Dispatches From the Road - Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Stopped at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday on our way through Indianapolis. I knew this place was big, but I had no idea how big. It was like being at an airport. A large airport. So this is where you enter to go into the center of the track area. When you make this turn under the stands, you actually go underneath the track. Once inside, the sheer size of the place is impressive. 

I got in trouble for taking this photo. I heard someone blowing a whistle. I turn around and there's this little old lady standing there blowing a whistle at me and waving at me to come over. Security. I was about 100 yards away so, it took me a little while to get there. "You can't go there! Didn't you see the signs?" Obviously, I didn't, I was sort of awestruck by the place and walked right past the the signs saying "STOP, Authorized Personnel Only." Oops. I apologized and went on my way to the Indy Hall of Fame. Glad I was able to provide her with some excitement for the day. 

I'm on the track!!! (This was part of the tour, I didn't run out there.) The tour was excellent. Only $5. Nothing costs 5 bucks anymore. They take you out onto the track in a little tour bus, and you go around the track at a blistering 35mph. Very cool though. Learned a lot on the tour. I was surprised that the Indy Cars make the 2 1/2 mile lap in about 38 seconds. They also told us on the tour that an Indy Car would have lapped us about 17 times in the time it took us to go around the track.