108th Indianapolis 500

Every since I was a little boy, I have always enjoyed watching the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend. For a long time, it was on my bucket list to attend the iconic race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which is just north of downtown. Jack and I attended our first Indy 500 in 2012 when we braved extreme temperatures with my brother, Mark, to watch Dario Franchitti win his third Indy 500. We pledged to ourselves to return for the 100^th running and we were there in 2016 for the historic 100^th Indianapolis 500 when Alexander Rossi had a surprise win in front of a record crowd of over 350,000 fans.

In the past, attending the Indy 500 has always been an expensive venture with hotel and airline prices through the roof for the race weekend. However now that I have Rosie, attending the race is much more reasonable and I plan to attend as often as possible. This year, Jack and I planned to meet up in Indianapolis and attend the 108^th Indianapolis 500. We parked Rosie at a campground in Brownsburg, Indiana which is only about 10 miles from the speedway. Everything was shaping up for a great race weekend until we saw the forecast: severe storms forecasted for race day!

Friday of race weekend is called Carb Day at the speedway. Traditionally, this is the final practice session for teams to test their cars on the track and make final adjustments before the race on Sunday. The weather was beautiful for Carb Day this year and we were there in time for the entire two-hour practice session. After the practice session, Jack and I were down getting some lunch when an Air Force Thunderbird F-16 came screaming down the front stretch. When we returned to our seats, we learned that the Thunderbirds were going to rehearse for their Sunday flyover and we were treated to the Thunderbirds over the racetrack’s iconic Pagoda. Later in the afternoon was the annual Pit Crew Challenge where rival pit crews race against each other performing a typical stop of refueling and four tire changes. In the final round was the Team Penske pit crew for Josef Newgarden defeating the Arrow McLaren pit crew for Pato O’Ward. The last event of Carb Day was a concert featuring George Thorogood and the Destroyers, but we skipped the concert with bad weather moving in for the evening.

Saturday of race weekend is called Legends Day at the speedway. There isn’t any on track activity, but there is a driver’s meeting and autograph sessions with current drivers and past Indy 500 legends like Mario Andretti and Rick Mears. Jack and I skipped the autograph sessions mostly because you have to be there at 8am to get in line: we opted to sleep in! We did arrive at the track by mid-morning and toured the garages where we found a few bays open to see the cars including Josef Newgarden’s #2 Shell Penske. We walked over to the museum in between Turns 1 & 2 which houses many historic vehicles including the first and most recent winning cars. Unfortunately, the museum is in the midst of a year long renovation so we were unable to tour it this year. We headed back to camp for a good meal and rest with all eyes on the weather for Sunday.

Sunday morning kicks off with a cannon fired at 6:00am to signal the opening of the speedway. We didn’t arrive that early this year, but we did leave camp at 7:00am and fought some light traffic to arrive at the track around 8:30am. The weather wasn’t bad in the morning with just clouds, but the forecast was looking bad with severe weather arriving just in time for the scheduled start at 12:30pm. Track officials seem to be just moving forward with the planned pre-race festivities which included the Purdue marching band parading behind the Borg-Warner trophy. A helicopter delivered the green flag down in Turn 1 and then the Army Golden Knights skydiving team made their dramatic appearance. Things were moving along until about 11:15am when the video screens told fans of incoming severe weather and to evacuate the grandstands. Our seats on the front stretch are unprotected so we made our way downstairs to shelter under the stands. About an hour later, the heavens unloaded with heavy driving rain and strong wind. Jack and I were pretty dry in our location where we stayed for about 2.5 hours. Once the storm seemed to pass, we returned back upstairs and found some dry seating to wait and cheer on the jet dryers working to dry the track. Finally, around 4:00pm crews began rolling race cars onto the track and the sun began to break through. One of the unfortunate casualties of the four-hour weather delay was that the traditional pre-race ceremonies were all moved and abbreviated. After such a long delay, the priority was getting the cars fired up and dropping the green flag although we did get treated to two passes of the Air Force Thunderbirds which were spectacular!

After four warm-up laps, we finally had the green flag waved and the 108^th Indianapolis 500 was underway. Scott McLaughlin was on the pole and led the field of thirty-three cars down the front stretch right in front of us at 230 MPH. As a result of all the rain, the track was pretty slick and we had several cars spin and contact the wall early ending their day. Unlike many races of the past, no single car was dominating the race and we had over half the field lead a lap in this year’s race. It was clear that some of the stronger cars were Newgarden, O’Ward, and Rossi however no one was pulling away from the field and we had frequent lead changes. As the race reached the halfway mark, the sun was out and we knew we were going to go the distance! This year’s race also saw a lot of cars retire early due to accidents and mechanical failures. With under five laps to go, it was Pato O’Ward and last year’s winner, Josef Newgarden, fighting for the lead up front. O’Ward took the lead with two laps remaining, but Newgarden answered back with a gutsy outside pass in Turn #3 with one lap to go. Josef Newgarden was able to hold off O’Ward securing the win of the 108^th Indianapolis 500, his second consecutive win.

Following his win, Newgarden stopped his car right in front of us and we were able to watch him celebrate with his crew and the fans before being lifted up to the winner circle for the ceremonial wreath presentation and bottle of milk. Despite a four-hour weather delay and three hours stuck in traffic leaving the track Sunday night, we had an awesome time at the 108^th Indianapolis 500. We have already starting making our plans for next year’s race!