Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

Yeah, I'll be heading out for pole day tomorrow (or today!) as well as the race next Sunday. This will be my 11th 500, excluding the washout of 1997 where I had to go to school while the race was run on Tuesday.

My guesses for the pole: Hornish / Wheldon
My guesses for the win: Castroneves / Wheldon
Who I'd like to see win: Michael Andretti / Sharp

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

and they say Indiana is full of rednecks...oh wait...just kidding :rolleyes:

by the way....I have a poster autographed by 19 drivers that I got today...best thing I have ever got!

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

We need a better report from that, Kyle. You call my cell phone to boast about going into the pits... you tell everyone on ChiefDelphi that you have a pit pass... and all we get is a "I have a poster with 19 autographs"? Give us more details:

Who was riding around on a Segway?
Did you have any real conversations with drivers or crew chiefs?
Did you see a team under pressure... trying to qualify at the end of the day?
Did you see any hot drivers wives (aka: Ashley Judd) and get to talk to them?

AB

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

Forget the drivers wives! Did you get to meet Danica!!!! GO DANICA!!!!

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

Slightly off-topic, but relevant:
I used to work at Pocono Intl Raceway and during one NASCAR race I was taking a break on top of the infield tower, talking to a blonde lady who was standing by the wall. Darrell Waltrip had just left Hendrick to start his own team the year before and had Tide sponsorship - one of the first household product sponsors in NASCAR - so everyone called him "Bubbles" that year. Everyone except the blonde lady who, upon seeing him enter pit lane says to me "here comes stupid". Need I say the blonde lady was was Stevie W.?

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

I didn't see any Segways this year...just a lot of little tiny bikes.
I did have a conversation with Dan Wheldon and a mini one with Danica as she walked out for morning practice. (many of my autographs were received while walking out to practice with the drivers), another convo I had was with Mario Andretti. I had lots of short convos with many drivers, but only those three lasted a bit longer.
A team under pressure had to definitely be the car #18 team. As some of you may know, he absolutely totaled his primary (and only) race car in a practice crash on Thursday. They stripped the car down to just the tub where the driver sits, they had the motor and some of the front end replaced by Saturday morning, but when I saw it, it didn't look too promising. They worked until around 12 or so Saturday night and basically had all the suspension parts back on the car. Sunday morning they finished up the suspension and made sure all the fluid leaks were fixed and took Thiago Medeiros our for some practice, and then he put the car in the 33rd starting position for the 90th Indianapolis 500. This team did not just use spare parts they had, teams such as Penske and Target Chip Ganassi helped them out with some "must have" parts. I must say, I saw people who made a lot of grandmas proud. Wherever Dean and Woodie were this weekend, they probably cracked a smile for a reason they had no clue.
Drivers wives, drivers wives.....I did not really see any drivers wives. Mainly on the qualifying days and practice days they are hard to find. Ashley Judd was not around until Dario went out to qualify, so I didn't see her.
Before I went to the track Saturday, I was not too fond of Danica or Eddie Cheever Jr. However, they signed my poster and both had a relatively good conversation with me. Danica seemed very nice and talked to a small group of 2-3 of us for probably a minute or two. Dan Wheldon actually used myself and another lady to carry his helmet and HANS device out to the track.
The highlight of my weekend was almost getting hit by Marco Andretti in his golf cart, he was about 8 inches off my leg.
I still say Danica is over rated, but she is pretty talented. She is no better then a Vitor Miera or a Tony Kannan. I saw her teammate, Buddy Rice, a winner of the Indy 500, stand in his garage while people screamed DANICA!!! for a long time, wanting him to be Danica, feeling bad for him, we started saying BUDDY! He appreciated us and signed our stuff and then all the sudden the crowd liked Buddy. I still say Danica puts on a fake face for the camera. Behind the garage gates shes very nice and welcoming, but when she walks through the gates where people who weren't as lucky as to get pit passes, she becomes arrogant. I saw her once sign things for people outside of the gates.

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

For those of us coming from far away, how is the weather forcast shaping up?

Have they made any big changes in the way they plan to get us all in and out of the track? Any big changes in parking? We are usually Allison Lot parkers with the fancy colored passes... :cool:

Cynette

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

Well, the parking problem isn't too bad. They get like 175,000-220,000 people out pretty quick. Theres still quite a few parking lots around, the best would be the coke lot. It is also relatively easy to get in and out of. Get there early if you plan on parking there! You can also park in the neighborhood across from the front stretch for free or next to nothing compared to the lot prices.

Weather, weather, weather. Well, remember, you will be in Indiana. It can be cloudly/rainy at 12 and be sunny and not a cloud in the sky by 1245. They do not have the forecast out for Sunday yet, but you can find it here. Judging by Saturdays forecast, I would guess there to be mostly sunny conditions on Sunday. Remember; if it rains (not sprikles) it normally takes about an hour to two hours to dry the track. If it barely gets wet it won't take long at all.

90th Indianapolis 500 mile race Sunday May 28 !

Any other questions, just ask.:)

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

*sits up*

What, the Indy 500 is this weekend? Ok, I'll go find the TV listings...

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

Ahh, my favorite Indy memories... nodding off from the drone of the giant track dryers!

Note to self: Dig out the hearing protection!

Cynette

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

So, we're one day away, set your tivos or vcr's or whatever to record the race if you can't watch it live. It will be a great race! Coverage starts at 12pm EDT on ABC.

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

So, basically, the race, once again, was amazing. I had just about 4 wrecks in front of me or right around me. I also got to see on of the most exciting finishes of any race. I still say Indy Car owns NASCAR any day in quality finishes. I have seen only a hand full of races in NASCAR end with the winner winning by 63 ten thousands of a second. It was really hot today though.

Re: Indy 500, who's watching it?
 

The ending was great though it would have been nice to see one of the Andretti's (Micheal preferred) win.