So, it's been ages since I've posted anything on this blog. I took a month off, studied like hell for another part of the exam, took it, and then headed off for Indianapolis. The week before the race was my first week back from vacation, and it sucked trying to get everything sorted. I was out of town for three days, stuff didn't get done while I was gone, and the week after the race was going to suck too. But at 5pm that Friday, everything changed. I stopped caring about work and focused on nothing but the race. That night I fell asleep listening to the IMS weekly podcast, remembering what it was like two years ago when we were there for the first time. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep at all.
Saturday morning, I was up like a shot, getting ready a whole hour earlier than I needed to, as if the plane would take off quicker if we got there earlier. Instead of flying out of Norfolk, we got a deal on AirTran tickets if we flew out of Newport News. I had never flown out of Newport News before, or even set foot in the airport before, but it's even smaller than Norfolk, and only has six gates, and no Starbucks. We had to go through the usual TSA hoops, but our flight to Atlanta was uneventful. At least AirTran has XM radio that you can listen to, with almost all the channels available on the normal receiver. Aside from a bumpy landing in Atlanta, the flight was pretty pleasant, as flying goes for someone who loves to travel, but doesn't care much for flying!
Hartsfield-Jackson is a unique challenge every time I fly to Atlanta. The one thing I really like about is the concourse shuttle that gets you to the other terminals pretty quickly. The downside is that the airport is always crowded, and Memorial Day weekend is no exception. We arrived shortly before noon, and our early morning Golden Corral breakfast buffet had all but evaporated. Hartsfield has everything from a Nathan's Hot Dogs to Quizno's to Seattle's Best Coffee. Quizno's had the shortest line, which meant that we waited for almost 20 minutes to get our food. That only left us about 10 minutes to scarf it down before we hopped on the plane to Indianapolis. We boarded our flight to Indy filled with turkey ranch and swiss goodness.
Thankfully, the flight to Indy was a lot smoother. We arrived there too late to go to the track, but we were blessed by two things after we arrived at the hotel. One, there was a Steak N' Shake not 200 yards from the hotel. Seven years ago, I had my first taste of Steak N' Shake when we went to Georgia for my grandmother's funeral. They still don't have any locations in Virginia, but on my trips to Greensboro, I always stop in at one. I have heard other people in Florida and North Carolina call it Steak N' Shit or Steak N' Puke, but I think it's way better than any other fast food out there. No one can touch their shakes. Unfortunately, the ones in Indiana don't know what sweet tea is, but I can overlook that.
After a gorging there, we headed back to the hotel to find Office Space on Comedy Central. I hadn't seen it in ages, so I think I laughed extra hard. My joy at watching that was overshadowed by the rain falling outside. Not a light sprinkle, but some serious rain. I was starting to get worried.
Sunday morning couldn't come early enough. I headed down to the lobby for the complimentary Hampton Inn breakfast, which was a little different than what I was used to-this one had little omelettes as opposed to biscuits and gravy, but they still had the danishes and the same coffee, which was good. Everyone was watching the Monaco GP, as if to ignore the rain outside and imagine that we were somewhere sunny. I hadn't brought any raingear, not even a poncho. The only protection I had was my trusty IndyCar Series hat. The hotel management was nice enough to provide us with black garbage bags in case of the inevitable. I took one and hoped for the best. It was time to board the bus.
The bus ride took about 30 minutes to get from our hotel on the south side of Indy to the track. It took us through downtown, which appears fairly nice from the comfort of the bus, but we went through the hood to get there. It was like miles and miles of South Norfolk-esque blight. Actually, I think some of those houses and streets made South Norfolk look good. I had once thought about moving to Indy, but this trip changed my mind. I would prefer to stay in the South!
Thankfully, we had time to go to the Museum. It was a little rushed, and it was totally packed, but I got some really sweet shots. They're all up on the Flickr page for your viewing pleasure.
By the time we got settled into our seats, the track was completely dry and they could start the race as scheduled. Things were starting to look up as the pre-race proceedings started. Unfortunately, Jim Nabors was unable to sing Back Home In Indiana, but Florence Henderson was present to sing God Bless America. Then we were treated to a flyover by 4 F-22 Raptors from none other than Langley AFB! I was shocked that they would fly halfway across the country for that. I'm sure Indiana has at least one Air Force base!
The race went suprisingly well, with the usual people going out or causing others to go out. It wasn't long before John Andretti, Phil Geibler, and Milka Duno were toast. One of the most memorable moments was when Tomas Scheckter and Sam Hornish Jr. were pulling into pit row, and their cars touched slightly. Tomas's left front wing ended up in the stands above us. I don't know if the TV caught it or not, and it happened too quick for me to catch on video. Unfortunately, the spectre of rain showed up again, temporarily delaying the race. This was good in a way, it gave us a chance to get some food and new batteries for the scanner intercom. The race restarted about 4pm, and the weather looked as if it would hold off long enough to finish the race. But a few laps in, a new pattern was spotted. Every driver on the lead lap drove as if each lap would be the last, and the most impressive was Danica. She surged all the way to 2nd before losing momentum to her teammate, Dario Franchitti, who would end up winning. Marco Andretti spun out a few laps before the rain started again, which seems to be indicative of his season. We headed for cover as quickly as possible.
Maybe I was being an optimist in not planning for rain, but I was glad I took the garbage bags. That became my de facto raincoat for the long hike back to the bus and the hotel. All my precious goodies were protected, but my sandals were ruined. We flew back to Newport News where the temperature was 89 when we landed. I settled down to have a nice Memorial Day cookout, and to plan next year's trip back to the Brickyard.
