First time going to Indy 500...

[bcossa2001]

I have tickets and place to stay. Anything I should make sure to do/ not do?
Best way to get to the track, i.e.taxi, Uber, drive myself??

Thanks in advance. Super excited....

 

[SatinSilver]

My uncle and cousins go every year going back a long time. One thing they do is towards the end of the race they leave their seats and stand by the exit. Then when the race is over do a bee line to the parking lot. Avoids getting stuck in traffic on the way out. Which can take hours to exit, pure grid-lock.

Uncle also works there giving tours of the place several times a week since retiring recently. He would do it more but it's an hour and half each way to get there.

 

[JC1]

I went to the US Grand Prix at Indy back in 2006. I'm sure it will be more packed at the Indy. We stayed way out of town in Gas City, IN. Hotel was much cheaper and they had a dirt track close by, so we went and saw a dirt track race on Friday night.

To get to Indy we took W 30 St that is north of the Speedway and runs through a residential neighborhood. The police had plenty of roadblocks to make three lanes going into the track at the start and have only one lane gong away from the track.

If you know where you are sitting you might want to park closer to your gate. We were at the north west corner of the track. Make sure that you go visit the museum that it located at the south east corner of the track.

We went to the museum after the race, so traffic wasn't as issue for us.

Are you driving to Indy or flying in?

 

[A_Harman]

When I was a college student, I lived in Speedway 6 months per year while I was on co-op assignments at Allison. I lived 6 blocks from the Speedway in the town of Speedway. I got to know the town very well over 5 years. My super-secret way to get to the Speedway is to take the Holt Road exit off of I70, then go north to 10th Street. Take a left and go to Polco Street. Turn right to head north, and it will take you right to the south side of the Speedway on 16th Street. I used this route as recently as last year to go to Pole Day Qualifying, and it worked like a charm. I don't know if they keep this route open on race day, though. I've never actually been to the race.

 

[JamesBond]

I camp the night before near the track. Be prepared to walk/stand, bring a hat, sunblock, cooler with food, water, beer. Expect to wait around after because it's gridlocked traffic heading only away from the track, keep your cool and just go with the flow toward the nearest interstate.

Don't get to the track too early unless you really want to, because it makes a long day longer. Also manage your fluid intake during the race, because it can be hard to climb over 50 people to get in and out of your seat.

It's fun, the people are usually friendly, the race is great, it's an addictive experience. Get a souvenir with the date, you'll remember it forever.

 

[IndyFan]

Originally Posted By: bcossa2001
I have tickets and place to stay. Anything I should make sure to do/ not do?
Best way to get to the track, i.e.taxi, Uber, drive myself??

Thanks in advance. Super excited....


You are going to be amazed! Just get in there early. There is alot to see and do, and lots of parading on the track before the race. The build up during the ceremonies is incredible, and the start is like nothing else in sports, or anything else, for that matter.

Where are your seats?

I grew up in Speedway and have gone to every race except 1997, since 1984.

I hope you have the time of your life!

 

[bcossa2001]

We fly in Friday afternoon. Seats are in turn 4. Been to the museum once and looking forward to going again. Was thinking of going to the museum Saturday and just wandering around and then going fairly early Sunday. Hotel is at the airport and they say they have cab rides to the track but if it’s anything like the talladega race I imagine it is at least an hour to the track.
When I’ve attended the Indy race at Barber I’ve had good luck using an iPad to keep up with the race, but I can’t find anything telling me if iPads are allowed in the track....

 

[dnewton3]

I live in the Indy area, and been to the race several times.

Two words of advice: preparation and patience.

Familiarize yourself with their rules for carry-in stuff. Back in the days long ago, it was no big deal and if you could hump it in, you could have it. Not so any more due to security issues, etc. So visit their website and make sure the cooler you take is not too large, consumables are correct, etc. Make sure to watch the weather report that morning, and dress accordingly. It's been 90F on race days. But it's also been silly cold on race days; I was there one year when it was in the low 50's with a strong breeze; DARN COLD sitting on aluminum stands in that kind of weather. Take cash and cards; use as you see fit. Protect your cash/cards; don't be a target. It's the mid-west; hospitality and generosity are good, but they are off-set by the fact that it is, after all, a giant sporting event and a target for criminals that will steal you stuff. And that goes for your route in; if you drive, leave NOTHING in view in the car. PREPARATION IN ALL ASPECTS.

Then, prepare for long lines everywhere. You'll wait to get in; you'll wait to get out. You'll wait for just about everything. There are tricks of the trade, so to speak, for folks who know the area well ON RACE DAY. You cannot count on GPS mapping features, because this one day is not like the other 364 days. The combined LEO efforts will have all manner of traffic going different ways to expediate flow; so what it shows on a map or GPS may well not match up with what you see in front of you. PAY ATTENTION TO THE COPS DIRECTING TRAFFIC AND NOT YOUR CELL PHONE. I cannot fathom that Uber or Lyft will be of any use, because that would entail having to locate and find each other in a mass sea of humanity, and all when the traffic is rolling FAST. They don't mess around; when the cars move, they move with decisive clarity. The whole point is to get a quarter-million folks into/out of the town of Speedway as efficiently as possible. Sometimes it's better to park further out and walk. PATIENCE IS THE KEY.



It isn't called the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" for no good reason!

 

[bbhero]

Great advice from Dnewton3.

I wonder if parking far away could potentially help place one closer to the road or roads out of there?? Might well be worth the walk...

 

[bcossa2001]

Well I had a blast. Highly recommend it for anyone’s bucket list. Doggone it was hot in our turn 4 seats and naturally turn 4 is the warmest place to sit. We were about 8 rows from the track so there was a breeze whenever the cars went by. Museum is neat, carb day was neat (no concerts for this old man), lots of knowledgeable people around and most of them had the answers to our questions.
Best decision made was to take the shuttle from the airport to the track on race day. After the race only had to wait 20 minutes or so in line before boarding. A couple of old timers confirmed that they felt this was the best way to get to/ from the track on race day. No argument here.
Used Uber on carb day and that worked well also.
20 minutes for a hot dog was not surprising.
Cars not nearly as loud as Talladega. Foam ear plugs worked fine. The track has a speaker on every fence post so keeping up with the action was not hard and the video screens were very helpful.
Not a cheap weekend by any means but overall I have very few complaints. Congrats to the race organizers. Wish Marco had won.

 

[Mr Nice]

Sounds like lots of fun. Maybe one day I'll watch in person.

 

[bcossa2001]

I got a big kick out of seeing Linda Vaughn (Miss Hurst) take a lap around the track prior to the race...

 

[quint]

This was my fifth Indy and we had no problems with traffic, pretty much like every other year. Got off at Crawfordsville Rd, park at any one of the dozens of places blocked off, or in someones front yard near the track (for a price, of course) and walk the 1/2 mile or so to the gate thats between turn 4 and the pits. Left Cincinnati about 8:30 and by 11:00 we were already in our seats, and we were going at a very leisurely pace at that.

Certainly a huge volume of people, but everyone was remarkably well behaved, crowds moved fairly orderly, and the police had the roads set up and directed traffic in a way worked very well. We left about 10 minutes after the race ended, it was about a 15 minute walk to the car, and within 10 minutes after that we were on the interstate and never hit a big backup anywhere. Not even really any slow traffic, just a short backup on Crawfordsville trying to get to I-465. By 6:30 pm I was already back in Cincinnati, checked in at a downtown hotel, cleaning up to meet the wife and friends at the Taste of Cincinnati.

I've spent much, much more time trying to get out of parking lots and hitting backups on the highway after a Reds or Bengals game, or after a concert, much worse than anything I've seen trying to get out of Indy after the race.

I've only been to five 500's but this year was by far the hottest. I mean seriously, obnoxiously, horrendously, relentlessly hot. Very little breeze where we were in the stands, the sun was fierce, and even with copious amounts of sunscreen, I got a lot of sun on my arms, legs, and neck. I saw some seriously sunburned people walking out after the race. A few times clouds covered the sun and there was a collective cheering in the crowd the times that happened, it was the only relief you had.

Castroneves smacked the wall right in front of us, you dont have a good idea amazingly how loud that is until it happens right in front of you.

If this is on your bucket list of things to do, I definitely recommend it. My only complaint (other than the heat this year) is you are really packed in up in the stands. You have about a foot and half space to park your rear end and most people have coolers, which will go between your feet, so if crowds and tight spaces arent your thing, watching from up in the stands wont be too enjoyable. The cars are also pretty loud, so consider bringing earplugs, lots of people were using them.