Thrillingas theyare, though, engine rev-
vingandcharging split-second finishesare
onlypart of the Indy 500 attraction, even
post-SnakePit. It isn’t called“TheGreatest
Spectacle inRacing” fornothing. The lead-
in to thecontest iscarefullychoreographed
pompandpageantry. Fighter jetsmake fly-
overs(theU.S.militarygetsbigpropsonthis
day).Celebritiesaddressthecrowdandsteer
thepacecar (in2012, itwasHowieMandel
andGuyFieri, respectively).Hoosiernative
FlorenceHenderson (themom from
The
BradyBunch
)sings“GodBlessAmerica.”And
then there’s the showstopper: JimNabors
singing“(BackHomeAgain in) Indiana,”as
hehasdonenearlyeveryyearsince1987.OK,
soyou’reprobably thinking, “GomerPyle?
Bigdeal.”But lastyear,whenheart surgery
preventedhim frommaking the trip, afilm
crew tapedNaborssingingarendition from
hishome inHawaii.When theperformance
playedonvideoscreens,grownmencried.
The500 is shiningonceagainwith star
power on the track aswell, thanks to the
likes of popular three-time champHelio
Castroneves and his triumphant turn on
DancingwiththeStars
,anddashing2012win-
nerDarioFranchitti,whose(now-estranged)
movie-starwife,AshleyJudd,hadbeenafix-
tureat the race formuchof thepastdecade.
Mostofthesport’sbiggestpersonalities,past
andpresent, areaccessible to fans atmeet-
and-greet eventsandcharity functions:On
CommunityDay, forexample,all33starting
driverssignautographsforfans,whocanalso
taketheirsedansandminivansontothetrack.
As youmight expect, plentyof o-track
infrastructurehasgrownuparoundthe500
aswell. Take theBrickyardCrossing golf
course,whereknockingontothegreenwhile
Indycarstake200-mphpracticelaps—four
oftheholesaresituatedinsidetheSpeedway
—givesnewmeaning to the term “swinging
thewrenches.” Indowntown Indianapolis,
a 500Festival parade andminimarathon
arehugedraws (with35,000-plus runners,
NOWYOUKNOW:
The IndianapolisMotor
Speedway seatsmore than250,000 spectators.
Anold jokeholds thathistory’s
firstauto raceoccurredshortly
after theworld’ssecond
automobilewasbuilt. The
Indianapolis500came faston
theheelsof that.
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