So Long Indy…

We’re leaving you on a high note.
Mike took Nicky and I to the Indy 500 on Sunday.
It was everything I ever heard it was and probably even more.

I had trepidations about going.
It’s hot, it’s loud, it’s long, I don’t do public bathrooms and I hate to sweat.
I’m sure Mike was thrilled to have me as his date!
Nick was coming off of a violent stomach virus and we were none too sure he could go the distance.
But we both persevered!

Not knowing what the parking situation would be,
Mike drove us within a few blocks of the racetrack.
We parked in an elementary school for 20 bucks which was going directly to the PTO for the kids.
We were barely out of the parking lot when a young entrepreneur came by on a 4-wheeler with a makeshift flatbed trailer behind it offering us a ride to the entry gate for a mere tip.
Deal…on we climbed for what turned out to be one hell of a ride!

Fans along the way were high-fiving and raising their ice cold beers to us.
People were cheering for the kid and his entrepreneurial spirit.
I was happy for the lift on this hot and sunny day,
As for Nick…hell, this might as well have been the oval racetrack itself, it couldn’t possibly get any better than this!

And then it did.
Right before we started to ascend the grandstands to our seats, past Indy pace cars were parading celebrities at different stages of their careers around the oval track.
20 feet away from us was “Hurley” from “Lost”, the TV show.
Nick is a huge “Lost” fan and is particularly crazy about Hurley.
The kid was vibrating!

Next up was Gene Simmons from the band Kiss.
I swear our eyes met just as he stuck out his world famous tongue with the seemingly jointed curl at the end and I was the one vibrating.
Sad but true.

Next up was Pat O’Brien from “The Insider”…
Admittedly an anti-climactic moment for both Nick and myself!
What an odd threesome at a cocktail party I thought.

We climbed to our seats which were right past turn 4 and so we could see all of turn 3 and the straightaway to the start/finish line.
They were high enough up that the noise wasn’t too bad and the view spectacular.
We were welcomed by the “locals” with incredible enthusiasm.
Most of these people had been sitting in their same seats for the last 20 years.

One kid, Jessie was celebrating his 30th birthday by sharing his ice cold beers and passing around his beer bong.
Mike and I showed rare restraint.
Jesse told us that his Dad, who was sitting a few seats down from him, has been to every race since the early 60’s only missing 1969 when he was fighting in Nam.
That’s quite a legacy.

The common denominator with most everyone we befriended was family.
The Indianapolis 500 is a family tradition starting with the racers themselves.
Marco Andretti and his father Michael finished 2nd and 3rd in one of the most exciting finishes in Indy history.
San Hornish Jr. propelled passed Marco and beat him to the checkered flag by .0635 seconds.
That’s 12 inches over a course of 500 miles, truly and incredible ending even for a non-race fan.

I guess it’s only fitting that we leave this town on race weekend.
We happened to move here last June, the same weekend that NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 was taking place.
And now we buckle up for our own 500 mile race…
Indianapolis to Overland Park.

Racing around the oval track I’m sure is a rush.
But man…I’m looking forward to the straightaway we call I-70.
The one that’s taking us home.