16-May-2024 Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Drivers: Start your engines!

I had the most unexpected and incredible day today at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). I had initially hoped to visit the speedway and get a tour while I was in Indianapolis but saw on their website that there were no tour spots available …. but the reason there were no tours is because it was a practice day in preparation for the Indianapolis 500 next weekend. I was so excited that for only $25 I could get a ticket to spend the day at the speedway and see lots of racing action.

Upon arrival, I climbed way up high into the bleachers to get an overview of the race track; this place is HUGE! The area inside the track oval spans 253 acres and includes 3 holes of a public golf course (better hurry if you want to play because the course is going private next year)! They claim that Churchill Downs, Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Roman Colosseum and Vatican City can all fit inside! Found my way to the tunnels that lead from the exterior to the interior and went to explore further.

I’ve been collecting a sticker from the different places I have visited and went to a vendor to buy one. The vendor asked me where I was from and struck up a conversation and I told him that I had never been to IMS and was so excited to explore. He immediately reached into his pocket and said “then take this for a couple of hours – I buy a bronze Pass every year which gets me access to the garage area and you can use it to go explore” - midwestern hospitality sure is amazing! I took his bronze pass and made my way over to Gasoline Alley, the nickname of the garage area where each racing team has several garage bays where they can work on their vehicles. It was amazing to be able to look in the garage and see the mechanics all working on cars that will be towed out onto the race track in just a few minutes. I hadn’t been there long when Nario Andretti came out of his team’s area to sign some autographs and take pictures with fans. I couldn’t resist a selfie with him!

I then might have snuck into Pit Row …. Let’s hope they don’t check the security camera footage and track me down (Pit Row access was reserved for Gold and Silver members and not for Bronze)! That was really an incredible experience. I was right there with all the racing teams and their piles of tires and the tents over the technical teams watching the drivers get into their car and peel off onto the track. It is hard to describe just how loud it is at track level when cars are zooming by at 230MPH. The stadium also has enormous monitors throughout that provide statistics on each drivers laps and average speeds and positions and then it sometimes switches over to a helmet cam view inside the cockpit of the car. You are literally watching from the top of the drivers head how they steer the car and the electronic feedback provided on the steering wheel. What a view!

After walking the length of Pit Row and seeing all the teams hard at work I went to explore the infield a bit more. In addition to the golf course there are huge areas where they have concerts, parking, a museum and much more. The US Army had an interesting display of one of their drones. They trailer it there in a large “travel case” and we’re assembling the drone as I walked over. I’m so used to a drone being light and fitting in the palm of my hand that an unmanned aircraft the size of a small plane is really something to behold up close. Apparently this is the largest size drone that the Army has but the Air Force has drones that are even larger.

I went to the famous mound at Turn 3 where you can sit and watch the cars race the corner up close. Shortly after I left turn 3 there was a wreck in that corner – luckily the driver is OK but the vehicle was in pieces all over the track.

It was a sunny gorgeous day and perfect race conditions – the announcer said air temperature was 77° and track temperature was 115° - no wonder the drivers need air-conditioning blown into their helmets! I had so much fun exploring every inch of the stadium, infield, Pit Row and Gasoline Alley – access I never would have had on a race day and excitement and noise that never would’ve been there on just a tour. What an awesome experience!