"You know he's in the lead with about 4 laps left right?"

So we're at the Indy 500. Full on free ticket: two hotel nights in the Westin, bus to the event, police escort, meals, drinks snacks, everything. So I decide to splurge on a racing jersey at the souvenir stand.

I can't decide which one, back n forth, finally grab one with plenty of logos and sponsors, you know, Because Race Car. Stuff it in my bag with the rest of my swag and off to see the start.

Race is almost over, Kelly & I are standing on the grass hill infield and she asks which one I bought. Hmm I forget, I think it's the blue and white one. We look at our spotter's guide and see the car I think it is. I pull it out of my bag to check, and oh wait, I guess I bought this green and yellow one at the last minute.

Kelly's like "uh, you realize he's in the lead and the race is almost over?" Sure enough, I had bought Kannan's jersey because "it looked more like a racing jersey". My friends say I should buy a lotto ticket. (Apparently from what I've heard/read now he has tried 12 times and this is his first win.)

Glad I got a good shot of him:

So I guess you're not a regular watcher of IndyCar racing??

great shot! (...and wow, the back end of those cars looks so weird. First time I've seen it.)

In reply to bravenrace:

I went from barely knowing anything about Indy to cheering Kanaan on like a madman at the end!

JoeyM wrote: great shot! (...and wow, the back end of those cars looks so weird. First time I've seen it.)

My thought was "...and wow, the front end of that car looks like an aardvark"

petegossett wrote:

JoeyM wrote: great shot! (...and wow, the back end of those cars looks so weird. First time I've seen it.)

My thought was "...and wow, the front end of that car looks like an aardvark"

I can see that somebody needs to photoshop wheels onto him

Apparently, Hydroxycut does work.

I was super disappointed that it ended under caution. I wouldn't have been surprised if there were 10 more lead changes in those last 3 laps had Dario not hit the wall.

In any case, what a great race!

That car is hideous looking. Good story though.

I think I stopped paying attention to the Indy 500 about the time Danny Sullivan did a 360 spin and ended up winning.

petegossett wrote:

JoeyM wrote: great shot! (...and wow, the back end of those cars looks so weird. First time I've seen it.)

My thought was "...and wow, the front end of that car looks like an aardvark"

That's the first time I've seen one in spot-on side view, and to my astonishment, it manages to make a modern F1 car look pretty good... I think the aardvark nose is even more awkward than the batmobile tail, but it's a tough call.

Anyhow, congrats to the OP on a fun trip and a lucky jersey choice! I'm sure that's quite an experience...

Jerry wrote: In reply to bravenrace: I went from barely knowing anything about Indy to cheering Kanaan on like a madman at the end!

Everyone was.......I swear the north stands were BOOing Hunter Rhey when he would come around in the lead instead of Kanaan there at the end.

Now I'm wondering what it's worth on eBay?

Damn that was a great race! It was great to see Kanaan finally win, and he was clearly the crowd favorite so that made it fun-- the stands were going nuts, and most folks hung around to hear his very gracious victory speech. It was kind of a bummer it finished under yellow, as the last lap would have been amazing. Still, nice to see T.K. win finally.

The cars look much better in person, they actually look pretty cool from behind, and they are back to being pretty damn fast! Townsend Bell ran a 224 mph lap during the race and I remember hearing another driver hit 225 mph! The nice thing is the cars sound good again-- unlike a few years ago. We went the entire race without needing earplugs.

The lead changes were incredible--- 76 or so in a 200 lap race!

Then we got home and watched the Monaco GP---- which had exactly zero lead changes.....second and third finished where they started too IIRC. My buddy put it best--- "The most entertaining thing about the Monaco GP was the footage of the spectacle surrounding the race" ---lots of lovely ladies. The race itself was about as exciting as watching glue dry.

In reply to Joe Gearin:

Someone else ran the 225mph, but Simon Pagenaud ran a high 224.xxx lap when he was in the back.....

It was nice seeing lemans racers there.

yamaha wrote: In reply to Joe Gearin: Someone else ran the 225mph, but Simon Pagenaud ran a high 224.xxx lap when he was in the back..... It was nice seeing lemans racers there.

Yeah I remember hearing Townsend Bell ran a lap in the 224 mph range too--- as he was middle pack trying to catch up. They were hustling!

In reply to Joe Gearin:

Bell was flying too for a little bit. Then IDK what he broke. I was surprised to see Kimball actually end up in the top 10......about the first 30 laps or so his car was missing and backfiring as he passed us going into turn 4.

yamaha wrote: In reply to Joe Gearin: Bell was flying too for a little bit. Then IDK what he broke. I was surprised to see Kimball actually end up in the top 10......about the first 30 laps or so his car was missing and backfiring as he passed us going into turn 4.

Was he the one in the orange car that was well behind everybody for the first half or more of the race? He was missing/backfiring through turn 1 as well.

In reply to mtn:

Orange/blue IIRC, he was almost a lap down by the time pit stops came around.

ransom wrote:

petegossett wrote:

JoeyM wrote: great shot! (...and wow, the back end of those cars looks so weird. First time I've seen it.)

My thought was "...and wow, the front end of that car looks like an aardvark"

That's the first time I've seen one in spot-on side view, and to my astonishment, it manages to make a modern F1 car look pretty good... I think the aardvark nose is even more awkward than the batmobile tail, but it's a tough call. Anyhow, congrats to the OP on a fun trip and a lucky jersey choice! I'm sure that's quite an experience...

Fortunately it's racing, so they still design them for performance, instead of looks ....

I remember thinking the rear view looked different when they passed, but not following Indy I wasn't sure. And I still wore ear plugs. I guess I'm too old if it's too loud.

petegossett wrote: My thought was "...and wow, the front end of that car looks like an aardvark"

Hey Ant! I'm going to eat you...(cue vacuum cleaner sound)

sorry could not help it. I love that cartoon.

Jerry wrote: So we're at the Indy 500. Full on free ticket: two hotel nights in the Westin, bus to the event, police escort, meals, drinks snacks, everything. So I decide to splurge on a racing jersey at the souvenir stand. I can't decide which one, back n forth, finally grab one with plenty of logos and sponsors, you know, Because Race Car. Stuff it in my bag with the rest of my swag and off to see the start. Race is almost over, Kelly & I are standing on the grass hill infield and she asks which one I bought. Hmm I forget, I think it's the blue and white one. We look at our spotter's guide and see the car I think it is. I pull it out of my bag to check, and oh wait, I guess I bought this green and yellow one at the last minute. Kelly's like "uh, you realize he's in the lead and the race is almost over?" Sure enough, I had bought Kannan's jersey because "it looked more like a racing jersey". My friends say I should buy a lotto ticket. (Apparently from what I've heard/read now he has tried 12 times and this is his first win.) Glad I got a good shot of him:

And you were inside Turn Two, werncha? BTW: Good picture. Obviously green flag racing! (When I was there I cheated...waited for yellows!)

EDIT: Just made a command decision...thanks for my new wallpaper!

erohslc wrote:

ransom wrote: That's the first time I've seen one in spot-on side view, and to my astonishment, it manages to make a modern F1 car look pretty good... I think the aardvark nose is even more awkward than the batmobile tail, but it's a tough call.

Fortunately it's racing, so they still design them for performance, instead of looks ....

Well, they started with concepts that were at least theoretically viable (recall this is where the Deltawing first sprang up, not to mention Dallara's bizarrely Speed Racer-esque concept), then went through the Internet polling phase...

Which does suggest that the target audience didn't mind the bits I don't care for, so either way I lose

Does my opinion on this point matter? No. But I reserve the right to make derisive comments when I'm genuinely struck by the outright ugliness of a car.

T.J. wrote: That car is hideous looking. Good story though. I think I stopped paying attention to the Indy 500 about the time Danny Sullivan did a 360 spin and ended up winning.

Then you've been missing out, in my opinion. IndyCar has been pretty interesting lately, the Indy 500 especially.

In reply to shadetree30:

I think it was turn 2. Definitely got the best shots on the infield grass hills.