Back home again in Indiana
And it seems that I can see
The gleaming candlelight
Still burning bright
Through the sycamores for me
The new-mown hay sends all its fragrance
Through the fields I used to roam
When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash
How I long for my Indiana home
– Louis Armstrong
Sunday 26 May 2024
What a day. Josef Newgarden won the 108th Indianapolis 500 with a bold last lap pass around Mexican Pato O’Ward to become the first back-to-back winner since 2001-02. Team owner Roger Penske won his twentieth Indianapolis 500. It was a race for the ages, with all sorts of drama, culminating in a duel between Newgarden and O’Ward that stretched over nearly ten laps, the two swapping the lead multiple times in a pulsating run to the checkers.
Rewinding to the morning: race day dawned gray and murky, with a huge band of storms tracking up from St Louis. The weather forecasters were united in saying that once the storm passed – which would take about two hours – there was good weather behind. Our group, full of some of the best people I know, collectively made the decision to stay at the Myrehn’s house until the worst of the weather passed us, because we would be asked to leave the grandstands in the event of lightning at the track, and there isn’t a whole lot of undercover areas where our seats were. Better to wait it out in a house. And man, did it rain. For two hours, almost non-stop, whipped up by a pretty strong wind. We missed the worst of the tornado and hail, but still better to be indoors than out during that.
Above are a collection of some people I am fortunate enough to hang with here in Indianapolis. David and Philine I call them Ryan’s Amazon friends because that’s how they all met, and they are now my Indianapolis 500 friends + newcomer April (in the bright shirt), who definitely added an element to the group that we didn’t know was missing. What a fun time! Next year is going to be bigger and better.
Miraculously, the weather behaved exactly as the forecasters said it would. We left for the track at 2pm when there were just light sprinkles, and by the time we parked about a mile and a half out, the rain had stopped. When we took our seats at around 3:50pm, the sun was out. I wasn’t expecting to need sunscreen today, but I ended up applying and reapplying. One of the stranger weather days I can remember. Our decision to not go to the track was validated, and some of the footage of thousands of people crammed into any dry space around the facility also made us very glad we hadn’t gone early.
The hour preceding the green flag has so much pageantry, and it’s impossible not to get choked up at times. The anthem, the flyover, Taps/The Last Post, the command to start engines, another flyover, “Back Home Again in Indiana” and the sound of thirty-three racecars coming to life at once. It’s a difficult thing to explain to anyone who hasn’t experienced it first-hand. For those who have been to the race, no explanation is necessary. For those who haven’t, no explanation will ever suffice.
As mentioned above, Josef Newgarden became a back-to-back winner and picked up an additional $450,000 from Borg Warner for his efforts. The finish was one for the ages, one that they’ll be talking about long after those of us in attendance are gone. A stunning race that rewarded all of us who stuck out the weather. The TV and radio calls of the final laps were spectacular. Happy to report that Elias thought the 500 was “epic” – he was cheering as loudly as anyone else there in the last few laps. But how could you not, given the drama of it all?
Parking more than a mile away helped us get out quickly. Some of us who walked quicker bought some beer from a stall on the street and drank it in the parking lot whilst waiting for everyone else to arrive. We got to the Myrehn’s around 9:00pm and ate a late dinner. It was after midnight before we left, the bunch of us having dissected, analysed and reviewed every angle of the race – or so it felt. We weren’t short of talking points.
Home at the Airbnb just on midnight, in the midst of another big storm. To be honest, the night was kind of bittersweet as some of the group are heading their separate ways early tomorrow. But there’s always next year.
kitchtrips 