I'M GOING

[forty_three]

Mrs 43 is the bestest wife ever. She told me last night that she got me and her tickets to go to the Indy 500 this year. We'll be in the NW Vista with a view of 3 and 4 and up the front straight. This is my anniversary present.

I am unbelievably stoked.

 

[Retroram52]

I would be too 43. It is on my bucket list. I believe Indy has been there more than a few times.

 

[IndyAndy]

I would be too 43. It is on my bucket list. I believe Indy has been there more than a few times.

Every year since '81 except for '86: I was graduating from college on the day that it was SUPPOSED to take place (rain), so I gave my ticket away that year.

 

[Retroram52]

Like I stated. Indy has been there more than a few times! lol.

 

[Rex Racer]

Very cool. I'm jealous.

I've been to a bunch of NASCAR races at NHMS which isn't a very fast track and one at Lowe's Motor Speedway which is a very fast track and I would love to check out one of the 2 &1/2 mile super speedways.

I've only been to one Indy Car race (here in NH) and would like to see more. Hopefully my schedule works for me to get to the F-1 race in Boston this summer

 

[Hank Kingsley]

When Vancouver had it's CART race I went every year but the first (when the course worker got killed by Will T) and the last year when they moved it away from Labour Day.

It has to be said though that I almost preferred watching Gentilozzi in the Trans Am support races more.

And they were proper looking cars then.

I imagine the 500 would be cool but the way those cars look does nothing for me. The series seems to have lost something. Better than the old IRL but not quite CART.

 

[forty_three]

It's funny because for our 7th Anniversary we made a weekend of it and went to the Nazareth race (Scott Dixon's first ever win...). This will be our 21st. I joked that I am taking her to Monaco in 7 years.

She's not a race fan, but has been to a few with me. She is an avid people watcher, so there should be plenty to keep her entertained.


Indy, I'll wave at you. I will be the guy in the Blue Jackets hat.

 

[forty_three]

hey @IndyAndy got some questions about logistics since you're a pro.

1) We are staying about an hour away from the track. How bad does traffic get? We'll be leaving the B&B at 7:30AM, so I am hoping that will be enough time to get in and wander the grounds a bit before getting to the seats for all the pomp and circumstance.
2) Got any insider tips as far as parking is concerned? Not opposed to doing a shuttle thing.
3) Any food I should go in search of?

 

[Retroram52]

Well here is the starting grid you both can look forward to seeing. What happened to the big Marco Andretti dominance he supposedly had over everyone else?

They added the points as well.

Juan Pablo Montoya getting an extra run helped save him 15 points, earning 17 for the day for starting 17th instead of 2 for starting 32nd.

Meanwhile Graham Rahal had a tough one from a qualifying standpoint. Starting 26th means he’ll only earn 8 points.

Provided the grid doesn’t change (the last row changed entirely last year), here’s how the points will shake out:

Unofficial starting grid:

Pos Car # Engine Driver Avg S Qualifying pts (New points total)
1 5-James Hinchcliffe 230.760 — 42 (152)
2 21-Josef Newgarden 230.700 — 40 (140)
3 28-Ryan Hunter-Reay 230.648 — 38 (147)
4 29-Townsend Bell 230.481 — 36 (36)
5 26-Carlos Munoz 230.287 — 34 (118)
6 12-Will Power 229.669 — 32 (137)
7 7-Mikhail Aleshin 229.562 — 30 (117)
8 22-Simon Pagenaud 229.139 — 28 (270)
9 3-Helio Castroneves 229.115 — 26 (185)
10 77-Oriol Servia 229.060 — 24 (36)
11 98-Alexander Rossi 228.473 — 23 (102)
12 14-Takuma Sato 228.029 — 22 (124)
13 9-Scott Dixon 227.991 — 21 (187)
14 27-Marco Andretti 227.969 — 20 (96)
15 6-JR Hildebrand 227.876 — 19 (27)
16 42-Charlie Kimball 227.822 — 18 (129)
17 2-Juan Pablo Montoya 227.684 — 17 (177)
18 10-Tony Kanaan 227.430 — 16 (127)
19 11-Sebastien Bourdais 227.428 — 15 (90)
20 20-Ed Carpenter 227.226 — 14 (23)
21 19-Gabby Chaves 227.192 — 13 (26)
22 8T-Max Chilton 226.686 — 12 (92)
23 24-Sage Karam 226.436 — 11 (11)
24 18-Conor Daly 226.312 — 10 (98)
25 63-Pippa Mann 226.006 — 9 (9)
26 15-Graham Rahal 225.847 — 8 (141)
27 61-Matt Brabham 225.727 — 7 (21)
28 88-Bryan Clauson 225.266 — 6 (6)
29 16-Spencer Pigot 224.847 — 5 (40)
30 25-Stefan Wilson 224.602 — 4 (4)
31 41-Jack Hawksworth 224.596 — 3 (63)
32 4-Buddy Lazier 222.154 — 2 (2)
33 35-Alex Tagliani Att — 1 (8)

Unofficial Points heading into Indy 500:

1 22-Simon Pagenaud, 270
2 9-Scott Dixon, 187
3 3-Helio Castroneves, 185
4 2-Juan Pablo Montoya, 177
5 5-James Hinchcliffe, 152
6 28-Ryan Hunter-Reay, 147
7 15-Graham Rahal, 141
8 21-Josef Newgarden, 140
9 12-Will Power, 137
10 42-Charlie Kimball, 129
11 10-Tony Kanaan, 127
12 14-Takuma Sato, 124
13 26-Carlos Munoz, 118
14 7-Mikhail Aleshin, 117
15 98-Alexander Rossi, 102
16 18-Conor Daly, 98
17 27-Marco Andretti, 96
18 8-Max Chilton, 92
19 11-Sebastien Bourdais, 90
20 41-Jack Hawksworth, 63
21 19-Luca Filippi, 45
22 16-Spencer Pigot, 40
23 29-Townsend Bell, 36
24 77-Oriol Servia, 36
25 6-JR Hildebrand, 27
26 19-Gabby Chaves, 26
27 20-Ed Carpenter, 23
28 61-Matthew Brabham, 21
29 24-Sage Karam, 11
30 63-Pippa Mann, 9
31 35-Alex Tagliani, 8
32 88-Bryan Clauson, 6
33 25-Stefan Wilson, 4
34 4-Buddy Lazier, 2

I suspect Hunter-Reay may be sandbagging a little and it'll be interesting to see who gets the jump on the first lap.

 

[Retroram52]

BTW, if you haven't figured this out, I am green with envy!

 

[IndyAndy]

hey @IndyAndy got some questions about logistics since you're a pro.

1) We are staying about an hour away from the track. How bad does traffic get? We'll be leaving the B&B at 7:30AM, so I am hoping that will be enough time to get in and wander the grounds a bit before getting to the seats for all the pomp and circumstance.
2) Got any insider tips as far as parking is concerned? Not opposed to doing a shuttle thing.
3) Any food I should go in search of?

Traffic can get bad - leave for the track early. I have no insider tips on parking because we have a spot reserved at a friend of my sister's. Track food is brugers/hot dogs/ etc. - You might want to pack your own if you want something 'better'.

 

[forty_three]

Traffic can get bad - leave for the track early. I have no insider tips on parking because we have a spot reserved at a friend of my sister's. Track food is brugers/hot dogs/ etc. - You might want to pack your own if you want something 'better'.

Cool, thanks. I've seen things about the competition for local spots in people's yards, but not sure I want to fight that mess. I have seen some stuff about shuttles at an airport or shopping centers. I think that's the way to go.

As for the food, I can do Burgers and Dogs/stadium food. Just wondering if there was some kind of local delicacy that I should try. Like the first time I ever had Nashville Hot chicken was at a Preds game a few years ago. Cheese steaks in Philly, etc.