The First Lap

Legendary race. I've always wanted to go...

 

Cool addition to the comments 3GHR!

 

Well put Ryan.. Thanks for the video. Vuky was AMAZING!! If you ever get to read his book, DO IT!! He was truly a stud! Hard to guess how many he would have won..

J Shaw

 

You struck it on the nose boss! I know you don't want to talk about the modern day spectacle but if I may share my "first time":

I moved here with my family New Years Eve of '03...I just graduated HS in '02. My uncle had been a part of the security crew for the 500 and would always ask if we wanted to try it sometime. New place, new things...of course we said yes! My dad always said seeing Indy live is a whole other experience. Not expecting anything to come of it, I filled out the application as did my father and brother. Well in come these letters from "THE" Speedway giving us dates and times to pick up uniforms and go through the stuff and find out where we'll be working. The butterflies start doin' their thing. A couple days before the race we pick up the uniforms and a piece of paper telling me who to report to and that I'll be at turn 3...wait...TURN 3?!?! I expected to be near the concessions or something irrelevant. I couldn't sleep. I just kept staring at that shirt and hat hanging on my closet door. We get to the Speedway really early and find the people we need to find. First thing the guy asks me is, "You ever been here before?". "No, sir.", I reply. He grins and says, "Well you can be up at the fence for the first 5 laps and the last 5 laps for sure!" All I can say from that point on is that the race HAPPENED! You couldn't slap the smile off of me. Too soon the time came for the last part of the race and I stopped checking tickets to find my spot at the fence. As soon as I get there a car hits the wall and carbon fiber sprays the first two rows!!! A while later, the race ends and traffic backs up. No matter, we're not going anywhere. It starts to sprinkle as we're grilling burgers in the parking lot...it is only now I realize I haven't eaten anything all day long.

The race was/is/and will always be something special. I'm glad that my first time was being part of the whole thing...even on such a small scale. I think I can die happy knowing that if you look hard enough through Indy 500 history, I might turn up as being a part of it. Shoot, I might even be in a picture or two out there!

 

Helio jumped the start. Jack should of had the nads to throw a yellow flag.

 

Cool post! I attended the F1 race at Indy in 03; you cannot imagine how big that track is until you are inside.