The Biggest Race in the World

 

    The roar of the crowd and the heat from the sun bearing down made the spectacle even more intense as cars zipped by at speeds upwards of 250mph (400km/h). My neck would hate me in the morning and my ears would be ringing for the next hour, but it was totally worth it. Welcome to the Indianapolis 500.

    

    The Indy 500 is considered to be the largest racing event in the world, with crowds matching the population of big cities such as Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Reno, Tampa, Cardiff, Reading, and just about any other city boasting a population around 350,000. The event is even larger than that, considering 5.581 million people watched the race that I was at. And I was seated seven rows from the track. Seven very small and loud rows. 

    

    This experience was made possible by my best friend and avid race fan Danny. Danny has attended more racing events than I believe he can count, he knows every driver and car by the flash of a paint job across the track, and on his days off he is at our local course working with the track crews during races. Danny has celebrated wins with some of these drivers, hung out with some of the team managers, and has even assisted a drunk racer back to his camper. 

    

    We left Columbus the afternoon before and when we arrived in Indianapolis, Danny had to show me all of the shop's garages and I had to take him to one of my favourite mid-west eateries. Portillo's. If you have never had Portillo's, take a trip towards Chicago and find one. This restaurant has some of the best hot dogs I have ever eaten in my life. (Sorry Dirty Franks, you're great though too) Portillo's also has something called the Chocolate Cake Shake, which is also amazing. (For some comedic explanation of this, watch Gabriel Iglesias' Chocolate Cake Shake video.) After introducing Danny to Portillo's we continued exploring Indianapolis and even visited an Indy 500 Memorabilia Show and then decided to grab some food for dinner and find our Airbnb for the night. We hit a Kroger and bought a large bag of pizza rolls and a dozen cans of beer (the epitome of health right?) and made our way to the Airbnb. We checked in and relaxed in our one-room plus bathroom accommodation. We flipped on the TV and all we found were shopping channels. So we heated up pizza rolls, played cards, drank beer, and watched the shopping channel all night long laughing at the tactics that people used to sell ridiculous things. 

    The next morning we were up early, like 3.30AM kind of early. We got ready, cleaned up the Airbnb, checked out and got back on the road to the racetrack. We expected long lines and hours of waiting, but we left so early that the crowds hadn't gathered yet. We arrived at a parking lot and were the third car there. We snacked on some breakfast we had brought and decided to pass the time until the gates opened by catching a nap in the car. When the time came for the gates to open, we were getting out of the car and ready to head towards the track. We looked out, and the road we had come in on hours earlier was in stopped traffic for as far as the eye could see. We grabbed our things and made our way towards the track.

    We walked around for a bit after we got in, and we made our way to what is called Gasoline Alley to watch the parade of drivers and cars roll in in preparation for the race. Danny ran into a crew member for one of Chip Ganassi's cars and chatted with him and then the crowds began to appear. The fans pooled around Gasoline Alley as race officials made a path for the cars to come through. Leading the cars was the Indy 500 race trophy. The faces of previous victors cast into the side of the trophy. The cars then came down the path. Danny had stats and facts about each racer that rolled by. The cars were pulled by small carts, attached only by a single strap connected just over the cockpit of the car. Danny explained that they had to pull the cars through because the cars couldn't go slow enough for the speed limit through Gasoline Alley. As the cars left sight of the crowd, race officials opened their path back up and the crowds dispersed.

    

    We made our way to where our seats were. The race wouldn't start for another few hours. After we figured out the best way to our seats, we then began to explore the massive property of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In our wondering, we found the Speedway station at the Speedway, many merchants selling goods emblazoned with the names and logos of various teams and drivers. Expensive beer carts sat sporadically around the track with a domestic beer costing $7 each. I opted for the cheaper $4 bottled water. 

    We continued walking in and around the track finally walking past a large concert area called "The Snake Pit" which held a large concert starting early in the morning and lasting through the race. It was easy to tell who was at the track for the race, and who was at the track for the Snake Pit. We made our way over towards a truck parked near the track. As we walked up, a man came around and gave Danny a hug and introduced himself as one of the track workers. He and Danny had worked together quite a few times at this track and other tracks in the area. We stayed near that station for a bit and they caught up. While we were there an antique Indycar mini-race took off and classic Indycars raced by. These cars are owned by collectors and are easily identified by their rounded bodies and open cockpits. A far stretch from today's cars. 

    

    We finished up chatting with Danny's friend as the race time drew nearer. We made our way towards the stands. The sun beamed down and I had neglected to bring a hat. I found the Indy 500 official shop and bought a Chip Ganassi hat to support the team. Sporting a pair of free sunglasses from one of the vendors at the racetrack, I was ready to fight the sun. We got our photos with Jimmy Johnson's car as we made our way back and were each given a small die-cast model of that same car. After exploring the vendors a bit more, we made our way to the stands and got comfortable shortly before the announcer came over to break the silence and welcome fans to the Indy 500. The drivers were all introduced and the pre-race traditions of the National Anthem and a Blue Angel fly-over officially started the race. 

    As cars took a couple slow laps around the track, tension built. Then the pace car left and the race was on. The cars flew by and only being meters from the track I was very glad to have brought earplugs. The three hours, 250 laps, and 500 miles covered passed very quickly. Now I can't tell you exactly what happened to which racer because I was and still am relatively new to the world of Indycar, but Danny can tell you exactly what happened, when, what it means, and how the driver could've done better. I can tell you that from the start, we were rooting for the No. 9 car of Scott Dixon, a Ganassi driver. Dixon held the leader position for the majority of the race until he pitted too fast and had to lose a lap as a penalty, effectively taking him out of the running for the victor. After Dixon was sent to the end of the lineup, we supported any Ganassi car that we could. Towards the end of the race, Jimmy Johnson lead a few laps which was really special because he had left NASCAR to give Indycar a go. One of his dreams had been to lead a lap at the Indy 500. Right before the end, Jimmy unfortunately wrecked his car. After another wreck with two laps remaining, the cars were pulled off the track for cleanup. Back out on the track, they had what is called a green white which means they would be racing for two whole laps for the final. When the chequered flag dropped, a Swede came out on top. Marcus Ericcson, who was the underdog racer for Chip Ganassi. 

    Each racetrack has different customs, some tracks give away a grandfather clock and some give the winner a set of revolvers. The Indy 500 has a custom of having the winner drink milk when they are standing at victory lane. Ericcson did just that after the other tradition of kissing the bricks that make up the starting line. 

    After the race, hundreds of thousands of fans poured out of the racetrack going back to their cars to return home after such an awesome race. We made our way back to the car and sat in the traffic exiting the area for close to two hours. All the while talking about the amazing experience of the Indy 500. We drove straight from the racetrack to Columbus getting home in the late hours of the night. As I left Danny's house to head back to mine Danny said "Same thing next year?" to which I replied, "You know it."