Dobie at the races...

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Just another little adventure with Dave and Davina. All the soldiers had completed the out-processing at Camp Atterbury, been flown home to their families and there they were. Two tired soldiers just waiting to return to Kosovo the next day. So what do they do? They go to the races!! I couldn’t believe it. The races, yup, officially we headed out to experience THE GREATEST RACE COURSE IN THE WORLD!

Neither had been to the race course that played host to the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and Dave was so excited that at the crack of dawn he was up and rearing to go. We got to the race track so early we were able to have biscuits and gravy for breakfast. It was to be a simple day, just spend a couple of hours going through the racing museum and check out the place where famous drivers drove fast and fans watched silly cars going round and round in a circle.

Boy, I couldn’t have been more mistaken about how our day would end up. As we drove into the entrance to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway it was like driving into a giant carnival. Road guards with yellow vests directing us through the maze of parking options. Concessions stands on the left with turkey legs, on the right was popcorn sold by the barrel. Fields full of vehicles, a golf course straight ahead. What! A golf course? Indeedy, there is a gold course right in the center of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Here we thought that inside the speedway it was just a big field with parked motor homes where everybody just had tail gate parties and what the races in their cut off shirts and baseball hats.

But it really is much more. Davina and Dave set off on their adventure, first to the museum where there were old race cars from the past 100 years. Pictures of the famous drivers hanging on the walls that when you gazed at them you could recollect memories from 20-30 years in the past when the likes of Al Unser, AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti were tearing up the track and the crowds would yell as they took the checkered flag.

We then walked over to gasoline alley and stood on the outside of the fence and looked through the chain links wishing we could get in to talk to the drivers and see the race cars up close. Dave and Davina must have looked a little pathetic because this older guy came over and asked if he could help them out. Dave dropped the, “I’m back for a few days from Kosovo card”, and wouldn’t you know it, that guy had them go over to a special table and he gave them free passes to the world-famous garage area. Wow! Dave was in heaven, his smile stretched from ear to ear as he toured the rows of garages where for nearly 100 years, Indy 500 teams have relocated their race teams and fans are able to get up close and personal with the actual drivers and their mechanics. Now that was all cool and everything, but I think Davina needed a break from time to time, so they would wander over to the Pagoda Towers and surf the tourist shops and corn dog stands.

Then it got real fun as the cars started to race their engines and the echoes within the speedway started calling our name and luring us to the actual track. Time trials had started and oh my gosh were they going fast! Like 225 mph! Zooming around the track, mile after mile. The track is a tad over 2 ½ miles around and it was taking them a little over 25 seconds to do complete laps. It was crazy fast. In fact, Davina was trying to take some pictures and by the time the camera snapped the car had already passed. Needless to say, it was an awesome event that literally blew your hair back!

In between the short races Dave and Davina kept returning to the garage area, but they became obsessed with being fans of the speedway. Dave had gone and bought a baseball cap and so they spent hours hanging around the individual garages trying to catch a glimpse of the drivers so they could ask for an autograph. All said and done, Dave got some of the hottest signatures of the racing circuit. Mike Conway, Danica Patrick, Milka Duna and the really fast rookie Simona De Silvestro just to name a few. I bet that will be a treasured hat for him for years to come.

I learned why they call one of the yearly races The Brickyard 400. There is a place that goes across the finish line that is made of bricks left over from the original 1909 bricks and the drivers now walk out to the start-finish line, kneel and kiss the Yard of Bricks to pay tribute to the fabled history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But back in the early 1900’s the entire 2 ½ mile track was paved with 3.2 million bricks that weighed 9.5 pounds each. That’s what the race was driven on for nearly half a century and then slowly it started to transform into what is known today.

The best part of the day might have been getting up close and personal with the National Guard sponsored car. Dave and Davina got excited every time they saw it zoom by and even went over and hung out by the big semi with the National Guard advertising on the side. By the end of the day it had started to sprinkle and so they would do the caution flag thing and then the drivers had to stop driving and wait out the weather. Sadly, on one of those breaks my buddies had gone over to the snack stand and were getting corn dogs when the National Guard car spun out and hit the wall. The driver was okay but the car got pretty banged up. Sure hope they can fix it soon so it can race on the big day.

So as you see, between watching cars driving really fast in the time trials, hunting for autographs, touring the museum, and just meandering around we had a great day. In a couple of weeks there will be 33 drivers (out of 75 cars trying out for the race) getting the green flag and will seek the speed necessary to take the checkered flag.

Tomorrow….We head back to Kosovo to finish our Peace Keeping Tour!

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