Bump Day

May 24, 2012

Michael & Andy

Kristi, Amanda, Michael, Stephanie & Jody

Bump Day

Saturday night after the conclusion of the Pole Day qualifying at the Indianapolis motor Speedway and operating on no sleep in over thirty-six hours, I was off to meet my friends Jody, Amanda, Stephanie and Kristi for our annual dinner. For the past five years or more, we have made it a tradition to get together and to go to dinner someplace fun and catch up with each other. We have all been friends for thirty years or more and I always look forward to hanging out. Usually we are also joined by our friend Laura as well, but apparently she has a new boyfriend and was otherwise occupied. Hopefully she’ll be back next year.

Jody pining for Mike

Jody, Kristi & Stephanie

We started out at Jody’s house with a few drinks then walked (sorry Amanda) over to the nearby Mama Carolla’s restaurant along the Monon Trail for a yummy dinner. Our friend Mike was working as a bartender and somehow free shots kept appearing at our table, which made the dinner all that much more fun. We ended up hanging out there until Mike got off work and we all headed over to Twenty Tap the wonderful craft beer bar that our friends Tracy & Kevin opened last year.

Michael & Kristi

It was a great night of hanging, drinking and sharing stories from the past and present. One time a year is not really enough, but I am thrilled that my friends keep making the effort to spend time with me while I am in Indianapolis. I am so fortunate to have such amazing friends and to have them still a part of my life after all this time.

Josef Newgarden

I was only slightly bleary the next morning after a few hours of actual sleep when I headed back out to the Speedway for the Bump Day (or second day qualifying). Technically since there were exactly 33 car and driver combinations entered there was no real possibility of bumping, so I just watched the additional 9 starters make their runs and qualify for the field. It was another spectacular May afternoon at the track and was much more casual than the previous day.

Lindy

Jason

Ed Carpenter

It was also Armed Forces Day which meant they held the annual induction ceremony prior to the start of qualifying. I watched the ceremony as Indiana Senator Richard Lugar inducted seventy-five young men and women into all five branches of the military. It was a pretty cool thing to see. Hopefully these young people will all complete an honorable and safe service to our country.

Senator Richard Lugar

Katherine Legge

Jean Alesi & Arie Luyendyk

Ryan Briscoe

I had to leave the Speedway a little early in order to head downtown to Banker’s Life Fieldhouse to catch game four of the NBA play-off series between the Miami Heat and the hometown Indiana Pacers. My friend Andy had scored me a coveted ticket in the Legend’s Suite that came with free catered food and free booze in addition to awesome first row of the upper level seats. Not bad at all.

The Pacers who have not made it out of the first round of the Play-offs since the notorious brawl in Detroit have a great young team and were actually up in the series 2-1 going in to this game to the favored Heat. I had somewhat of a split allegiance, having been raised a huge Pacer fan, but now living in South Florida, but being at home I could not help but cheer for the Pacers. Things looked good with them until a total collapse in the third quarter and massive efforts by Lebron James (40 points) and Dwayne Wade (30 points) won the game for the Heat 101-93.

Tony Kanaan

It was a ton of fun though and there is nothing quite like the crazy atmosphere at an NBA play-off game. Thanks Andy for hooking me up. After the game, I actually headed back to my sister Michele’s house where I was staying for the week. By coincidence, my mother was also in town from her home in North Carolina, judging some kind of art thing for the Broad Ripple Art Fair and visiting friends.

Marta

Fritz, Marta, Michele & Lolly

I joined her, Michele and her friends Fritz and Lolly for lunch at Flatwater Restaurant on the canal in Broad Ripple for a great lunch with some long, long time family friends. Fritz and Lolly have been friends since well before I was born and it was yet another opportunity to catch up and enjoy their company.