Indy Speedway - Food and Drinks to Bring

You are allowed to bring food and drink with you to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

But what should you bring? This depends upon what day you are going and where you are parking.

If parking inside the track, you can take whatever will fit in your car or truck.
If you park outside the track, you cannot leave the track, go to your car, and come back in.

Since going to the Speedway involves lots of walking and usually your car will be parked far away,
you may be taking your whole day's supplies with you.   With all the walking and stair climbing, it is
nice to travel as light as you can. If you like the track's food and beer and can afford it, you might as
well just buy it as you go and use your muscles for carrying your camera and souvenirs. Food stands
are scattered everywhere.

Track Food
There is plenty of food available that you can buy at the track and prices are reasonable - beef Indy
dogs are $3, Hamburgers are $4, Shishkabob are $6, Funnel cake is $5. If you walk around and
check out the various stands scattered about, you'll find a variety of food to choose from, such as
Bar-b-que, Turkey legs, Polish Sausage, Asian, etc.

Bring Your Own Food
A bucket of fried chicken and submarine sandwiches are a popular choice. You can even bring a
grill and have a cookout in the infield. I've seen people cook an entire lamb, then hand out free meals
to whoever happened by! You'll usually find folks at the track are very generous. (although you may not
find them very generous when fighting for a parking space!) All of the Indianapolis grocery stores will
have box lunches available during racing season too. The speedway also offers a box lunches that
you can order when buy your tickets.   I avoid chocolate and other snacks that might melt.   I usually
grab some track food and then have some stuff in my cooler to munch on through the race.

Drinks
Beer and soda are available at the track.
Water and 16oz Soda is $3 and 32oz is $5
16oz Miller Light is $5 and a large Fosters is $6
Margaritas and Bloody Marys are $6.

If you bring drinks, make sure they are in cans or plastic bottles - NO GLASS!
We used to bring in mini-kegs on race day in a bag full of ice. This supplied 3 drinkers for the race.
If you bring in a alcoholic mixer, note that it is very hard to get a cup of ice at the speedway.
The colas are sold in plastic bottles. I did find a Asian food stand outside of Turn 4 that would sell
a glass of coke with ice during the Indy 500.

Coolers
Lots of people bring coolers.   I have found that the collapsable soft coolers are nice, because after
you empty them, you can use them as seat cushions... assuming you used ice and not coolie packs.
Also, they usually have some extra pockets for food storage. It seems coolie packs stay colder than
ice...
There is a limit on cooler size if you are walking into the track on race day. Since seating is tight, they
do limit cooler size to 14" x 14" x 14" which is large enough to hold a 12-pack. You'll have to pull in to
the infield parking with your car to get larger coolers in.

Hints

The Greatest Spectacle in ...Tailgating?

You can NOT buy take-out beer in Indiana on Sunday. The track has a special permit that lets
them sell beer on Sunday, but they must first wait until noon. If you want beer before noon on
Sunday, better buy it Saturday and bring it with you.

You can save time by hitting the consession stands when the race is going on. Right before the
race and during caution periods, the lines for the concession line are long.

On long practice and qualifying days, it is nice to be able to park inside the infield so that you
can stop at your car occasionally and restock your supplies or drop off souvenirs. I prefer to
park in Turn 1 since it is closer to things. However, it seems they usually park me out in Turn 3.

If grilling out, you may need a tarp for protection from rain. Due to a drought one year,
restrictions were placed on grills to prevent fires.

Other Things To Take To The Track

FOOD & DRINK