Any advice for Indianapolis for the 500? (shameless Vanity)

n/a ^ | May 10, 2016 | Self

[gymbeau]

Hi, Folks! Please forgive the vanity, but I'm doing a "bucket list-type" trip in a couple of weeks to the 100th running of the Indy 500 on May 29. Looking forward to it,obviously!

I'm hoping knowledgeable Freepers might have some advice re: weather (seems fine, usually, on TV), mosquitoes, places to go - people to do, etc. Indy museum is on the agenda, of course.

I guess sun block will be in order but I'm particularly worried about skeeters 'cause they seem to come from miles around to feast on my flesh. My wife loves it that they leave her alone...

Anyway, any advice would be much appreciated and thank you in advance. If any of you are coming to Calgary I'll be happy to return the service.

cheers, Jim

[gymbeau]

We’re booked. Some Comfort Inn in the south of the city. The shuttle parking’s about half way to the Speedway.

Sounds like we should be out and about on Saturday after we check in. Sunday we’ll arrive as early as possible and stay as late as possible, shuttles willing.

Thanks for your great advice!

cheers
Jim

[God luvs America]

turn four can be a great place to sit depending on where you are...get to see all the action in turn three where most of the passing occurs then watch them head for home...hate to say this but most of the accidents occur exiting turn 4...

[gymbeau]

Wow, what an experience! I was a guest of Honda for the Edmonton Indy a few years back. Not nearly the spectacle, but still very cool and exciting, and I got to have dinner with Jimmy Vasser and Paul Tracy, and about 15 other writers.

I’ll check into pit passes...
Thanks,
Jim

[God luvs America]

i will disagree on the hearing protection....seeing, hearing and feeling the noise/speed is a major part of the experience...like i suggested- rent the headphones and if the noise gets to much put them on and listen to the radio feeds..

[xp38]

I visited in 2003 when the race wasn’t being run. Long time fan so I had a strong interest in the place. Never been more impressed by a sporting facility. Awesome is an understatement.

[Teacher317]

Dallara IndyCar Factory often has a two-seat racecar running around that people can sit in (on the streets, not on the track)

The Snakepit is now inside Turn 3, but it is nothing like it was, once upon a time. You might see some minor rowdiness or bawdiness, but it is likely to never make me drop my jaw again, LOL. In modern culture, all public events have to be "family friendly". Not ALWAYS a good thing, IMHO.

Dawson's on Main is a good restaurant, but St Elmo's Steakhouse downtown is THE Indianapolis restaurant to visit. The Drivers will be there most of the week.

Carb Day has only been a name for decades. These machines do not have carburetors, LOL, but it is their last chance to test the engines and do their last-moment tinkering for RaceDay set-up.

[gymbeau]

Thanks. Yes, our tickets arrived a couple of weeks ago.
Hadn’t planned on taking food or drink; was prepared to get ripped off at the track (once in a lifetime, I don’t care about saving money!).

Yeah, TG sure did a number on AOWR! Never recovered from the split.

Thanks,
Jim

[gymbeau]

I definitely want to kiss the brick yard!

Thanks,
Jim

[gymbeau]

Couple of crashes could be cool to watch; hope no one gets hurt.

I think we’re about 10 rows up.

Cheers,
Jim

[Teacher317]

I agree that hearing the amazing amount of noise from these surprisingly tiny machines is impressive... but 3 hours of a constant buzz can be tough on anyone's ears. My input: Bring the buds or headphones, but take them off a few times to get a sense of the power of the cars. Again, you'll FEEL them go b, even if your eyes are closed and your ears fully blocked somehow.

The IMS radio feed is awesome, though. Another wise purchase.

Also, a get a lanyard with plastic ticket holder to hold your ticket and keep it in good shape as a nice keepsake. They're sold everywhere around the track.

[gymbeau]

Yeah, I made a pilgrimage there in 2002 when I was in Indy to cover an electronics show. TV sure doesn’t capture the scale of the place!

Cheers,
Jim

[gymbeau]

I got a pic of myself in an Indycar shell when I visited the museum in 2002. Bet my fat ass won’t fit in it now, though, LOL!

cheers
Jim

[Teacher317]

Even on Race Day itself, that gate will open for a while... usually around 8 or 9am, I think... but that may only be for press-credentialed folks these days. I;m getting conflicting feedback from my Speedway friends on it right now.

[Teacher317]

A 2.5 mile oval, surrounded by a stadium that seats 275,000 people for a single-day event. There are 2 stadiums on earth that seated more people (AScot in the UK, and Le Mans in France), but neither has as large of a standard seating capacity as IMS....

and remember that the infield holds another 100,000 folks... and before they took up half of that area with a road race course and a few golf holes, it held an additional 250,000. A quarter million inebriated folks with little to no adult supervision for an entire summer Sunday. Oh, the stories of the muddy bog-pits and the events that took place back in the day in the infield!!

[gymbeau]

Wish I’d thought about applying for press credentials. Chances are I could have gotten them. OTOH, it’s a pleasure day...

cheers
Jim

[circlecity]

Have a great time. One word of caution - the cops are thick during race weekend and they are looking for DUI arrests. Don’t be driving if you’ve had anything to drink, especially anywhere near the track - they’ll nail you. Getting drunk and rowdy, even if not in a car, is also a fact ticket to the Marion County jail.

[AFreeBird]

Call and see if you can still get them. Just because you got them, doesn’t mean you actually have to work, does it. You’ll get access to places most people can’t get acces to on race day. The garage area for instance.

[InvisibleChurch]

Ok, nix my private mail. The shuttle is the best way to get in and out.
Bug spray? They stay away because of the fumes from the engines. Pack some anyway, you can take a backpack in but they’ll search it anyway. Ear protection especially if you have tix under a roof, out in the sun, not so much.
Go to the bathroom at the beginning of a caution period. Under most circumstances you should b able to get back to your seat for the restart.
Regardless of your seats,, dont expect to see much of the race live. The venue is so LARGE that you get a limited live view but theyve added a lot of screen around the track so you should b able to see the a tion taking place a mile away.
Wear comfy shoes.
If you can go to the museum, go. The cars from the past are beautiful!
Have fun? Feel free to ask any other questions.

[InvisibleChurch]

Turn four? You should see the tail of the accidents that happen in three or the beginning of the accidents that start in turn four. The shuttles drop off and pick up south of the track so you’ll be at least one mile from your seat. It takes time to get there, time to get in the track,mtime to find your seat. Im older, ~60, so i’m a little slow. If you get headphones, that takes time, then it takes time to drop them off. Its almost worth it to buy headphones then sell them later. In short, it’s a big place. Have fun, you won’t regret it. Let us know how it turned out.

[God luvs America]

Here are some of my pictures from last year:

 

 

In Gasoline Alley before the race.  Justin Wilson's car in the tech inspection line.  Justin, an all around good guy, was sadly killed at the Pocono 500 last August.

 

The car James Hinchcliff crashed in the tech line

 

Hometown favorite Ed Carpenter's car

 

The Captain in Will Power's garage