Had a blast at the Brickyard today

[roadracer]

You know, after today I totally get NASCAR, and I even think that the challenge of IMS may make for a better spectacle than the flat-out high banked tracks.

My younger son and I have been looking forward for a couple of weeks to today, knowing from experience that stockers in person are pretty freakin' cool, wicked really. So I had the thought of viewing from yet another new vantage point in my ongoing quest to chip away at the infinite number of ways to experience the place.

E Stand Penthouse. That probably says it all. The guys haul down the straight, set the cars, and drift 'em through, and you can really see it from up there. Tremendous sounds, great trails of flame, driving sideways at what looks like 150 or so maybe. Then we dropped down to the top row of E Stand box 7, at which angle the viewing is almost dead on with a line extending up the banking - the cars are almost perfectly side-on.

Newman's car was far and away the best sounding, I have no idea what's different about it. Higher pitch, more scream than the others, gnarly. The Blue Deuce (I can talk stockcar) of Kurt Busch is just such a pretty car, especially with yellow flames trailing out the pipes.

And my man Elliott would come out and do like 2 fast laps, shut it down and coast in. And again, and a third time. Ended up third fastest in the first practice. Sweet. Walked the whole merchandise midway, not a Wood Brothers or Bill Elliott trailer to be seen. I will find a piece of gear somewhere.

Anyway. I could go on, we had a couple of other new adventures. While I probably won't watch a heckuva lot more of these guys on TV, my interest is rekindled. And the old Speedway - something about going in that Southwest gate, the trees along Georgetown, the little white medical hut with the green roof, the arch of the Paddock stand supports - you feel it, the century, the grainy newsreels, the legend.

Good stuff, an affirmation of Things That are Righteous.

[Marbles]

I know what ya mean man. Good times at the 'ole Brickyard.

[Hardscrabble]

Glad to hear you had a good time...

[Automotive]

Nice post.

You made it feel like I was there today.

[NoviVespa]

That doing 2 laps and shutting down sounds like they will check the spark plugs after a run like that.

Having spent years of watching USAC stockers at The Milwaukee Mile, I apprectiate these tracks with almost flat turns. The place where a good driver in a good car can get to the front.

Would love to see some big bore cars on the track doing really hot laps, that would be a blast. You would notice very quickly the difference in sound.

[hdolan]

Sounds like a great day...

[Jack Harrington]

Sounds like a great day...

Yep, it sure does! I couldn't make it today, but you just made me feel a hella better!

[MoparsRule]

E Stand Penthouse. That probably says it all. The guys haul down the straight, set the cars, and drift 'em through, and you can really see it from up there. Tremendous sounds, great trails of flame, driving sideways at what looks like 150 or so maybe. Then we dropped down to the top row of E Stand box 7, at which angle the viewing is almost dead on with a line extending up the banking - the cars are almost perfectly side-on.
.

Glad you enjoyed it, so did we!

We were sitting right there with ya, too bad we didn't know it.


I do have to say though, in 30 years of going to IMS, I have never seen a smaller crowd on a day where cars are on the track.

I can't imagine what it looked like on tv, and I hate it for the George family. Crazy times, I never dreamed the smallest crowd I'd ever see at IMS would be when Cup cars were on the track.

[Grover]

I do have to say though, in 30 years of going to IMS, I have never seen a smaller crowd on a day where cars are on the track.

Yep. I've seen better crowds in May on days that were totally washed-out.


...although I'm sure Howard and some of the split fans will continue to insist that the 500 is only the third biggest event at the speedway.

[fivehundred2go]

I am so afraid of the damage that may have been done last year. I hope I am SOOOO wrong.

The IMS is the ultimate place - but I was totally unable to reason why to shell out the $10 per person for 2 hours of track time. $5 for 6 hours in May is a bargain and more entertaining - IMHO - than the stocks

Again $15 for watching one attempt per car to qualify does not make the cut either even with the final practice.

I will be there on Sunday and hope it is not the replay of last years heat races with a short feature manipulated so that when someone figured how to get to the front was eliminated by quick new rule of no early pitting under the green. I do not ever plan to see another Nascar race outside of Indy. I saw the highest point of Petty's 200th win and the lowest point of tire trouble at a top event.

Maybe it is just the economy.

[Max Revs]

I do have to say though, in 30 years of going to IMS, I have never seen a smaller crowd on a day where cars are on the track.

... I never dreamed the smallest crowd I'd ever see at IMS would be when Cup cars were on the track.

Wait until Sunday. Sorry to be a doom and gloomer - but it looks bad. I know that I certainly would not attend, until I saw a BY400 run without the previous tire disaster, and then I might go the next year. I need proof, because promises that it won't happen again are just not enough for me. Trust and verify.

[hdolan]

Yep. I've seen better crowds in May on days that were totally washed-out.


...although I'm sure Howard and some of the split fans will continue to insist that the 500 is only the third biggest event at the speedway.

Please link where I've said that...thanks...

[Grover]

Please link where I've said that...thanks...

I've been searching for a while and can't find it.

It was one of the many attendance threads started after bare aluminum was visible at a 500 (most likely in 2002 or 3). A crappy was excitedly proclaiming that it was proof that the 500 was insignificant. You chose not to argue that but to ignore the empty Brickyard seats and declare the 400 more significant due to the popularity of the drivers and the TV ratings.

The crappy kids then piled on with their own thoughts about F-1's international ratings and worldwide prestige (using your same argument to declare the 500 the least of the IMS events).

To be fair, I don't recall you saying specifically the 500 was third, but you did argue with IRL fans who defended the May event while letting the F1 claims go without any dispute. Your dogged argumentative ways against the arguments for the 500 while letting the F1 stuff go not only got my attention, but cheesed me off.

And although I couldn't find where the thread was (probably deleted, I really thought the word "BUZZ" was a huge part of the attendance discussion), I did find where I was still really torqued about it (and referenced it) here. To be honest, I'm still a little cheesed about it.

[MoparsRule]

Wait until Sunday. Sorry to be a doom and gloomer - but it looks bad. I know that I certainly would not attend, until I saw a BY400 run without the previous tire disaster, and then I might go the next year. I need proof, because promises that it won't happen again are just not enough for me. Trust and verify.

I'll be there on Sunday because we free tix & will be riding shotgun in an ISP cruiser, with ISP parking... other than, I wouldn't pay a dime to attend.

I feel bad for IMS, they deserve better.

Hopefully they'll be able to run an actual race & fans will return next year.

The Friday attendance was by far the worst I had ever seen in my 30 years of attending events at IMS. Horrible.

[hdolan]

"To be fair, I don't recall you saying specifically the 500 was third, but you did argue with IRL fans who defended the May event while letting the F1 claims go without any dispute. Your dogged argumentative ways against the arguments for the 500 while letting the F1 stuff go not only got my attention, but cheesed me off."

Fair enough...in real terms I probably didn't say anything about F1 because I have zero interest in F1...if it fell off the face of the earth I wouldn't know about it...