On May 9th, Kyle and I met Eric at the track for a race we were all sure would be the Alex Palou show. Turns out we were wrong and Christian Lundgaard pulled off a win. There was a distraught Malukas fan in front of us in J stand. This was probably the best 'dry' Grand Prix I've seen.
Left work a little early for Fast Friday and visited the two infield Pressley Farm trees. You should see them while you still can!
Rain cut down qualifying from two days to just one. Kyle and I sat high in stand E when we showed up too late for our usual spot in E Penthouse. Alex Palou got his second Indy 500 pole.
It was a rainy few days leading up to our move-in this year.
Thankfully, we got in fine.
Others had a tougher time in their motorhomes.
We got settled in our usual spot in the Northwest corner of 1A. We arrived even earlier than usual this year and still only barely got where we wanted. May have to get up even earlier in '27! Brought two campers again this year. The Dutchmen and then Fogle's camper. It's nice that we have grown and don't have to share beds anymore. Mowed our site and took part in everyone's favorite Thursday tradition...sitting around and waiting. There's not much to do on Thursday.
The Hoosier Hundred at Indianapolis Raceway Park was postponed to June and the Carb Night Classic Freedom 75 & Freedom 90 were moved up a day. So I went out to IRP Thursday evening.
My expectations for a crowd were low, but it was pitiful. Which is a shame, because those USF2000 guys put on a couple of great races! The concession food was terrible as usual. Someday I will learn my lesson and bring my own food.
Kyle broke the sink in my camper Thursday night. He says it was an accident but I think he was lashing out about the terrible weekend forecast. An early morning Home Depot run on Friday had us back in business. Showers are an important part of the weekend when you bunk with five men in each camper.
Carb day was largely a success. The entire practice got in uninterrupted. The Oscar Mayer Weenie race got in too. Pit stop competition had barely started before rain ended it. We made our way to the infield for Switchfoot and Counting Crows. Switchfoot was fine. Counting Crows sucked. Cool and rainy weather conditions had the women too covered up. After a half-assed performance of 'Mr. Jones,' Buoy and I went to the gift shop and then back to the camper. The rest of the guys were not far behind.
Ryan and I ventured inside Saturday morning for 'Legends Day.' Walking in at 8:30, we were too late for any of the autograph lines. We hit up the midway and snagged some free merch. My dog loves his Benebone from Talladega last year and now he will have a fresh one!
Saturday night was our usual night of sight-seeing. Including our visit to the JMV takeover! It was tough to get the whole group excited this year but Jake and I still got our picture with him. He does an all-request show every Saturday night on B105.7.
The forecast for race day had us all nervous. We've been lucky that rain hasn't pushed the 500 to a Monday since we've been camping (actually not since 1997!). I was nervous we were due for a postponement. Our worries were for nothing. Pre-race festivities went on as scheduled. There was a brief red flag when it sprinkled on us in turn 3 and then we saw one of the greatest races in 500 history. We did get rained on walking back to the camper but I won't complain. It was a great day.
Kyle took the weekend award this year and kept Buoy from winning for a fouth year in a row. His crimes against the Dutchmen were all that was needed to secure the majority of votes.
I always feel a bit sad when we pack up and leave Monday morning.
