The weather was pretty nice today. We were fortunate to have a designated driver. Joy was going to drive my friends and I to the track today. We came in on 10th Street and the police had Olney blocked off, so we had to go far east of the track to get onto 16th Street. There was a very long line of cars. A motorcade came through the middle of the street and Joy bravely jumped onto the end of the line, put her flashers on and we were getting escorted up front of all the traffic. To our dismay, we did not reach the track, but were turned into some lot that ended up being a police station! We had been in a escort for police! Ack! We did a quick U-turn and was able to cut into line not far from the track entrance. Whew! That was a little scary.
Brian, Joy, E.T, Jeff, Dave, Russ - waiting for the tram.
We parked in the 3rd turn and tried waiting on the tram, but we got tired of waiting and walked on up to the track. My cooler weighed a ton, I should have split the contents among two coolers and E.T. could have carried half.
I had some pit passes and since practice was just starting, I wanted to get to the pits. We needed to have a "home base" first. We tried several spots in the crowded tower terrace, but the view was just too blocked. Everyone decided to trek to the outside of the track and sit up in the Paddock Penthouse. I grabbed my camera and headed to the pits by myself.
The Tower Terrace was packed with fans.
Scott Sharp
Vitor Meira in car. He would finish in 2nd place in the 500.
Remember seeing this girl on ESPN? Well she had a nice butt. Her name is Jamie Little.
Tony Kanaan's team discussing his practice run.
I went to the far end of the pit lane to take some pictures.
I was leaning over the wall taking photos of the first car in line, Kenny Brack.
Before I knew what was happening, they'd started his car and he floored it out of the pits. I was leaning over looking at him through my camera and I thought I was going to get nailed. I snapped the following photo as my body instinctively tried to move out of the way.
In a split second he roared by, just a few feet away. Talk about loud!
Scott Dixon driving a golf cart backwards through the crowded pits.
Tomas Enge from the Czeck Republic
I was amused when I saw Enge on TV saying "Party like a Rockstar", as had a little cannabis trouble in Europe.
Buddy Lazier crashed today. Luckily he was ok.
Helio Castroneves prepares to go out and practice.
Sam Hornish, Jr. goes by.
I think this is Sam's new wife
Michael Andretti talks to his driver, Dan Wheldon
Dan Wheldon, he would win the Indy 500 on Sunday.
Adrian Fernandez
Bruno Junqueira came over from Champcar for the race. He would end up in a wreck and injured.
Danica Patrick recieved a giant check for fastest of the practice.
She received so much publicity this month that it about drove her bonkers I'm sure. She would go on to lead the race, but finish where she started, in 4th.
After the IRL practice was over, some old Indy cars took to the track. Here are two:
Then the Infiniti Pro drivers lined up for introductions before their race.
I left the pits and headed across the track to sit with my friends. They had a much better view than all those people in the tower terrace.
The Corvette C6 is the pace car.
The IPS race was only 40 laps (100 miles). None the less, there were several crashes. I'd estimate that they were going 180 mph.
Jaime Camara won. He did a burnout on the main straight after winning and tagged the pit wall with the back end of the car! Ha ha.
After the IPS race, they began bringing out the Indycars for the Pit Stop Competition.
Since IMS moved Carb Day to Friday this year, and since the Black Crowes seemed to be a popular choice, I expected the track to be more crowded than ever before and it was!
Sam Hornish and Team Penske won the Pit Stop Competition. My group then hiked over to the infield where a stage was setup for the rock concert. They had moved the stage away from the plaza and back over by Media parking.
Black Crowes Concert Photos
