GREETINGS FROM INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (IN) USA
We are now in the “Speedway Capital of the World” – Indianapolis – the capital and largest city in the state.
You have got to hand it to the Americans – you name it and they have a “Capital of the World” of it somewhere !
However the weather to start the day was more suited to speedboats than speedway and we headed off from Springfield in quite heavy rain which had started during the night.
Whilst Springfield, IL is generally associated with Abraham Lincoln, for fans of “The Simpsons” it is one of those QI “nobody knows” questions as well – Is “this” Springfield “the” Springfield – home to Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie ? Well, there is a nearby Shelbyville, IL as well – just to the south west – however as the rain was pelting down as we left, we decided against checking on the Springfield v Shelbyville rivalry .
All the weather seemed to be coming from the west and one forecast indicated we might just get ahead of the rain by the time we got to Indianapolis, so we hit Interstate 72 to cover the trip quickly. But the rain was persistent and at times torrential and with trucks generating huge volumes of water spray, driving along at 70 mph with zero visibility is an “interesting” pastime ! At one point – we found a police car and a huddle of cars on the side of the road, with one car in a ditch nearby ! About an hour short of Indianapolis the rain did ease off and it gradually got drier so by the time we pulled into the speedway carpark there was no rain – so the forecast held good.
What more can I say !
We decided on taking the “Lap Experience” ticket which gave us a (slow) drive around the track in a bus and a stop at the start/finish line as well as access to the vast museum. After a quick look at some of the museum (with some very knowledgeable gents providing infinite detail on what we were looking at – a bit wasted on we “racing minnows” I’m afraid), we were on the bus around the track. As the track itself is 2.5 miles long, the whole track complex is huge ! One of the tour guides we spoke to indicated there were 450,000 spectators at the track (235,000 seat capacity) for this year’s race – so think about 5.5 times ANZ Stadium in size !
Winners from 1911 and 2011 – just a few changes !
At the start/finish line we stopped to get a chance to take photos and “Kiss the Bricks”. Car racing fans will likely know the racetrack’s nickname is “The Brickyard”. When the track was built (originally as a test facility for that “newfangled invention” called the automobile) the racing roadway was constructed of 3.2 million bricks. Today it is fully paved except for the 3 feet wide start/finish line which is constructed from the original bricks. In 1996 after winning the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race, Dale Jarrett and his crew lined up on the start/finish line and sank to their hands and knees to “kiss the bricks” in homage to the raceway. So started another tradition.
Another tradition which started in 1936 is that the winner celebrates with a drink of milk. The third-time winner of the Indy 500 Louis Meyer was in the habit of drinking buttermilk to refresh himself on hot days and did so after winning the race in 1936. Marketing and an executive from the Milk Foundation seized the moment and except for a few years (shortages after the war) it became an annual tradition.
The last corner and into the main straight
Start/Finish – the remaining original bricks
Leaving Pit Lane
After “our lap”, we had another look at the museum before leaving. Another interesting sight in Indianapolis is the Children’s Museum. It is the largest in the world and the outside of the building appears to have large dinosaurs either entering or leaving it !
With more rain we headed to our hotel – the Hilton Gardens Inn in the middle of downtown. We went for a brief walk to nearby Monument Circle before the rain came again and there have been storms on and off since and are forecast during tonight also. So we decided to eat dinner in the hotel restaurant rather than go looking elsewhere in the rain.
Monument Circle
I also found another Anderson !
Just north east of Indianapolis is Anderson, Indiana – but we had had enough of driving in the rain and storms and an hours drive each way put paid to an actual visit – maybe on the way back !
Given the amount of rain we didn’t do too badly with our sight seeing today. With more rain in the forecast for the next couple of days we will see how that effects our next few days in Lexington, Kentucky.
Today’s Trivia – Indianapolis is the most sexually satisfied city in the country according to “Men’s Health” magazine, closely followed by Fort Wayne ! Interesting ……. !