9/19/08 Indianapolis Motor Speedway

9/19/08 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
To our racing friends, both new and old, we wish you could have been here to see this. Wow, this speedway was so big. No way a person could see even half of the track like we could in New Hampshire. It’s huge!! No camping by the track or near the track, only motels in the older part of the city. I bet the traffic congestion is just as amazing as any other race.

Due to the horrible weather on Sunday from the remnants of Hurricane Ike, the tours of the speedway were cancelled. There was a big motorcycle race, the first one in 50 or so years, and between the removal of the track set up and the storm mess, we were disappointed there were no tours. At the museum, enough of the track can be seen to know that it is as big as it looks on TV. There were people playing golf on the course in the infield. Terry wished his game were as good as it once was so he could tell folks he played Indianapolis.

The museum houses the winning race cars all the way back to the turn of the century when it was first built. When the races started there was the driver and the navigator in the car. At the time, it was felt that was the safest way to race. Indy had the first rearview mirror used so that the driver could be alone in the car. As I saw the cars that have evolved in my lifetime, the changes are just huge.