Indianapolis 500

May 31, 2010





Dario Franchitti

Indianapolis 500

This year marks the 94th running of the Indy 500, which was first contested in 1911, but not held during the war years. This year marks my 38th consecutive year of attending ,”The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” which means that I have witnessed just over 40 % of the Indy 500s ever run. I just can’t imagine not being there. In past years I have sat through rainouts, windstorms, freezing cold all just about every other condition you could have, but this year had to be one of the hottest Indy 500s ever, with temperatures at the track reaching 96 during the race.



Wes & Keegan

For years, a group of friends have gathered on race day morning at the riverside home of our friend “big” Tim Micheli to prepare to carpool out to the race, where they have pre-paid parking a mere 100 years or so from their seats in Turn 3, just down from my seats. I have always headed out to the track earlier, since they often leave only an hour or so before the green flag, but this year I opted to join them. My friend Wes and his young son Keegan were joining me for the race this year, and it was easier just to tag along with the large group.

Pre-Race







Their race day plan worked to perfection as we were out to the speedway, parked and in our seats with 40 minutes, just in time for the pre-race traditions that I love so much. From Florence Henderson’s “God Bless America” to the playing of Taps to honor veterans, to the incomparable Jim Nabors singing, ”Back Home Again In Indiana” and finally the command to start engines, the tradition and pageantry are unmatched.

Back Home Again In Indiana- Jim Nabors

The race itself was excellent as well, eventual winner Dario Franchitti, dominated much of the day, leading 155 of 200 laps, but there was plenty of excitement to keep us entertained. I especially enjoyed watching Tony Kanaan charge from his last place starting position all the way up to second before needing a final splash of fuel. Franchitti may well have run out of fuel if not for the final yellow flag caused by a spectacular crash that happened right in front of our seats when Mike Conway hit Ryan Hunter-Reay and flew up into the catch fence, escaping with only a broken leg and hurt back. It was an incredible sight and it also broke my Calcutta winning streak as we had Hunter-Reay.

Mike Conway crash

The day was hot and humid, but I kept hydrated and stayed in the stands throughout, though many, many people sought refuge in the shade under the stands during the race. The race had the regular gathering of celebrities, with a new feature this year that had actor Mark Wahlberg in the two-seater Indy Car driven by Michael Andretti to start the race and actor Jack Nicholson waving the green flag to start the race.

Mark Wahlberg & Michael Andretti

John Andretti



Keegan

Dario captured his second race win, this one going the full 500 miles (in 2007 the race was shortened by rain). It was a popular win for a great driver, and once again it was great to see his wife, actress Ashley Judd celebrating along pit row. Team Penske which had been a heavy favorite, had an average day, with none of their drivers a real factor.

Jack Nicholson

David Letterman



Getting out of the track was even easier (thanks to a convenient hole cut in the fence leading to our parking spot) and with-in 30 minutes we were back at our starting point, relaxing along the banks of the White River.

Michael & Wes *photo by Keegan



Shannon

Race Parties

May 30, 2010

Jerome

Laura, Kristi, Jody & Amanda



Race Parties

The Indianapolis 500 is so much more than just a single day event, Indianapolis comes alive during the month of May and there are so many ancillary events that are held in conjunction with the race that it is impossible not to find any number of things to do. The Saturday prior to the race packs events in, taking advantage of all the people in town for the race. The sheer scale and variety of events from the 500 Festival Parade, to the many private parties, to just about every bar in town hosting some sort of Indy 500 event to the actual public driver’s meeting at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I had all sorts of options.

Robin Roberts

John Andretti



I am sort of a traditionalist though and I had some events pre-selected to attend, so mostly only my morning was free. I opted to head out to the track to take in the Indy Downforce meeting and the driver’s meeting. They had Randy Bernard, new CEO of the Indy Racing League, Three time Indy 500 winner Johnny Rutherford and Indy Lights Driver Pippa Mann as the speakers. Pippa Mann was there in spite of still being sore from her accident in the previous day’s race, which was pretty cool and says a lot about the type of person she is.

Pippa Mann

Sarah Fisher

The evening had me back at one of my personal favorite Indy 500 traditions, the annual Crawfish Boil hosted by my friends Rick & Becky. Attended by a nice crowd of friends, the party brings together a wonderful group of families and friends for another beautiful evening of munching on the hundreds of pounds of Crawfish flown in from New Orleans, in spite of the Oil Spill which threatened to impact the availability of Crawfish and derail the party, but which thankfully did not.







My nephew Jerome, is relocating back to Indianapolis and is interested in possibly becoming a Brew Master, so I invited him to the boil as three of the preeminent beer brewers in Indiana just happen to attend (and supply their tasty beer), Ted from the Broad Ripple Brew Pub, Omar from the Alcatraz Brewing Company and Ted from Brugge. It is one of the added bonuses of attending the party.

Ted & Kevin prep the beer.





The only bad thing is that at the same time, another big reunion of friends is happening only a few blocks away at the Monkey’s Tale bar in Broad Ripple, the “Indy In May Reunion” is organized by my friend Rosie and a huge group of friends gather to reconnect. People who grew up in the Broad Ripple area return in what looks like an older version of the old Dawson Lake “Summer Nights” parties from the 80s.

Stuart, Stephanie & Therin

Jody, Scotty & Amanda





It makes it difficult for me to have to rush back and forth between parties in an attempt to see as many people as possible, but it sure is great to get to see so many old friends. The night wraps up with the big Calcutta back at the Crawfish Boil, where I teamed up with my friend Kevin to bid on drivers, we ended up with Will Power of team Penske, which seemed like a great pick at the time. Our evening concluded with a small group of us heading over to the Alley Cat lounge for a night cap, just like old times.

Carb Day at IMS

May 29, 2010



Carb Day Concert

Henk & Mark

Carb Day at IMS

After a few days back in the saddle at work, I was back on a plane headed back to Indianapolis to attend the Indy 500 and all the assorted festivities that go along with “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. One of those spectacles is what is known as Carb day, which is held the Friday prior to the race and features a number of activities that include the final practice for the cars that have qualified for the 500, the pit stop competition, the Miller Lite Carb Day concert (which this year featured ZZ Top), and the Freedom 100 race for the Indy Lights, which is the minor league of the Indy Cars.





As has been my tradition for the past few years, I met up with a number of friends to spend the day at the Speedway. This year two of the Davis brothers drove in to take part, Henk (from Cincinnati) and Pat (from Evansville), they joined an Indy based contingent in the huge throng that showed up at the Speedway.

Henk



The weather was great, hot and sunny and the practice went off without a hitch as we took seats in the Tower Terrace to watch the action. All thirty-three of the starting cars participated and the track was busy with cars during the hour practice. The teams worked on race day set-ups, practiced pit stops and basically made their final adjustments before the race. Dario Franchitti was the fastest in the session.

NFL Legend Dan Fouts

Henk & Pat

We remained in the stands to watch the Indy Lights race (won by Wade Cunningham) and the pit stop competition, which was eventually won by Team Penske and Helio Castroneves. The event lasted way too long, and I didn’t actually make it through the whole thing, opting to tour the garage area, before heading over to see the hubbub at the ZZ Top concert. The carb day crowd has been growing the past few years and this year the estimate of 60,000 watching ZZ Top seemed about right.

ZZ Top

Henk, Pat, Michael, Stuart, Mark, J.R. & Zack

I took in a little, but the drunken crowd and heat was a bit much, so I left the track and headed over to the famous Indianapolis drive-in restaurant, The Mug N Bun for a late lunch before driving over to the Indiana State Fairgrounds to attend the Indy 500 memorabilia show.







Then it was up to Broad Ripple to do a little shopping at Indy CD & Vinyl, have a beer at the Alley Cat and meet the Davis family for dinner at the wonderful Bazbeaux Pizza. It was a great gathering with three of the Davis siblings (Henk, Evelyn & Pat), their children and their mother Wil. It has been a long time since we’d gotten together and we had a great dinner catching up and reminiscing about the old neighborhood. Hopefully, this can become another race weekend tradition.



The Davis Clan

Pat, Evelyn & Henk

After dinner, It was a quick stop at the buzzing Brugge Brasserie for a drink before heading over to the annual K of C Calcutta. The Calcutta is basically a gambling party where drivers in the 500 are auctioned off and the pot of money divided among those having a top seven (or last place) finisher. I always join a coalition of friends known as the Fisher Farts and we pool our money and try to bid on the best driver possible. This year we got Ryan Hunter-Reay. The total pot went over $57,000 this year and the party even featured a walk through performance by the famous Gordon Pipers band.