American Road Spring Cruise-- Indianapolis-- Part 3

April 24th, I met Pat and Jennifer Bremer at Charlie Brown's on Main Street in Speedway. This is not one of your cookie cutter breakfast places and its wall were covered with racing posters (perhaps because it is about a quarter mile from the Indianapolis Speedway.)


BUS TOUR

We drove out to the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500, a major NASCAR race, and a motorcycle race. Free parking and just $3 for a very informative and interesting drive on the speedway itself. Lots of history here in the small strip of bricks at the start-finish line (originally, the whole track was bricked, most of which are now covered by asphalt. They could raise lots of money by uncovering and selling them. In case you're ever wondering why the track is sometimes referred to as the Brickyard.

I was also impressed by Gasoline Alley, the Pagoda, and the number tower that is lit up by thousands of lights. The tour is narrated, and well worth it, even if you're not a race fan (like me).


MUSEUM

We then paid another $3 for the museum, which was worth every bit of it. We got to see the winner's cub with its risque male figure on it as well as a lot of the winning cars over the years, and a very informative film. I would recommend seeing the film first, however, especially if you're not a race fan.

There were historical race cars, including one of Carl Fisher's which was too heavy, so he bored holes in it.

I wasn't going to buy anything, but when I found this year's race is on my birthday, May 24th, I was forced to buy some. This is the 100th anniversary of the track and 2011 will be the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500, so they're calling this year and the next two the centennial era.

When In Indianapolis, You Must Go to the Indy. --RoadDog