The 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 was today, May 29th, 2022 and 30years after attending my first Indy500, I’m back and this time Barb and I will both enjoy the race and the spectacle that this event is.
A light breakfast and we’re off to the track at 8:30am. The crowds are already building and the organizers are expecting 330,000 people here for the race (plus those that come just to camp and party).
Our seats are on the inside of the oval immediately behind the pits on the front straight. This puts them in the shade until noon when the racing starts. Just by complete coincidence, our seats this year are within 50 feet of the seats where Dean and I sat in 1992.
This is a classic US of A spectacle. All major sponsors get time at the microphone, including the folks that supply the milk to the winner on the podium. Lots of speeches and a flyby later and we’re ready to start a race.
As races go, the 2022 Indy500 was a good one with no major incidents or injuries. It appeared that Scott Dixon had the fastest car all day, but a speeding infraction while entering the pits caused him to be penalized by dropping him to the back of the lead lap and that essentially put him out of contention. Each in our group had picked a driver to win, and as the afternoon wore on all had either crashed or dropped back in the field. Only J-P, who had picked Pato O’Ward, had a driver that could win this race. Pato had run strong all afternoon and was running 2nd near the end; however, better tyre and fuel conservation meant that the race near the end was being led by Marcus Erickson of Sweden (ex F1 driver). Marcus was able to hold off a late push by Pato to win the race! It was an exciting conclusion to the afternoon and not one that most expected, but that is the nature of such a long race.
Leaving the track after the race is not an experience for the claustrophobic, the worst being the limited tunnels that lead from the track infield out to Georgetown Road. However, after 30 minutes of shuffling we were out! Another 30 minutes and we were back at the campground sitting in the shade of the van and enjoying yet another bottle of water all while recounting the racing event that just occurred.
Barb and I sat around for about an hour before saying our goodbyes and heading out at about 5:30pm towards a campground in Terre Haute, IN that we had booked. It was a chance to get away from the crowds and to dump our tanks and replenish our onboard water supply.
The campground is nice and very quiet compared to the racetrack camping field. I’m sure the shower in the morning will be equally as welcome. A long day, a fun day, a tiring day. Good night.