Indy 500

Practice starts Saturday and race is the 29th. I know at least on other poster will be there besides me. Anyone else go? Ever been? I don't do sport like I used to, but this is a non-miss.
 

I was there when Danny Sulivan did a 360  We were guest of Sports Illustrated who awarded the top  10 Lincoln Mercury Dealerships in the US.  My brother owned the one in Minneapolis and he included he.  It was a first class trip with four days at the main hotel where all the drivers stayed at that time.  We had police escorted buses to the track race day.  I becamse intoxicated three times a day due to all the free beverages.  Food was everywhere even after the race.
 
That was the only time I was ever there but it was a great experience.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

This will be my 34th 500, been attending since 1976 (8 years old), but have missed the 80 and 01 races. Will be there for both qualification days, Carb Day through Monday on Race weekend. No rood food as I spend all the time at the track and it's surroundings, but will be grilling lots of animal flesh and a few crustaceans over the weekend!
 
Davydd is more than likely coming I would imagine.
 

badart, This will be my 20th, but I missed several being in the Navy 20 years. But even  all the times overseas I always managed to at least listen on the radio. I was a Radioman so that was never a problem. Yep Davydd was the other one I was refering to.
 

The Indy 500 along with the Charlotte 600 in the same day is my favorite day of racing.  It is obviously a all day event  Both are outstanding and I have a hard time staying awake for the finale at Charlotte.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I remember being in the airport in Indy about 20 years ago in early May as I recall and here comes Mario Andretti walking down the aisle.  Someone spotted him and within no time he was mobbed by people taking pictures.  Security had to come and clear a path for him to continue on.

Of course I am going to The Greatest Spectacle in Racing this year.   I go every year. I have not missed a race since beginning in 1949 watching the first ever 500 race shown on local TV through a screen door at Artie Shaw's house. Sometimes it was on TV and sometimes on the radio. My current at the track streak extends from 1997. The Indy 500 is my day and nothing is going to interfere with it.
 
I grew up in Speedway, Indiana, the home of the track. As they say many have racing in their blood but it is in my DNA. I have many memories and can relate many events surrounding the month of May in Indianapolis.
 
I just came off an extended 39 day RV trip to the Southwestern desert where we put on 6,350 miles all on the back road blue highways except for 420 miles on Interstate highways that could not be avoided. We traveled almost all of Route 66 from the California border to Albuquerque and we sought out some of the most arduous mountain passes. We visited six national parks and six national monuments and camped in most of them as well as some of the most remote high altitude national forest campsites we could find with snow still on the ground. On this trip I had my first In-n-Out burger, Sonoran hot dog and Runza. I managed to find a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich in Arizona and Nebraska. And of course microbrews in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.
 
Now we are prepping for another trip starting Tuesday for the Land of Lincoln and Springfield, IL for an RV rally following with a week in Indianapolis for the race and finishing up circling back up through Michigan, the UP and northern Wisconsin. I will of course have more tenderloins and will be looking to try my first horseshoe sandwich in Springfield.
 
In July we will head for our annual trip to northern Virginia and Washington, DC. It is looking more and more like a trip to the Pine Barrens in northeast Texas in late September for another RV social. We may extend that with a trip through the Gulf Coast and Florida. Summer may be mostly short trips to northern Minnesota.
 
Cost? Cheaper than you think. Most nights we camp for nothing or less than $10. Food is really a wash since we eat in our RV mostly and would have to eat regardless. 39 days of travel did cost us about $1,500 in fuel.
 
Great Sand Dunes National Park


Rocky Mountain National Park


Hoosier Pass at 11,551 Feet in Colorado


Joshua Tree National Park


Cholla National Forest Campground Lake Roosevelt Arizona


Screens side and back ventilation in the Arizona desert's Cholla CG


Parking in Downtown Bisbee, Arizona


Petrified Forest National Park


Route 66 at the Petrified Forest


Overnight Free Parking in a Walmart parking lot in North Platte, Nebraska

DavyDD,  I like your new RV and your adverturous thoughts.  It appears that you had a very good time and had some of your famous sandwiches along the way as well as some beer.  I admire and am somewhat envnious of the pleasure you had and where you had adventures to.  I have traveled all 50 states but never in a RV
 
Incidentally, my brother lives in Edina and is a snowshoe fan and a writer for their club.
 
Thanks for the pics.
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Davydd,
I have never seen a RV similar to yours. I was wondering if you might give all of us here a pictorial tour.
 
CNW

As you desire...
 
Mercedes Benz Sprinter Great West Van Legend

I am a big IndyCar fan and have been to every event at Watkins Glen (sadly they will not be back). I had an opportunity to attend opening day at IMS this year, but I am way too busy at the office. Great field this year...lots of good drivers in good rides. Bump day will actually worth watching this year..

Davydd
 
Were you in W Virginia / Virginia this past weekend (mothers day wknd)
 
I passed a silver sprinter with MN tags.  I honked and waved but the driver looked at me like "Who the **** are you?"
 
 

I am watching online streaming of practice at work right now, 36 drivers above 220mph already today. Yes Bump Day should be quite exciting this year. I will be heading down there on both Saturday and Sunday. I can't wait (and will probably have a BPT at the Track as well!).

CajunKing


Davydd

Were you in W Virginia / Virginia this past weekend (mothers day wknd)

I passed a silver sprinter with MN tags.  I honked and waved but the driver looked at me like "Who the **** are you?"

That was not me. We were in Arizona. We will be going through Indiana, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland in late June and early July on the way to Virginia and back. We are picking up our son and two grandsons in La Crosse, WI and going to visit our daughter and granddaughter in Burke, VA then. Everyone is quite excited about that trip because we will camp a couple of nights going and coming. We will be bringing a tent along. Our daughter-in-law will be in the Dominican Republic for a university anthropology event We can handle three extra people but not four. So it will be a rare opportunity to get our ages 2 to 8 grandkids together.

Can't wait to get to Indy. We'll first go to Springfield, IL for a Class B camper van rally with people all over the country qualification weekend. We saw about a half dozen of those camper vans in Arizona. Real friendships are developing. I will then camp maybe at Turkey Run State Park (one of my favorites with great memories) and arrive in Indianapolis Tuesday. Wednesday I want to to a take lap around the track in our camper van during Community Day. Friday is our annual Speedway high school class of 1962 reunion at Grindstone Charley's on Crawfordsville Rd. We'll easily get over 40 out of a graduating class of 120 from dozens of states as far away as Florida and California. Like me, everyone comes back for THE RACE. We stay at my sister's house and this year we will be getting together with cousins from Ohio and Texas.
 
Food related? A horseshoe of course of course in Springfield. Indianapolis is my breaded pork tenderloin catch up opportunity. I'm still formulating a plan. I'm contemplating an after more than 40 years for John's Stew or the Working Man's Tavern in my West Indianapolis growing up haunts. Sahm's may make the cut this year. Edwards because it made the food channel this year? Grindstone Charley's is required since they name the sandwich after me that night. It seems every year though I find a ringer. You might gather in my dolting old age I am getting rather nostalgic.

Davydd, Be looking for you at C&B!

Food and beer is bought. Ready to go Friday night.

I'll be at C & B on Carb Day, and Saturday night at some point as well.

I will this is truly a not miss racing sports game. :)

I have already had two tenderloins in Indiana. One at the Turkey Run State Park Inn and one last night at Sahm's.

Camp & Brew starts today at noon. Friday night I will be at Grindstone Charleys in Speedway. Yesterday we drove the lap around the track. Since I had done it twice before I let my wife, Nancy have a turn at it. Last year I did the lap in about 8 minutes. This year it took her 17 minutes as there was a lot more cars.

I was supposed to go this year but my due to everyone in my house being sick for the last few weeks, it's just not going to work out.  But for those of you that do go, pay special attention to Charlie Kimball (#83).  He is a friend of my sister and is going to be driving in his first 500.  We were going to go sit in his fan section.  Charlie is the first ever driver in the 500 to compete with type 1 diabetes.  He will have a monitor on his steering wheel so he can keep an eye on his glucose during the race.  He will have one bottle of regular water and one of sugar watrer with him if needed.  He also will have a physician in his pit to keep an eye on things. 
 
Hopefully this become a yearly thing and I get to watch him next year.   

Davydd


I have already had two tenderloins in Indiana. One at the Turkey Run State Park Inn and one last night at Sahm's.

Camp & Brew starts today at noon. Friday night I will be at Grindstone Charleys in Speedway. Yesterday we drove the lap around the track. Since I had done it twice before I let my wife, Nancy have a turn at it. Last year I did the lap in about 8 minutes. This year it took her 17 minutes as there was a lot more cars.

  Davydd:  Why does that not surprise me that you have already had two tenderloin sandwiches already
 
You are famous for your consumption of these wonderful sandwiches.
 
I envy you for being at the race.  I was there only one time and that was when Danny Sullivan from Louisville, KY did a 360 and still won the race.  I was a guest of Sports Illustrated due to my brother owning a Lincoln Mercury Subaru dealership in MN and because they were in the top 10 dealers in the USA and Lincoln Mercury bought several full page ads in the mag, he was awarded a five day trip to Indy which included hotel, banquets, tours of racing shops, police escort to the track and lotsa food and liquor.  I am sorry to say that both of us overdid it every day.  One day both of was intoxicated three times
Regardless we had fun and enjoyed Sports Illustrated hospitality, food, great seats, hotel and transportation.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN 

It's not even Carb Day and the fun has begun.
 
Michael Andretti bought Bruno Junqueira's qualified ride for Ryan Hunter Reay since he was bumped out on Bump Day.  I cant even imagine how RHR feels.  That is not how he wanted to get into the INDY 500.
 
I look forward to this annual event.
 
The milk this year is coming from (drum roll please)
 
This year Dave Forgey of Foerg & Forgey’s River-View Farm (Logansport) and Richard Thomas of Leann Acres (Middlebury) will be supplying the milk for the winners circle.

Just waiting on my buddy now, will be heading up soon.

Well, it is Sunday morning & I am at work.  But, I will listen to the race & watch the replay at 8PM.  When Jim Nabors sings Back Home Again in Indiana I always tear up.  Since, I am alone at work, I will probably boo-hoo!!!
You need to put the Indy 500 in your bucket list.  When Mary Hulman George says "Gentlemen & Ladies start your engines!" & all 33 of those cars roar, no other sound in the world like it.

Can you believe the last lap when the rookie was leading and all he had to do was sorta coast to the win and he passed the dude,got into the marbles and slide across the finish line in second place????  A very rookie mistake and I am sure he was very distraught.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I don't know if anything's been resolved yet but apparently his team has filed a protest and is claiming that if he was leading when the caution flag came out after his crash he should be declared the winner.  IMO that's a bush league move and the honorable thing to do is admit that he screwed up and accept the 2nd-place finish.
 
Brad

There was no protest filed. Hildebrand was clearly passed by Wheldon before the yellow light came on and even if had come on immediately at the time of initial impact the rules are such that disabled cars may be passed. Hildebrand is lucky he managed to slide across the finish line because if he hadn't several other cars still running on the same lap would have finished ahead of him. It all happened right in front of me.

What an incredible race and finish. Since this is a food forum, on our menu Saturday night camping before the race was brats and italians, pork chops and lobster tails. A funky combo, yes, tasty? Oh yeah. Grilled inside the track in the Third Turn in the morning and then right after the finish. Breakfast sausages, more brats, then afterwards crab legs, chicken, and ribeyes!

I already renewed my tickets for next year. They will have new chassis with turbo engines and run faster as I understand it. My Class B is a turbo but we only managed to make it around the track in 17 minutes when it normally takes a race car about 40 seconds.
 

 
Oh yeah, food. Well I had a tenderloin at the Turkey Run State Park Inn for lunch one day and one at Sahm's in Fishers for dinner. I skipped the pork tenderloin sandwich at Grindstone Charley's in favor of a beef tenderloin despite the fact it was named after me on the menu. Only for "research" purposes did I try the Burger King Country Pork sandwich which I believe may be only an Indiana special promotion. It was a pork fritter.
 
I only got to Camp & Brew the morning of the race. It looks as if after 10 years the organizers are hanging it up in support of the ALS charity named Brian's Wish. I made my contribution and only took some ice for my cooler in exchange. No tap beer or food at 9 AM in the morning.