Indianapolis 500 CARB DAY May 27, 2011
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I went out partying last night with Tim and got home about 1
a.m. 5 minutes later, ET from Michigan pulled up. I haven't
seen him since last May. We stayed up for a few more hours.
Tim and BW showed up the next morning at 8:30 am. to go to
Carb Day with us, but we were asleep. By the time we got up
and got ready it was afternoon.
We came in from the west on 10th Street and parked at
Dotlich Crane for $10. As we walked toward the speedway,
ET asked me if I had our Carb Day tickets.
No, they were still back home on my fridge. Dammit!
Walter, a Lap Sponsor from N.J., was in town and said he
had some passes for me. I stopped by the credential office
on the way into the track to see if I could pick them up without
him, but there was a huge line, so we went and bought some
more $20 tickets and went in. We could hear the Indy Lights
race finishing.
We walked over to the fan zone area by the museum to meet
Walter. He was here in support of Charlie Kimball who was
driving for a pharmaceutical company. He gave me a coupon
which I would need to use at the credentials office. We talked
to him for awhile and then moved on to explore.













I had brought my pocket camera and my new
little helmet video cam.
ET and I ended up over by the pagoda for the
beginning of the Pit Challenge competition.
There was a ton of people in tower terrace and
all around the area as usual, watching. I noticed
there was no yellow shirts keeping people off the
Drivers Meeting seats by the winners circle (see
photo at right), so E.T. and I climbed up there
and had a great view!
We worked our way back and over to where
the Carb Day Concert would be. It was at this
point that my camera battery died.
We found BW and Tim in their spot for the
rock concert. The crowd was fairly huge and
we were far from the stage.
Soon the band Papa Roach appeared.
They were fan friendly and rocked along well,
saving their most famous song for late in the
show.
The 1/2 hour delay before the band Staind
came on was aggravating people.
I needed to leave early to get over to the
credential office. I had my helmet cam in my
hand as I was walking out.
Suddenly I saw this beautiful woman pushing a
old guy in a wheelchair. As I walked past, I
thought it looked like Elaine Irwin, the super
model. I blurted out "Is that Elaine?" and the
guy with her said yes, then she looked at me and
smiled and said hi. This was my most
memorable moment of the month, as I'm a big
fan of hers.
I was tempted to follow her and get a photo, but I
didn't want to bother her.
She was spokesperson for the IRL some years
ago, but I was surprised that she was walking
along in this huge crowd. Maybe that guy with
her was a body guard?
Back at the credential office, it was not yet 6pm
and there was no longer a line, so I got my
credentials and left.
I picked up some porterhouse steaks on the way
home. BW, Tim and ET arrived back and we
cooked them up on the grill along with some
fresh Michigan aspargus that E.T. brought.
Ron Harrington showed up, then Shallon and
John Hinds. We hung out and partied till late.
The next morning, E.T. and I went downtown to
the 500 Festival Parade. This was my first
time going to this annual parade.
Check out my 500 PARADE PICTURES
Selfie with podium behind me. I'm sporting the Tony Stark/Iron Man beard. Ha!
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