Thirty Days in May

Today is the official start of the events leading up to the Indianapolis 500, but it just doesn't feel right to me.  I guess I'm old and crotchety.  Oh me.

Back in The Good Old Days, young'uns, the 500 festivities started May 1, not on a Wednesday in the first week of the month - THE FIRST.  The Race itself was run on Memorial Day, MAY 30 - not the Sunday before the last Monday in May.  People talked about "RACE DAY" and nobody asked "Which race?"

It used to be all about the Thirty Days in May in the newspapers (yes, there used to be more than one) and on TV and radio.  There was big 500 news EVERY DAY.  Elementary school art teachers taught kids to draw race cars.  There was the 500 Festival of the Arts exhibit and competition for local high school students.  People stuck checkered flags in their front yards and hosted race day cookouts.  Who does that now?  Sad.

Drivers used to stay at the Speedway Motel or in people's homes, believe it or not!  And not like an AirBNB-type place, either.  Actual people's HOMES.  In their SPARE BEDROOMS, and sometimes BASEMENTS.

The Snake Pit had no bleachers, no family-friendly picnic area, and no grass most of the time.  If you weren't looking for trouble, you didn't go there except by accident or sheer ignorance.  It was full of bikers and drunks and women flashing their goodies - oh my!  (MAYBE we could do without THAT tradition - HA!)

If you went to the 500 Parade, you didn't need a reservation to watch; you could line up along the route and crane your neck to see, or climb up the steps of the old Post Office/Federal Building and find a seat - all for FREE.  Now you pretty much have to pay for a reserved bleacher seat if you want to see anything at all.  UGH. 

Practice days were every weekday.  High school and college students would skip school to go to practices, and return the following day with the most amazing lobster-esque sunburns!  Qualifications were run every weekend.  Today's "Carb Day" was Carburetion Day, when the crews tuned the cars' carburetors (no fuel injection!) in preparation for The Race. 

Anyway, the 500 was a big deal here.  But for the last couple of decades, it seems to have lost its luster.  What was once a source of local pride and excitement became a nuisance (the traffic!) and just another day - ho hum.

However, Penske recently bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and seems to be trying to bring back some of the local excitement.  There are commercials on TV that aren't just about "The Race is coming!  Buy your tickets NOW!" but evoke nostalgia for the ceremonial rituals and traditions of the race.  One of my friends has lived with the track nearly in her front yard her entire life, and can be excused for having a jaded attitude toward all the hoopla, but even SHE is getting excited about The Race again.

There IS hope!

RACE DAY IS COMING!