I spent my formative years in little Speedway, IN (where the track is actually located). I've done virtually everything there is to do at that (world's largest) facility. I do have to regrettably inform you that the 500, while still impressive as an event, is NOTHING like it was 30 years ago. Before the late 90s, it was a MONTH-LONG party, culminating in a MardiGras weekend before the Race itself. The Snake Pits, on the infield, home to the Biker Gangs, were.... highly educational for me as a teen, shall we say. Bob and Tom, just local radio jocks back then, were part of, or the cause of, soooo much drunken mischief and public nudity.
Today, the crowds are smaller, the process of events are crammed into a single week, it's almost all "family-friendly", and it is sad to see, compared to my memories of 1980-2000. The last time I brought people to enjoy it all, I was apologizing almost half the time. It was nothing like I had described for weeks beforehand. Sure, there's a little bit of adventure to be had, and the cars (recently re-engineered and apparently fly out of control for no reason all day today, with every single-car crash victim saying "I have no idea what went wrong") are still loud and pulse pure POWER... but you'll never get what I grew up with.
