Carb Day 100th Indy 500

Today was carb day! 

Short for carburation day, carb day includes the last Indycar practice and the Indy Lights race.

Our thoughts and experiences: 

We couldn't believe the crowds.  It was almost like it was race day.  I can't say I enjoyed the crowd,  but I'm glad that everyone likes Indycar so much

We got there extra early since we knew that there would be more people since it's the 100th running, so we got right in with no line. 7:30 gates didn't open till 8

The Indy Lights race was amazing, and the end was super close.  A new record in the history of the speedway, in fact, at 2.4 hundredths of a second.

One of my favorite parts was after the Indycar practice.  People flocked toward the Gasoline Alley and there were mobs of people along the stairs, standing, sitting, trying to see some drivers as they passed from their pits back into the garage area.  All the cars came through, and then drivers on carts.  Unfortunately  for Alex, we missed Josef, but had a great view above everything.

We also ran around collecting hero cards, The driver autograph cards that they have in the garage areas,  and we eventually had to put them in the car because we forgot to bring a folder and the  stack was getting too big.  Marco Andretti's and Scott Dixon's were out and none of the Penske drivers had cards out, but we managed to get everything else

While we were in the garages, Alex was  longingly looking in the fence with our dad.  Josef's pit wasn't anywhere close to the fence, so she had to settle for watching other drivers' garages.

We did run in to Josef, though.  We saw Arie Lyundyke and were taking pictures when Josef walked out, so we went over and said hi and wish him luck.  He's so nice.  Then we told Alex we saw Ted Crasnick.  She didn't get it at first, but then it sank in and she insisted we spend the next  half of the day outside Josef's pit, trying to watch him.
For those of you who don't know, Ted Crasnick was Josef's alter ego on media day when he went around interviewing drivers with silly questions dressed as an elderly gentleman.  You can watch it during the race on Sunday on ABC!  

We also got to see Sam Schmidt's car specially equipped Corvette, which allows him to drive the car using his mouth and head movements.  It was really cool.  It was in the garages, and then later on we saw him drive around the track a couple times.

It was also really hot.  The morning was really nice, because the drizzle cooled things down, but then it got hot and humid.  Because what would the Indy 500 be if it wasn't hot? Although I guess that's better than '92, when half the field crashed out because of the temperatures.  Or the race that was shortened because of the tornado... so, yeah, I guess we'll take the heat.

We left at around 2:00, because we were meeting a friend soon and plus we were still a little sick and tired.  Unfortunately, we missed the pit stop competition, which is always a highlight.  Not surprisingly, Castroneves won.  There were also some concerts afterward, so even more people were coming in for that as we were leaving.


Plus, as an added bonus, there were really cool vintage cars driving around the track.  It was really neat, and the sound was especially cool.  However Indy cars progress through the years, I hope the sound never goes away.  Anyway, there were a whole bunch of them, some were faster, some were slower, so they were spread out so you could just sit there and watch them for while.