DAN'S PHOTO JOURNALS
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INDY 500
1st DAY OF QUALIFYING

Saturday May 21, 2016
The weather was nice.

I had to attend an event today that was across the city from
the speedway.  I got out of it about 4:30pm.  I figured it was
too late to get to the track.

Luckily BW called me right then and said he was on his way
to the speedway.  He told me that qualifying had been
extended an hour!  So I dropped my top and headed over
there.  I made great time and was soon parked in the infield.

After I parked I met a yellow-shirt named Paul.  We had a
long conversation about cars while I waited on BW.

Finally BW showed and we headed over to the stands to
watch the last hour of qualifying.  It was great. The track was
in shadow and cooler and the cars were faster.  They were
coming out and trying to get the fastest speed possible,
knocking slower guys out of the top 9.  (Only the fastest 9
drivers of the day would be allowed at a run at the pole
position tomorrow.)  Speeds reached over 231 mph.
INDY 500
2nd DAY OF QUALIFYING

Sunday May 22, 2016
I took my 20 year-old niece and her boyfriend to quals today.  The weather was nice.  We checked out a big army copter
which was among the toys the military had on display.  If I recall correctly, the thing weighed 22,000 lbs and could fly up to
220 mph.

There were a lot of pace cars in the museum parking area.
The seats, parking and hotels are not the only thing sold out for the 100th running of the Indy 500, so are
the suites.  So, the Speedway erected this temporary stand in the inside of turn 1 to be used as suites.
Fuzzy's vodka has apparently sponsored
the Turn 2 Suites
Here is a new monument over by the museum.  It is dedicated to the Novi Special and was a gift from the Evans Family.
Here is a look at the new E penthouses.  It has an upper deck!
Alex Tagliani on track.
Unfortunately he lost control and after one end of his car hit
the end of the pit lane wall, his car started spinning like a
top across the track.
View of the garages
Cars preparing to take Gasoline Alley into the pits
You can always find this guy at the Speedway.. and at Colt games.
Juan Montoya gets interviewed.
Scott Dixon
Firebird!
During the last hour, the fast 9 duked it out for pole.  It was exciting.

Josef Newgarden was on the pole and waiting nervously while one
driver after another tried to knock him off.

With just a few minutes to go, James Hinchcliffe came out and just
barely managed to beat Newgarden's 4-lap average speed, taking
the pole and the $100,000 prize that goes with it.

It was great to see smaller teams such as Schmidt Peterson
Motorsports (Hinchcliffe''s team) and Ed Carpenter Racing
(Newgarden's team) end up on the first row!

We all had a great day.

Starting Grid