends that meet up every year for a race. I’d say they are fans but this weekend was more about them all hanging out. They had their campers facing each other and all enjoyed many good meals. After dinner they provided entertainment and were kind enough to allow us to join in. Two men in the group played guitar and one played the bongos. However, it was Kirk that stole the show. Depending on the song, Kirk played a bucket or a kid xylophone. The video doesn’t show how well it all blended because the xylophone dominates in the video but it was not that way live. It was truly fascinating to watch how a toy xylophone and a bucket could contribute to the music. It was a great night.

I was sitting closer to the xylophone so the video is not as good as being there.

We went to bed around 11:30 knowing we had a fun day planned on Sunday.