Memorial Day. The temps are up, the clouds are clearing. Hopefully you’re leaning back in a lawn chair, your feet up on a cooler, your wife giving you a foot massage — though it turns out she’s just trying to get a beer out of the cooler.

Whatever you’re doing, I hope you’re not talking about gas prices.

Leave that to me.

Can we all agree it was a flabbergasting surprise that gas prices spiked right before the Memorial Day holiday? After reaching highs around $4.25 a gallon, prices had recently fallen to about $3.75.

Then came the dreaded equipment problems at the ExxonMobil refinery in Joliet, Illinois.

In days preceding you could hear people whispering to each other as they filled their tanks at the local gas station: “Have you heard how things are going in Joliet?” Or someone might say: “I sure hope the Joliet refinery equipment is functioning well.” Or maybe you heard: “Put that friggin’ cigarette out, are you trying to kill us?”

Truth be told, no one had heard of the Joliet refinery. But last week a AAA spokesman told our reporter that Joliet’s equipment failure was causing the gas price hikes.

As far back as the ’70s, the oil companies tried telling us there was an oil shortage. While there’s a finite amount of oil on this planet, we still have plenty left. So the oil companies had to switch gears and tell us there weren’t enough oil refineries. We could all relate to that. No one wants an oil refinery built in their backyard.

Then there was Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. Some people think it's the greatest sporting event around. Others think it's a tremedous waste of gas. I lean toward the former.

But certainly no one at Indy cares about gas mileage, or so you would think.

First, let’s congratulate local-boy-made-good Bryan Herta, who owns the car driven by Indy winner Dan Wheldon.

“It was great to see Warren native Bryan Herta finally get in the winner’s circle at Indy,” said Wes Raynal, editor of AutoWeek magazine in Detroit.

Herta was quoted afterwards saying that at one point in the race, “We knew we couldn’t beat him (Dario Franchitti) on fuel mileage.”

What do you know. Even race car drivers think about conserving gas. I wonder what kind of mileage my Mazda would get at 200 mph.

Contact Ed Fitzgerald at fitz@macombdaily.com

A while back, auto writer G.E. Miller ranked the 15 most fuel efficient cars sold in the U.S. He set a price cut-off at $30,000, which excluded General Motors' Volt.
The only two domestic vehicles to make the list came from Ford. Here there are: 

11. Ford Fusion Hybrid (same vehicle as Mercury Milan Hybrid and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid)

Price: $28,240
Highway MPG: 36
City MPG: 41
Annual Fuel Cost: $1,187
Annual CO2 Produced: 4.8 tons  10. Ford Fiesta
Price: $14,390
Highway MPG: 38
City MPG: 29
Annual Fuel Cost: $1,404
Annual CO2 Produced: 5.7 tons

The entrance ramp from Groesbeck Highway to eastbound I-696 will be closed from 9 a.m. until noon Tuesday morning. So if you're driving around honking your horn celebrating bin Laden's death, avoid that area.

And how about those gas prices? Thinking of buying a small car yet? Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all have fuel-efficient vehicles available. Make sure the dealer you visit advertises with us or I will hunt you down and show you slides from my vacation.

Stimulate the economy and save money on gas. What could be better. Check your wallet and get back to me.