For the first time in a long time, I'm living somewhere that I can actually watch the Indy 500 live. I flipped on the TV a couple weeks ago and happened to stumble upon the first day of qualifying, and it was really strange to realize we were in the middle of May and pretty much no one was even talking about the race. Even though I know the race isn't as big a deal as it used to be when I was little and there was only one IndyCar league, there's still at least talk in Indianapolis about it. There's still the 500 Festival. There's still the Mini-Marathon. It's not surprising that none of that gets national press or anything, but it's just odd to not hear anything about any of it for the first time ever.
Regardless, being a lifetime hoosier, I still have a little soft spot for the 500, and it's been kinda fun to watch it. Now they're in the middle of a rain delay, but it looks like they might get to run a few more laps before calling it a day.
It's really too bad that the race isn't that big a deal anymore. It's kinda sad to watch how much they talk about history and tradition; they need something to make it big again. Maybe if Danica Patrick were to win, that would do it. But I doubt it, NASCAR has just taken over racing in the US. The speedway is lucky they got on that bandwagon while they could. Anyway, I'll keep watching it to see what happens.
2 comments:
Maybe they should change it to go around the other way. That would get attention. or they could do it blindfolded. That would add excitement and make the spotters have to work harder.
At least you don't live in North Carolina, where NASCAR and mullets are a way of life. Never heard one word about the 500 all month down here, all about the Coke 600....oh well at least I get to watch the race on TV here, which is more than I can say for being in Indiana, go figure...
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