Wow, this is cool: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway! That photo above? I snapped it as the Indy car was entering Turn 3 at about 200 mph, panning the camera with the car to blur the background and get the car as sharp as possible (which is a bit of a challenge when your subject is doing 200). There were a lot of photo ops at Indy, and I sized most of the photos at 900 pixels to show off a bit. We were having a good time.
We didn’t see the race (it’s today, and it starts about three hours from when this blog was posted). We were in Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago to visit with good buddy Jeff, whom you’ve seen in other recent blogs. Jeff took us all over Indianapolis and the surrounding areas, and our itinerary included the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
We walked the huge infield area. The track is a 2.5-mile oval and that gives it plenty of room on the infield (there’s even a golf course in the infield). One of the best parts is the museum, which houses historic cars and winners of past Indy 500 races.
After spending some time in the museum, we went up into the stands to watch the cars practicing. The Indy 500 is, as the name states, a 500-mile race, and with the cars running over 200 mph, it takes about 2 hours. I can see it producing more than a few headaches, sitting out in the sun and listening to the high-pitched and loud whine of the cars whizzing by. Our day was perfect…we took in what we wanted to see and I shot a lot of photos.
There is a very cool photo of Mario Andretti in the Indy 500 Museum. The story behind it is that the photographer asked Mario Andretti if he could grab of photo of his rings, and Mr. Andretti posed as you him in the photo above.
There was also an Indy 500 simulator in the museum. It let you “race” for about a minute, but I didn’t last that long. The simulator included motion in the steering wheel and in the seat, I felt woozy as soon as I started, and I had to stop shortly after I started. I guess that makes me an official Indy 500 DNF (did not finish).
My favorite photo of the day is this selfie I grabbed of yours truly and good buddy Jeff reflected in the radiator cover of a vintage Miller race car.
So there you have it…our day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I’ll be watching the race today.
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Joe, thanks for your Indy report. It is a magical place, a Disneyland for adults! A few years ago Joyce and I attended AmeriVespa in Indianapolis and the highlight of the event (for me) was a lap on the brickyard on our scooters. We were supposed to “keep it under 35”, but heck, we only did one lap, what were they gonna do, throw us out. I nudged it up to 45+, oh yeah!
Bill:
Sounds like fun and good to hear from you. We’re glued to the TV today. Enjoy the holiday weekend.
You are a true renegade sir.
Great report on the world’s most famous oval!
I was born and spent the first 45 years of my life living around Indianapolis. Before I moved to North Carolina, I landed a client that was to do the recycling at the motor speedway. I do video production, so to direct a video will standing on those yard of bricks is the highlight of my career. Not sure if they still run the video, it was a few years ago, but it was still cool to command trash trucks racing around the track.
Joy is in JOurneY
That’s awesome!
i love that 99 car!
what a thing of beauty.
They were all stunning. I agree with you; No. 99 is exceptional. It was a great visit.
Great visit of the Indy 500 racecourse and area. I love the NOVI cars and you lead off with one, kudos. Jim Clark’s Lotus…wow what can you say. I saw the tires that A. J. Foyt used in winning the 500 at our Firestone Store in Cape Girardeau, Mo. You know he ran and won the race with one set of tires, and they still looked good enough to race another 500 miles. Roger Ward spoke at our school when I was in High School just after winning the race. I didn’t get to go to assembly because our auditorium was too small and not all the Freshman classes could go. So, I sneaked out of class when the presentation was over and stood at a respectful distance from his AAA painted automobile, watched him get in and waved as he exited the parking lot. That’s what kids in the 60’s did to see their heroes, or at least that is what I did. The Indy 500 has soft spot in the hearts of every hot rod kid growing up in Middle America in mid-20th centry. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Now I am going to drink a BIG winning glass of milk!
Well said, Terry, and thanks for posting. Enjoy Memorial Day.
yes!!!