The Month of May

#3
#3
Fine Vol said:
What is it about the track layout you like?
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there's not another one like it anywhere in the world.

add to that, all this:

1. 11 rows of 3
2. Carb Day
3. Jim Neighbors and "Back Home Again in Indiana"
4. the campgrounds
5. a Marlboro/Penske car in Victory Lane
6. the swig of milk
7. the Borg Warner trophy
8. the fly over
9. rainouts on Pole Day
10. Bump Day
11. the Speedway Museum during the rainouts
12. Night Before the 500 at Indianapolis Raceway Park
13. the Hoosier Hundred
14. 'And heessssssssssss on it'
15. 70 mph in the opposite lane behind a police escort

and you have the greatest month at the greatest facility in the whole world.
 
#4
#4
doozer said:
there's not another one like it anywhere in the world.

add to that, all this:

1. 11 rows of 3
2. Carb Day
3. Jim Neighbors and "Back Home Again in Indiana"
4. the campgrounds
5. a Marlboro/Penske car in Victory Lane
6. the swig of milk
7. the Borg Warner trophy
8. the fly over
9. rainouts on Pole Day
10. Bump Day
11. the Speedway Museum during the rainouts
12. Night Before the 500 at Indianapolis Raceway Park
13. the Hoosier Hundred
14. 'And heessssssssssss on it'
15. 70 mph in the opposite lane behind a police escort

and you have the greatest month at the greatest facility in the whole world.
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ROOKIE you left out Kissing the bricks:)
 
#5
#5
i don't recall kissing the bricks being a tradition for anybody but NASCAR.

swig of milk > kissing the bricks
 
#8
#8
Wow is right.
I drove by it once and saw it from the air in a jet taking off from the airport.That's as close as I got.
 
#9
#9
i just want to play golf there... I think that would be amazing.
 
#10
#10
i once passed out during the Brickyard 400 by the 10th green.

other events of note that day:

Dale Jarrett won
it was the last time i ever drank liquor before the race. notice i said before.
 
#11
#11
McLovin said:
Wow is right.
I drove by it once and saw it from the air in a jet taking off from the airport.That's as close as I got.
Click to expand...

the thing people don't realize when they see the place for the first time is that it literally sits in a neighborhood.

and you have no appreciation for how big it is until you stand on Georgetown Avenue and look down the front straight.
 
#12
#12
I've never been, simply put, Open Wheels don't excite me at all.

However, my dad keeps harping on me to go, he says its an experience like no other. I go visit the family in the midwest every July, one of these years I'll have to change it to Memorial Day time so i can see the 500, if nothing else, for checking it off on the list.
 
#13
#13
hell, go to the Brickyard 400. it's in July. the racing blows because the track isn't built for NASCAR, but it's a good time anyway.
 
#14
#14
JTrainDavis said:
I've never been, simply put, Open Wheels don't excite me at all.

However, my dad keeps harping on me to go, he says its an experience like no other. I go visit the family in the midwest every July, one of these years I'll have to change it to Memorial Day time so i can see the 500, if nothing else, for checking it off on the list.
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Go to the Brickyard 400 if you can't switch to May, but switching to May is the better choice. Go at least once, not only will it be off your list, you will treasure the memory.
 
#17
#17
Looks like another day of practice rained out. With more rain tomorrow it looks like Pole Day is going to be a great one. I expect a lot of action during Happy Hour as everybody will be trying to get the top speed before the gun.
 
#20
#20
I don't think Smoke is that serious about the 500 even though he wants it bad.
 
#21
#21
doozer, what is your top Indy memory, I am guessing it is tough to pick one, but all would be interested to know.

Mine is somewhat easy to pick. I had gotten to know Bobby Rahal from being a corner worker/flagman at Mid-Ohio, as well as Jim Truman, his car owner, who owned Mid-Ohio. Just after I moved back to Tenn. was when Bobby won Indy, and they disclosed Jim was dying of cancer during the race broadcast. It broke my heart to see him so ravaged by the cancer, he was such a fitness nut (a darn good race driver too). I cried like a baby then, and am getting wet-eyed now. Jim died just a couple weeks later.
 
#22
#22
doozer said:
the thing people don't realize when they see the place for the first time is that it literally sits in a neighborhood.

and you have no appreciation for how big it is until you stand on Georgetown Avenue and look down the front straight.
Click to expand...

Yeah,it was years ago,but the side we drove down had long rows of buildings right on the other side of the street.I remember seeing the GM plant where they make Allison transmissions after we passed by the track.
 
#23
#23
Actually, my top memory is real easy. I'll post a top 5 best and worst memory tonight. I'd do it now but I'm at work.
 
#24
#24
doozer said:
Considerable. The track is in the high 230s.
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my bad. i don't what i was saying here.

finey, last year's 500 pole speed was in the 226 area compared to 186.2 by the NASCAR boys. that is the track record for NASCAR set by Casey Mears.

the difference is that the IndyCar is built to run flat out with no lift at any point. the stock car, being heavier and with less aerodynamics, requires you to roll through the turns.
 
#25
#25
i guess to make things easier on myself, i decided to list the top 5 best and worst moments from the year i was born to now, 1980-2008. i couldn't really narrow it down to five from there so i went with from when i started attending the race. i briefly remember being there from about 3-10 for practice/qualifying, but my first race was 1991. i was 10. until that point i stayed with relatives during the race and we always did other things. my dad will attend his 48th 500 later this month.

certainly, Rahal's win is memorable. especially since you consider they ran it the following Saturday because of rain. it was also the last real shot Kevin Cogan had at changing his career. he holds on to win and there's no telling where he goes from there. instead, he becomes a back marker.

also, Danny Sullivan's spin-and-win was amazing in 85. as was the late race duel between Little Al and Emo in 89. the all Penske front row in 88 deserves some consideration as well.

biggest disappointments:

5. Roberto Guererro spins and hits the wall on the parade lap. the year was 1992 and it was maybe 50 degrees on race day. there were many wrecks that day and many drivers went to the hospital. little did we know we'd see on of the most amazing finishes because...

4. Michael Andretti had led the '92 race all day. practically had the field whipped. with 15 to go his car slows on the back straight continuing the Andretti heartbreak at Indy.

3. Sccott Goodyear was a guy i really had a respect for. especially since he came so close to winning in 92 after coming from the 33 starting spot. with a few laps left in the 95 race while leading, he passed the pace car on a restart. i think it was pretty bunk deal he got, but he broke the rule. i saw an interview once where he said he's come to grips with his Indy heartbreak. i feel for him still. i consider him the Mark Martin of IndyCar racing in the fact they're always the bride's maid and never the bride. Jaques Villeneuve got the win when they stopped scoring Goodyear after he ignored the black flag.

2. in 1996, i wasn't allowed to go the race because my dad felt that my performance in school my freshman year wasn't ideal. it was better for me to stay home and study for finals than attend the race. the only race i've missed since 1991.

1. Scott Brayton was killed at the track in 1996. first time i can remeber specifically a driver being killed at the track. sad part was he had won the pole a few days earlier and he and Smoke (before he became Smoke) were favorites to win the race driving for Menard using the Buick power plant. he was an amazing person (i met him) and i wish he was still around today.

i'll get to memorable moments after dinner.
 
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