The bucket list.

[gtblum]

Just crossed another one off.

The 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500.

My first time there was for the second running of the Brickyard 400 NASCARNIVAL race. BILLYCAR isn't even close to the same speed.

My first Indy car race was in 96. The year of the split. We drove to Michigan to watch the big boys even though a guy from here that I played hockey with as a kid, had qualified for the Indy race.

This was special early birthday present to me.

If you ever get the chance to go, don't think twice. Just do it.

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[charlieb]

Where is the LIKE button for this?

[kurt]

Never seen the big race, but I've been to several of the qualifying runs.

I always go down to the 1st turn, stand @ the rail, and watch those guys coming right @ me @ 220+mph; they get to the turn, and it's like they all of a sudden vanish because they're going through the turn so fast. You can't even follow it with your eyes.

[gtblum]

Never seen the big race, but I've been to several of the qualifying runs.

I always go down to the 1st turn, stand @ the rail, and watch those guys coming right @ me @ 220+mph; they get to the turn, and it's like they all of a sudden vanish because they're going through the turn so fast. You can't even follow it with your eyes.

Funny you should mention the first turn. The best part about the whole trip, was practice on carb day. (Friday)

I had two rookies with me. We walked in and right up to the lower section of turn one. The looks on their faces were priceless. It made my whole weekend after spending a month of trying to explain the speed and the size of the place.

After ten or fifteen minutes of my first time in that turn, I said, uh hey, want to go see where our real seats are? This looks like a real good place to get killed by a race car.

We moved on. LOL!

[Erby]

What an ending. 2nd place goes to the leader who crashed his car all alone and then slid across the line. Strange stuff.

[gtblum]

What an ending. 2nd place goes to the leader who crashed his car all alone and then slid across the line. Strange stuff.

While we sat there trying to figure out what the hell happened to him.

Slid right by us and we never saw it.

[Inspectorjoe]

Much as I'd like to, I doubt I'll ever get to Indy.

I've been lucky enough to have had Indy cars (first CART, then IRL) race about 3 miles from my house, from 1987-2004. It was such a luxury to drive a few miles, park near the edge of town, walk 1/4 mile and be at the track. After the race, I could be cooling off in my pool within a half hour of seeing the checkered flag.

Nazareth Speedway was a beautiful, first-class track. Unfortunately, because it was so hard to pass on it, races could be pretty boring. Bad dates didn't help attendance either. Once, I called my boss on a Monday morning to tell her I was at a race and wouldn't be in to work that day. The race wasn't run the day before because it snowed!

Dan Wheldon, winner of this year's Indy 500, took the final checkered flag at Nazareth in the Firestone Indy 225 on August 29, 2004.

Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til its gone ........

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazareth_Speedway

[gtblum]

Nazareth Speedway was a beautiful, first-class track.

There's another place I would have loved to have seen them. It's a damn shame. Went to Pocono once and if I ever go back it'll be to fly fish the trout streams near the track. You can't see a damn thing there.

If the folks from Indy Car don't wake up and take a lesson on promoting from NASCARNAGE, there soon, won't be anything but NASTYCAR.

These Supermodifieds are what I grew up with. Another class of cars that seems to be on shaky ground because of the cost.

Only about 60k and $600 a week for fuel and tires for one of these little 800 horse, tax write-offs.

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