Trying to watch the indy 500...

But the "dj" spinning the records is a joke. Please tell me this is not a new tradition.

I think they are trying to appeal to younger people, that's they only excuse I can think of.

Agreed. Lose the idiot record scratcher.

I am watching but have no clue what you are talking about.

Me as well. Must have missed it

It was all during the pre-show

Oh... . . I don't watch that stuff. It has never added anything to the event for me.

I do miss Jim Nabors singing.

Well the pre show had a little more history and facts than usual, so that was cool. I think it's insane that there were more people in attendance that the population of Cincinnati.

My brother took me to the first F1 race there in 2000 (2001?) and trying to leave was just like that episode of Star Trek where the population was so high you couldn't move...

I was there. 4 hours to go the last 4 miles to the track on the way in. Being part of a 350,000 person herd leaving was interesting to watch, too. My first time there and I'm glad I went. All the pre-race hoopla was entertaining, the fly overs, the parade of the old race cars, all of it.

DeadSkunk wrote: I was there. 4 hours to go the last 4 miles to the track on the way in. Being part of a 350,000 person herd leaving was interesting to watch, too. My first time there and I'm glad I went. All the pre-race hoopla was entertaining, the fly overs, the parade of the old race cars, all of it.

So were Adrian and I. Great race, great crowd, great energy to the place. It was my son's first one (his first auto race, actually) and he had a good time, too. It was hot as balls, and the traffic was brutal in both directions, but it was still a great experience.

The trick to beating the traffic is to avoid it all together. Show up early and tailgate. Stay late and tailgate. You'll get a better parking spot which means less walking and also means you get to see the parade of crazies walking to/from the track.

STM317 wrote: The trick to beating the traffic is to avoid it all together and watch it on TV.

FTFY. The show just isn't worth the hassle to me. That and I despise large crowds.

The trick for me was to rent a room in a house 2 blocks from the speedway.

Dad and I stayed there for a week and hit a different racetrack every day.

Toyman01 wrote:

STM317 wrote: The trick to beating the traffic is to avoid it all together and watch it on TV.

FTFY. The show just isn't worth the hassle to me. That and I despise large crowds.

I live in the local area, and this was the first year in my lifetime (as well as my parent's lifetime) that the 500 was shown live on local television. With the exception of this year, your options have been to attend the race, watch a tape delayed version later in the evening, or travel a couple of hours to someplace outside of the "blackout area" to watch it live. Personally, I love attending the 500. IMS is a special place and any excuse to walk through the brickyard is enough for me. The crowds don't bother me, but I grew up half a mile from the track, so I'm kind of immune to that stuff.

Toyman01 wrote:

STM317 wrote: The trick to beating the traffic is to avoid it all together and watch it on TV.

FTFY. The show just isn't worth the hassle to me. That and I despise large crowds.

99.9% of the time I agree with you. I made an exception this time because it was the 100th running and my son had never been to a race before.

But oh, yes. The parade of crazies was something to see.

I watched it this year on TV for the first time. Fell asleep with about 6 laps to go, I just couldn't get into it. I'm really glad so many people had a great time and enjoyed themselves but watching Indy cars did absolutely nothing for me.

*And was there a contest to make the cars as ugly as humanly possible? Again, I'm sure there is a reason but wow they are homely creatures.

KyAllroad wrote: *And was there a contest to make the cars as ugly as humanly possible? Again, I'm sure there is a reason but wow they are homely creatures.

That's what killed F1 for me. They're getting better lately, but for a while my brain couldn't make my eyes see them as cars.

Whew!

I was there. 27th year in a row for me, and this year had the largest crowd I've ever seen at the Speedway. (or anywhere else for that matter) We arrived Thursday evening and set up our compound in "Coke" lot 1A--- which is rowdy, but not like lot 1B where port-o-lets get set on fire, and college-age hooligans steal anything you leave outside of your camp.

Yes, the crazies are there......and yes, they are entertaining. (I should know....I am one! ) Raceday was a fairly hot day--- especially if you were drinking in the direct sun, so people were dropping like flies. I"m sure the Indy medical center was a madhouse. Remember kids.....beer and whiskey do not hydrate you!

It was a great time, full of memories that are not fit for public consumption! Those folks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway certainly know how to put on a show----it's a spectacle unlike anything else.

Ever since the IRL/Cart split, I don't care about Indy. And I watched every year.

I’ve been to many Indy car races before and 500 Mile Superspeedway (was at Michigan for the 500 in 96 for Emmo's career ending crash) and I've been to Indy for the F1 race three times, but I've never done THE 500 before. Really really glad I did.

I understand what people say about seeing the race better on TV, i get that and it's very true with F1, but it was really easy to follow the race at Indy for a number of reasons. First we had a big jumbotron opposite us so we could see what's happening, second the simple fact of American style racing means you have far more yellows than F1 to bring things back together. Third the super bright illuminated numbers on the car shows you the position so you can always tell, even if you've lost track of what's happening, what position someone is in and if the car ahead is really a back marker. Finally even though I have ATT and with 400,000 of my closest friends and had no reception, Tom had Verizon with a million repeaters he had the Verizon app so you could always see what's happening. All in all it made it very easy to follow.

Also you really need to go sometimes to just experience cars at the track and the atmosphere. It’s something to see 33 cars in a line whistling past you at 230+mph as they accelerate off the corners. It was great, we were at the exit of turn 4 at the start of the start/finish straight and you could see people setting up a pass in the corner, come off the corner tucked right in and then start the pull out to pass as they went out of easy vision. You could then transfer your eyes across to the Jumbotron to see if they were successful in completing the pass. It was awesome.

The people, oh my the people. You had the cross section of humanity from people in Amazing stylish clothes to the lowest redneck in wife beater shirts. I didn’t touch a drop of alcohol as I was sitting in a 90 degree sun trap, just lots of water, but there were a lot of completely wasted people there. You could see a constant stream of ambulances leaving the infield I assume with passed out dehydrated drunk or stoned off their asses idiots.

Finally people commenting on the look of the cars. I love all racing and am an F1 addict, but in my (obviously correct) opinion the current Indy cars in Superspeedway trim are the best looking pure race cars on the planet today. Certainly better than F1, although look better this year than they have in decades, and lets not talk about prototypes, they are dreadful these days. I honestly think these are the best looking purebreds out there.

I watched it briefly on Sunday for a few laps during the caution with about 40 laps to go and the cars look like Le Mans Prototypes from the front. There was more going in the pits with all the close calls than the actual race in caution laps. I felt bad for Takuma Sato with having to get towed back to the pits due to running out of gas.