Harvest Grand Prix

 

October 13, 2020

Harvest Grand Prix

In all my years of attending Indy Car races (going on 50), I have never attended a doubleheader weekend. There have been a few, especially in the last couple of years, but it was something I just never quite made it to until now. With the myriad of cancelations of races this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indy Car series had to add a few doubleheaders to help fill out the schedule including the two races that comprised the Harvest Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Utilizing the road course they added the two races and a single day of practice all in the same weekend making for a busy weekend.

They tacked the races onto a previously scheduled sports car 8 hour race that was on for Sunday and packed all of the Indy Car action into three days in addition to a number of sports car races. I watched more sports car racing this weekend than in all my years of watching racing combined I think, but it was great to watch from the comfort of my buddy Brent’s suite above the pit lane. The speedway did a spectacular job with their safety protocol in light of the current Covid pandemic, temperature checking every one of the limited 10,000 paying customers and providing hand sanitizer for all. I felt very safe especially in the relative emptiness of the suite. 

While the first race on Friday afternoon was one of the best road races I have ever seen, the Saturday race was not. In fact it was rather dull as Penske driver Will Power captured the pole and then lead the race wire to wire, dominating the field in what was a relatively boring compared to race one. The qualifying was much the same as Power captured the pole pretty easily with not much drama. It was still great to be at the race and out in the cool fall temperatures that are pretty rare to watch Indy Car racing.

One of the cooler things was being able to watch Jarrett Andretti, son of the late Indy Car driver John Andretti drive in the sports car race prior to the Indy Car event. Hopefully someday I will be able to see him compete in the big cars, but it was nice to see a new generation of Andretti racing. All in all it was a wonderful weekend to just enjoy being back at the track after what has been a tough season and year all round,

Before heading to the Speedway, I took advantage of the beautiful weather to head over to the former Indianapolis Museum of Art, which has recently been rebranded as Newfields. I wanted to explore the beautiful grounds that I used to play in when I was a kid, in addition I wanted to check out the latest exhibition in the museum, “Edward Hopper and the American Hotel”.

Hopper has always been one of my favorite artists and his work has taken on a special significance during the current pandemic. His themes of solitude, quiet, loneliness and isolation are just about a perfect representation of the current situation worldwide. The museum like many, limited attendance and made visitors book a time specific visit that would limit the total amount of visitors at any one time. Masks were of course required.

The grounds were as beautiful as I recalled, especially with all the fall colors starting to show and a wonderful fall like display and pumpkins scattered in beautiful displays around the grounds. It was just a perfect beautiful sunny fall day. I wondered around the outside artwork and through the incredible facility before heading inside to check out the feature exhibit.

“Edward Hopper and the American Hotel” is an exhibition that looks at the iconic midcentury artist’s fascination with places of transience, escape, and anonymity. Guests can explore the romantic and noir-ish side of hotels, motels, and tourist homes; learn about the ways 20th-century Americans participated in travel culture depending on their race, gender, and bank account; and see how Hopper’s works fit into a long tradition of using hotels to suggest emotions and ideas in art. 

The exhibit focuses on Hopper but features artwork from more than 27 artists in addition to Hopper whose work focuses on the theme that was fairly prevalent during Hopper’s era. It is a beautiful and fascinating and highly recommended exhibit. I am so happy that I took the time to check it out.

https://discovernewfields.org/calendar/edward-hopper-and-american-hotel

Escape

 

October 13, 2020

Escape

For the first time since the pandemic began back in March of this year, I decided to take my first full fledged vacation. It was a tough decision, especially since the Covid-19 virus numbers have already begun trending back upward as the expected fall surge may have started. After a slowdown, especially locally, the infection rate has started to rise again and the numbers of on the increase. There are currently 7,762,544 confirmed cases in the United States with a staggering 214,771 deaths attributable to the virus. Locally in Monroe County, there have been 1,958 confirmed cases with 886 of those in Key West and sadly 24 people who have died from the virus.

This includes the news that President Trump has become infected as well as about 30 other of his closest allies and family members as the White House itself has become a virus hotspot. It would be shocking if he and his followers did not so openly flaunt the most basic safety precautions such as social distancing and wearing facial coverings. The fact that a superspreader event occurred at the White House really should surprise no one. For my travel, I traveled to Indianapolis to attend the Harvest Grand Prix double header Indy Car races at the Speedway. It was the first time they have allowed fans in at the Speedway and after missing the Indy 500, I really wanted to be among the 10,000 fans they allowed in, in a facility that easily holds over 300,000.

 

 

 

 

It was my first time flying since this all started and I was a little nervous, but Delta Airlines did a fantastic job at following safety measures and it was easy and safe flying to Indianapolis where I stayed at my sister Michele’s for the weekend and attended first the practice day, then the two race days at the track, which also followed strict guidelines as far as taking everyone’s temperature, socially distancing all seats, providing hand sanitizer ro every guest and requiring masks.

Brent and Tammy

With the pits and garage area being closed to all visitors, I spent all of my time in my friend Brent’s Suite along the main straight where there were very few, well distanced people as well as the outside balcony overlooking the track where I spent most of my time so to limit any possible exposure. I was able to visit the Speedway museum as well where I wanted to see the current Granatelli exhibit that highlighted the Indy 500 career of legendary car owner Andy Granatelli. There was hardly anyone in the museum and it was like having a private opening just for me with an awesome display of the history of his cars and involvement at the Speedway.

The practice day was fun, but it was the first race that was the real highlight, after an exciting qualifying held the same day, where rookie Rinus VeeKay claimed his first pole position ever, the race was simply one of the best and most exciting road races I have had the good fortune to watch. There was tons of tight racing and passing and Josef Newgarden took a hard fought victory over Alexander Rossi and VeeKay who took a career best third place finish.

Immediately following the race, I drove across town to Arlington Middle School where my High School Alma Mater, Cathedral High School was playing a football game against traditional Cincinnati power Cincinnati Elder. Cathedral is undefeated and currently ranked 25^th in the country in High School football and was playing their third straight Cincinnati powerhouse having beaten St. Xavier and LaSalle. The game was not close as Cathedral dominated a good Elder team, winning 36-14 after mercy ruling them by gaining a 35 point lead and having a running clock before Elder scored a couple of late TDs against second and third stringers.

One of the coolest things about being in Central Indiana during October is that I got to experience beautiful fall weather and fall foliage for the first time in a few years. I visited one of my favorite spots, Holcomb Gardens at Butler University to really immerse myself in the beauty of the early fall season and to check out the trees which were beginning to show the annual signs of changing colors in the bright clear, crisp fall weather. It was spectacular and It just made me feel good.

I also managed to visit a couple of my favorite Indiana craft breweries downtown when I stopped by Metazoa Brewing and then the nearby Sun King Brewery to try the latest fall specialty beers. I love both of these breweries, Metazoa brews for a good cause by donating a percentage of all sales to animal related charities and Sun King is one of the top two or three breweries in Indiana and is really fun to visit, even during these Covid times.