Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Indy 500

As I got out of the car, I could hear the roaring of the race cars on the track.  People were rushing pass me to get to the gate to purchase their "Practice Ticket" to see the drivers as they began to qualify for the Indy 500.  This event is billed as the "Greatest Spectacular Racing".  It is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsports.

I can remember growing up in Texas and going to the car races on Friday night with my dad. The stands were always packed. The dirt from the racetrack would fly into the stands and the noise was so loud, you couldn't hear yourself think.

I had arrived in Indianapolis in the afternoon and I had decided that I would take Uber and head to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  When I go to a new city, I always want to see a site that the city is known for.  To me, that site is the "Indianapolis Motor Speedway".

When I think of the Indy 500, I always think of the movie "Winning" with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Robert Wagner.  Paul Newman's character is a person who would do anything to win the Indianapolis 500 and that meant losing his family.  A lot of the movie was filmed at this racetrack.

As I paid my fee to get into the Speedway, I walked to the Museum.  This museum displays the history of racing and the various cars and race drivers of the Indy 500.  One of the major exhibitions is the "A.J. Foyt Exhibition".  A.J. Foyt was the 1st four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500s.  He won in 1961, 1964, 1967 & 1977.  The cars that he drove to win those races are displayed at the Museum.

The first Indy 500 was on May 30, 1911(Memorial Day). The track was in an open muddy field. There were forty cars in that race.  The winner was Ray Harroun and he won $25,000.  On that day, there were 80,000 spectators that attended this event.  People's love for car racing began on this track.

Before I left the museum, I had my picture taken in a race car.  I had to climb in and sit so low to the ground. I could almost feel the excitement that the drivers have as they slide into the car to begin the race.  Maybe one day I will get to drive a race car around a racing track.

As I left the museum, I headed towards the stand to watch the trials.  Even though, the race is almost a week away, the area was buzzing with vendors, participants and spectators.

After about an hour, I headed back to the hotel to begin to set-up for the Cosmetic Training Event, which was the next day.




1 comment:

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

I have never watched a car race of any sort in my life and doubt I ever will