2016 Photo Journal - Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis

DAN'S PHOTO JOURNALS

ANGIE'S LIST
GRAND PRIX of INDIANAPOLIS
RACE DAY

Saturday May 14, 2016

I got up late to find the temperature in the low 40's! It was
windy too.

While I had a parking pass for the infield, I packed as if I
would be walking in. I should have brought lawn chairs and
a coat. Luckily I brought gloves and ear muffs and a jacket.

We ended up being parked right by the walking bridge that
stretches over the back straight. From there, we could stand
by the fence, very close to the track, and watch the cars zip by.

There were heavy dark clouds out that looked like rain to me,
but it never rained a drop.

Our friend BW met us there and hung around for awhile. He
was cold. He had came to the track alone with no tickets and
was getting ready to pay $30 for general admission when
some stranger gave him two free tickets for Stand J - the
same stand we had tickets for!

He called his daughtere Alaina and she drove to the track
to take advantage of the second ticket. He left us to go
meet her over at the grandstand.

Yesterday's Qualifying Photos

Dan's Photo-Journal Index

I kind of liked the idea of watching the race from right
there. We first wandered over to the tents where
they were selling stuff. I was looking for a hoodie
and a lawn chair. They seemed too expensive. I
ended up buying a $45 picnic blanket that had an
IndyCar logo on it.

We ended up at the pagoda before the IndyCar race
and saw the mayor of Indianapolis, Joe Hogsett, up
on the winners circle, saying a few words at the
microphone. I wanted to sit in the Tower Terrace to
see the start, but it was all closed down again! I
couldn't believe it.

We ended up walking to the packed viewing hill
down by the first turn. This ended up being an
excellent place to watch the race. We could see the
cars come down the main straight and brake to turn
into turn 1. Then we could pivot 180 degrees and
watch them race through the north infield portion of
the road course. There was a crash at the first turn
on the first lap as usual and I caught it on my pocket
camera. Once again at this race, I wished I would
have brought my camcorder.

I bought a $5 corndog. Wow, it was great!

After awhile, we walked back to our spot by the
pedestrian bridge. ET stood behind a minivan to
block the wind, while I found a nearby golf cart
where I could sit down and watch the cars.

We wanted to check out our seats for the end of the
race. We walked to the media center where I
pretended I had suite tickets and we copped a ride
on a golf cart to the outside of the track and up
toward Stand H.

Instead of going to our seats, in a crowded area, we
just sat in a less crowded area in Stand H. They
were good seats and we enjoyed watching the race
from there.

After it was over, ET and I went back to my car
where we started it up to get some heat. We sat
there for an hour or so listening to the radio until
traffic dissipated, then drove home with no problem.
BW, DR and Epps showed up to party the rest of the
night. We played darts in my garage. ET and I won!