A sea of empty beer cans and cups is seen under Indianapolis Motor Speedway's grandstands following Sunday's 500. In top photo, drivers speed out of turn four.
Sunday At Indy
300,000+ Turnout For Annual Race A Sight To Behold
By TOOD WESSELL
Journal Travel Editor
I thought nothing could beat an Ohio State football game when it came to the sheer enormity of a major sports spectacle.
I was wrong.
The Indianapolis 500 race shattered those previous thoughts. It's simply amazing.
Nearly 300,000 racing fans shoehorned themselves into the motor speedway's stands and infield Sunday for the 92d running of the 500. In contrast, the most Ohio State Stadium can fit is about 105,000. Michigan Stadium can fit about 110,000.
Even though the race didn't start until 1:11 p.m., activities inside the speedway and two-mile track kicked off at 8 a.m. with the Spectacle of Bands. Several other activities followed such as the singing of "God Bless America" by TV actress Florence Henderson, the National Anthem by Julianne Hough, and "Back Home Again in Indiana" by Jim Nabors (aka Gomer Pyle). Four jet fighters screamed overhead seconds after the Star Spangled Banner, and then at 1:03 p.m., the "most famous words in sports" were commanded: "Start Your Engines". Seven minutes later skater and dancer Kristi Yamaguchi waved the green flag to start the race.
That's when the real roaring began.
VIDEO The view from turn four of this year's Indianapolis 500 Click play to watch
Much to my surprise, the massive crowd was well behaved watching the 3-1/2-hour race. Almost as interesting as watching the 33-car field barrel around the asphalt track was viewing the fans of all shapes, sizes and ages. Many people carried and wheeled into the speedway coolers filled with beer and soft drinks---no questions asked. Set up along public sidewalks around the perimeter of the speedway were numerous souvenir and food stands selling everything from T-shirts and caps to gigantic turkey legs for $7 each. There were plenty of available tickets for sale from dozens of individual hawkers looking to make a few bucks. Ticket prices started at about $20.
The driver who attracted most of the attention was Danica Patrick, one of three women participants. When a fellow driver struck her car in the pit area with just 39 laps to go, the crowd let out a collective groan.
After the race, the crowd of more than a quarter million people started heading for the exits. We remained at out seats for 30 minutes. And once we got back to our car about a mile away, we decided to cook some brats on the grill instead of jumping into the world's biggest traffic jam.
