The month of May in Indianapolis

As April is to the Masters in Augusta, May is to the 500 mile race held in Indianapolis.

My first trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was back in 1990. I went at the invitation of a friend who's family owned a lumber company in my hometown. We took off early on a Sunday morning headed across east central Illinois towards Indianapolis. I knew absolutely nothing about the sport or any of the drivers. I thought it would be a pretty boring day.

I was wrong.

We sat in good seats in turn 1 in the Northwest Vista and witnessed (to this day) the fastest race with the fastest car in the history of the Indianapolis 500. I was hooked from that day forward. I have been back to the Speedway to witness three more races in person. I sat in turn 2 in 1997 when the race was rained out on Sunday . I went back on Monday and it rained again. I went back on Tuesday and saw a great finish. I took my son in 2003 and had great seats in turn 4 to watch Roger Penske's team win another race. My brother in law and I took our two daughters in 2006 and sat in turn 3 to witness arguably the greatest race in the history of the event.


One of the great things about Indy is the history. This is the 1911 winner of the very first 500 race. Ray Harroun piloted his Marmon Wasp averaging 74.6 miles per hour. He was a hired employee of the Marmon company. This car featured the first rear view mirror ever installed on an automobile. Most of the cars had riding mechanics who rode with the drivers in case the car stalled somewhere around the two and a half mile racetrack. Harroun didn't have a mechanic and therefore installed the mirror to allow him to see what trouble lurked behind him. Think of him next time you glance in your mirror to check behind you.


The pagoda at IMS in 1911.

The pagoda at IMS in 2007



The sheer size of the Speedway is amazing and unmatched. There are 257,000 actual seats at the track. The infield seating capacity ups the total number of potential spectators to 400,000.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the largest and higheset capacity sporting facility in the world. Here's an indication of how large the IMS is. Holes 7 through 10 of the Brickyard Crossing, a championship golf course, are located on the infield of the track. I've been to all parts of the track and the size of it never ceases to amaze me.

Just so you know, I don't follow NASCAR and I don't really follow these drivers once they leave at the end of the month. There's just something very special to me about the month of May and the qualifying and the buildup and legends and the "Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines" on Memorial Day weekend (Male grunting Tim Allen-ish noises). By the way, watch out for Danica Patrick this year. She's already won the first race of the season. Sports Illustrated may have jinxed her by putting her on this week's cover though. We'll have to wait and see.

You can get an infield ticket to the Indianapolis 500 for twenty bucks. Go early and park on the infield. Take a couple of lawn chairs, sunscreen, a frisbee or football, a cooler for your food and drinks and don't forget your earplugs. Get there early and see the parade of stars and the Purdue marching band with their giant bass drum. Then, get ready and hang on for the greatest spectacle in all of sports. You won't be disappointed.