The 500 (Indy of course)

[Dave Long]

I'm heading to the Indianapolis area with my brother on Thursday May 24th. We'll be at Kokomo for sprint cars on Thursday. Carb Day during the day at the Speedway and Bloomington at night for sprinters on Friday (probably... depends on weather). The Speedway for Driver's Meeting, downtown for the parade during the day and The Night Before the 500 Midgets at Raceway Park on Saturday.

Sunday, we'll be in Stand J for the race. We're closer to turn four and the short chute than we are the frontstretch. I forget the row, but we're up reasonably high. After the race we're hightailing it out of there to hit Tri-City in Haubstadt for sprint cars Sunday night.

If anyone's going to be in the area and attending the race, let me know and maybe we can meet up to say hello. I'm super excited to be going again. Last year's race was great and I expect a good one again, though Wheldon looks like the clear favorite right now.

If you're local and thinking about going, there are a lot of great tickets available on eBay right now. We renew ours every year and continue to get better seats each time, but it's real easy to pay face value for great seats on eBay.

[Chris]

It's kind of a shame how the Indy 500 has diminished over the years, I used to watch it as a kid every year but I can't recall the last time I watched a race was.

Anyway, I'm sure it would be a blast to experience it first hand.

[Dave Long]

This is a great year to come back to it (last year was just as good). The cars are closer than they used to be, so now you can really tell who's willing to hang it out the most to win races. I wish more people would watch it too, but that's not going to stop me from loving it as much as I did as a kid.

Anyone who lives in this country ought to make a trip to Indy for the 500 in their lifetime. There really is nothing like it.

The other thing is the drivers are as colorful as they ever were. I might be biased, being an open wheel fan for so many years, but it just seems like every one of them really wants to win. There's a points championship, but you won't hear any "Well, we had a third place car today." garbage like you do when you watch NASCAR week in and week out. Indy brings that out like no other place either. Few things live up to their marketingspeak, but Indy is still the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Finally, this is A.J. Foyt's 50th year at the Speedway. One thing that makes Indy so amazing is the history, and A.J. is the living embodiment of such a huge part of that history.

Watching Pole Day has me so damn excited. I can't wait to go again and wish I lived closer so I could be there today.

[jabroni]

Who needs the real thing when you've got the Simdianapolis 500? :)

They're running it with rFactor on the brand new Indy track. It's gonna be crazy. 74 drivers going for 33 spots in qualifying tomorrow (the race is next Sunday). I've been practicing all week, and it's just insanely competitive. When qualifying is all over, I wouldn't be surprised if less than two tenths of a second covered the 33 cars that make it. Of course they're using the real 4 lap format, so you've gotta hit 16 apexes perfectly.

Stressing out about this all week has given me a new respect for what the real guys must go through. It's certainly got me more interested in the real thing this year, too. I'm surprised not to see Wheldon on the pole right now, actually. I would have predicted a Penske or Ganassi car on top, anyhow.

[Chris]

Finally, this is A.J. Foyt's 50th year at the Speedway. One thing that makes Indy so amazing is the history, and A.J. is the living embodiment of such a huge part of that history.

Ah, didn't realize it was A.J.'s 50th anniversary, he was always my favorite driver as a kid.

I'll try to remember to catch part of it if I can, thanks for the heads up.

[jabroni]

Kanaan choked.

[Dave Long]

Heh... yeah, it just goes to show you how hard it is to win the pole at Indy. I like the way the format worked this year. Having only 11 spots available on day one made teams really go for their best possible speed.

With more than 33 car/driver combinations this year, next Sunday's bump day could be very exciting, especially if someone like Milka Duno could get bumped.