Memorial Weekend - Indy 500 - The Greatest Spectacle In Racing

5/22/2015

Boston MA

The Memorial Weekend is almost up on us. It is usually the time to catch up with friends and family, travel and enjoy some warm weather; and it also time for Indy 500 car race. Last year when I lived in Chicago I thought it was my chance to catch some Indy action if I could. So I set out to go see it.

Many consider Indy 500 car race as the greatest spectacle in racing and Indianapolis Motor Speedway claims it is the racing capital of the world.The open-wheel car race has such a phenomenal fan following today but it was born out of humble beginnings. In 1909 the city of Indianapolis built a tar-and-gravel track and hosted the first race which was a 100-lap 300 mile contest won by Bob Burman during the Memorial Day Weekend. So a racing tradition was born. The track was rugged and dangerous in today's standards. The first "500 mile" event was hosted in 1911 and Ray Harroun an American racer won the inaugural competition.

 

Over the years the sport went through lot of changes, improvements, growth and had its share of tragedies on the track. In the current climate of racing it is bigger than ever. An extremely popular female driver Danica Patrick who started in 7 Indy 500 races, brought a new breed of female fans to the sport and propelled the event to unimaginable popularity. One racing fact worth noting is the difference between NASCAR and Indy Series. NASCAR uses stock cars - they look like the normal cars you and I drive. Indy Series uses open-wheel-single-seater-driver-open-to-air modeled after Formula One cars.

On May 25 in 2014, the race day, I drove from Chicago where I lived at the time to Indianapolis to see the race except I had no tickets. The drive took longer than expected and traffic was bad around Indianapolis due to the race. I ended up listening to the race commentary on my car radio and by the time I made it near the Speedway the race was over. An American racer Ryan Hunter won the race. I had to park a couple of miles away from track and walk towards the famed Indy grounds. Crowds every where, people all over the place walking in all directions. Seemed like all the racing fans in the world congregated in one place.
 

As I got near the track I saw people camped out in the grounds near the Speedway and tons of trash strewn everywhere. I am walking along the side of the mile-long track(with a lap of 2.4 miles). I got to the other end of Speedway where main entrance is located and noticed the staff were cleaning empty the grandstands and they kept the gates open. So I sneaked in through an open gate and took some pictures. It was nice to see the giant posters of past champions and some big names in Indy racing : Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves etc.
 

 

 

The Indy 500 is an American tradition and a premier sporting event and a crown jewel among all car races. Next time I go to Indy 500 race I would make sure I get there a bit early and armed with tickets.

== End ==

Watching Texas Bowl game from nosebleeding seats at Reliant Stadium - Houston Texas - Dec 2008

5/14/2015
Boston MA

 Reliant Stadium - Houston Texas - Dec 2008
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The Holidays of 2008 were winding down in Houston. The New Year was just couple of days away; it was kind of slow time at a bank in downtown Houston that I worked at the time. A good friend and coworker of mine Bryan and I were just chatting on the day before New Year's eve, when he mentioned he was going to a College Football Bowl game that night at Reliant Stadium. My ears perked up - a Football game at Reliant? That sounded exciting and I was envious for me and happy for him at the same time. I have always wanted go see Reliant Stadium. I couldn't resist the urge to ask him so blurted it out "Do you have any extra tickets?" To my surprise he said "I may but I need to call someone first to be sure".  Arrright now we are talking..

When I bumped into him later that afternoon, he tells me "Hey I got you 2 tickets. You gonna pick them up tonight from Roll Call window at the stadium right before the game." "Are you kidding me? I was going to see a game at Reliant." I walked around the office floor with a big grin on my face the rest of the day looking all silly and created an awkward scene for everybody.

I called my wife Sri and told her to be ready. I drove home from downtown to Sugarland where we lived and picked up Sri and Ryon(3) and headed back to downtown. Since it was Holidays the traffic wasn't that bad that day. We pretended we were residents at an apartment complex next door to the stadium and parked there(Shhh don't tell the towing company) and walked towards the stadium. As they say "Everything is big in Texas", the Reliant stadium is no exception. Located in the SW part of Houston, the state-of-the-art building looked massive as we got closer to it - quite a sight for sure. It got dark early; the imposing structure sat mighty and stoic in the chilly evening. The home of the Houston Texans NFL team and only the NFL stadium in the country that also serves as a Rodeo arena in the summer.

We picked up our tickets from the booth and after what seemed like an eternity negotiating a series of ramps, stairs and escalators we enter the stadium. As soon as we made our way into the retractable facility our jaws dropped by the sheer immense size of the place. It felt like we were mile high from the field below. As we were settling into our seats I was convinced why the seats were called nose-bleeding seats. The joke goes that the seats are so high, your nose could actually bleed - Very appropriate if you ask me.

The local ivy school Rice University Owls played Western Michigan Broncos in the Texas Bowl game that night. The Quarterback of Rice, "Chase Clement" had a phenomenal game that night and Owls won comfortably 36-14 something.

What a way to say goodbye to old year and usher in the new year.

 

 

 

 

Ps : I just found out as I am writing this the Reliant Stadium has been renamed as NRG stadium. Its not the same though.