After arriving in Indianapolis a day earlier to visit relatives, on Thursday, May 23rd, I drove to Speedway, Indiana to get a pre-race day peak at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). I approached the track on 16th Street and saw the familiar huge grandstands that run along Turn 2, the short chute, and Turn 1. Then I drove past campers and circled around to 25th Street. It had been years since I’d driven on Georgetown Road alongside the massive grandstands that frame Turn 4, the outside of the main straightaway and Turn 1. The world’s largest stadium did not fail to impress even me, who grew up just 15 miles from the track in Plainfield. (All photos credit: The Weekly Opine.)

This water tower says it all.

The short chute grandstands between Turns 1 and 2 loom over 16th Street.

Race fans campground just off Georgetown Road.

Hungry?

Looking down Georgetown Road outside the front stretch grandstands at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Yours truly on the left with the gang that attends the race together every year.

The huge crowd along 16th Street moves slowly toward the track on race day.

Oops, these fans spilled their liquid gold!

The all-time best oval racer of them all, 4-time Indy winner Rick Mears.

The front row leads the field into Turn 3 on the pace lap.

All eleven rows are visible (front row top left in Turn 4) moments before taking the green flag!

Cars avoid the wreckage from the crash involving Sebastion Bourdais and Graham Rahal near the end of the race.

The race (won by Simon Pagenaud) is over. Go out the same way you came in.

Driving home from the race on Indiana’s I-65 an hour and a half south of Chicago.