Indianapolis’ most famous landmark, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, sits a few miles outside of downtown in an area that doesn’t look like a place where you’d find a major racetrack. In fact, just outside of turn 1 are the giant cylinders that hold millions of gallons of gas, waiting to be picked up and distributed to stations around the region. High-tension powerlines are all around too, and the area has a definite industrial park feel to it.
The trip from Interstate 70 is a strange one. After exiting the highway, my cab followed a four-lane road for about two miles. Then it seemed to come to a dead end; instead, it just whittled down to a two-lane road that made several 90-degree turns while cutting along the land that holds the massive gas tanks.
Then, around one corner, a set of stands are visible. Then more and more, and suddenly it looks familiar, like we’ve seen so many times on television.
IMS is the fifth major racetrack I’ve been to (after Pocono, Watkins Glen, Richmond and Nazareth - when it still held races) and easily the most historical one. The Indianapolis 500 was first held in 1911, long before any of those other four tracks were even conceived.
The other thing that struck me as unique was getting into the track. Go to Pocono or Richmond and try to get into the infield, whether it’s a race weekend or not. At IMS, there’s not a whole lot of room outside of the track itself. So, when you approach from W. 16th St., you have to drive under the stands and the track itself to get to the museum and all of the non-race day attractions at the speedway.
According to the weekend schedule we received when we arrived, Pontiac was going to hold a driving session at IMS, giving the public the chance to take a Pontiac car around the road course, the one used during Formula One’s visit to Indy. But a steady rain at mid-day developed and wiped out the Pontiac event, as well as the regularly-scheduled on-track excursions that IMS offers.
But the museum at IMS was still open for business, and had a lot of fans in town for the Final Four. The museum isn’t as expansive like you’d find at Cooperstown or Canton, but has a lot to see. Cars of Indy 500 winners through the years are on display. It’s interesting to see the body shapes change as the years went on; the first time we saw the familiar open-wheel framework of today’s cars - front wings ahead of each wheel, a rear wing higher than the driver at the back of the car - appeared around 1978.
The museum’s focus, as one might expect, was on the now-defunct CART series and the current Indy Racing League. There are occasional nods to NASCAR and Formula One, which didn’t begin racing at Indy until the 1990s.
It’s almost surprising to see any relics from F1, given the fiasco at last year’s U.S. Grand Prix. In that race, most of the field pulled off the track just before the green flag, citing concerns about tire safety. That led to a lot of upset fans and a win by Michael Schumacher over a field of six cars. It also led to speculation that the F1 would not be returning to Indy, though the U.S. Grand Prix is again on this year’s schedule.
But the museum’s primary focus is to portray the positive, which is not surprising. There was a 2001 car driven by Schumacher, as well as one of his race suits and one of Jensen Button’s helmets. Since Button and other open-wheel drivers are exposed to the elements, unlike NASCAR drivers, it was interesting to see Button had tear-away sheets on his visor, much like Nextel Cup cars have on their windshield.
NASCAR had even less articles, with the primary one being one of Richard Petty’s STP cars from 1992.
My favorite piece was the Borg-Warner Trophy, given to the winner of the Indianapolis 500. The trophy is a good four feet tall, and has a replica of the winner’s face from each race through the years. The upper part of the trophy is now full, so there are about two and a half rows of faces on the base.
The rain really limited what we could see. We took a “Behind the Scenes” bus tour that took us around the speedway, but the rain prevented us from actually driving on the track - a situation that bummed out even our elderly bus driver. For two dollars, however, the 15-minute tour was worth it.
On the tour, we drove past the Brickyard Crossing golf course, which is one place I’ve always wanted to play. But we had enough luggage as it was, and I didn’t feel like bringing along golf clubs for a place where we might not even be able to get a tee time - the course opened for the season on Saturday.
But it was nice to see, and the course looked pretty good for so early in the season.
Outside of the Final Four, there wasn’t much I really wanted to see around Indianapolis. But IMS was one place I needed to visit at least once. And I’m glad I did.

Tony Skinn scored nine points and is playing awfully well. Lamar Butler has also played well and needs to take advantage of his quickness over Florida’s Lee Humphrey, who has two fouls already. A big second half by Butler and Thomas, who’s just 0 for 3 so far, is necessary for another Mason victory.
Well, better get rolling back to the court. It’s a long line getting through the one revolving door.
Peace,
Kipp