"Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your ENGINES!!!"

The Pagoda and the "Yard of Bricks"

Ok everybody, here is the long awaited blog about my annual pilgrimage to racing Mecca! What a trip we had! 3,000 miles in 6 days!!! Every year for the past four years we have gone to the Indy 500, and it has been great to include a friend or relative who has not gone before in the adventure. This year we took Mo's friend Dan (what a coinkidink!) to the race. Dan is a friend from Mo's college days who is always up for a crazy time.

Dan and Mo

So the trip got started on Thursday morning, early, and was going well when all of a sudden the Subaru decided it needed to change it's anti-freeze!! The car just started running hot and spewed anti-freeze all over the place. Fortunately we were near an exit with a Flying J at it. I went in and realized that they only had coolant for big rigs, not cars. There is a difference! So I called a NAPA and they actually delivered the parts that I needed right to the truck stop!!! THANK YOU NAPA!!!! I am now officially a Michael Waltrip fan!!! I got the car running and we were back on our way, yippee!!!

We finally arrived at Mom and Dad's, after about 10hrs!! What a long trip, but it was worth it! I love visiting with my folks. We also met Dan there and crashed for the night. The next morning we had a nice breakfast with Mom and Dad and left Liam with them for a nice weekend visit. Mo, John, Dan and myself headed on our way to Jeannette, Pa to visit my Grammy!! She is an amazing lady, 90 years old and still getting around! She is always good for a BIG laugh!!! We went to Eat & Park and had a nice dinner.

Me, John, Grammy, and Mo

The next day it was off to Indy, sort of. We actually drove to Richmond, Indiana and crashed at a hotel for the night. Of course we couldn't have a nice drive through Ohio without having to stop, uh I mean be stopped by one of its finest!! That's right Mo got a speeding ticket!! And you guys thought I was the only one with a lead foot!!!

Sunday is race day!! We got up early drove the rest of the way and started the trek to Mecca. It is about a mile from the parking area to the track. Once we got to the track we picked up our Brickyard Box Lunches and went to our seats. It is always fun to watch all the pomp and circumstance that is Indy! It was great to see Jim Neighbors back at the track to sing Back Home in Indiana. He was unable to attend last year! Florence Henderson sang God Bless America, and the Purdue marching band was present to play the national anthem.

Lining up the cars.

Thank you to our Military!

After that it was time for the most famous words in motor sports, "Ladies and Gentlemen start your engines!" The sound those cars makes is like a symphony!!! It has to be one of the most beautiful sound in the world! The cars do some parade laps and then they're off and they go by our seats at top speed, a mere 235-240 miles per hour!!!! That is FAST!!

Scott Dixon leads the field!

Danica (#7) going into the pits.

Some more action from the pits.

It was a good race and there were some good folks sitting next to us this year! We all had fun! Scott Dixon won, but it was Danica Patrick storming down pit lane that stole the show!!! Ryan Briscoe had run into her on the exit of pit lane and broke her car! She was MAD! It made for a good little bit of drama!


After the race it was straight back to Grammy's. We got in late so it was pretty much right to bed when we got in! The next morning we visited with Grammy for a little and then headed back to Mom and Dad's. We got in around dinner time and had a nice Memorial Day cookout. I hit some Wiffle ball with Dad pitching to me. It was a smashing good time! Literally! I hit some killer homerun shots way into Wendy's yard.


The next morning Dan went on his way to New Hampshire and John, Liam, Mo and I headed home. We stopped a Mo's Mom's in Delaware, and then had a pretty uneventful trip home. Well that was my crazy Memorial Day weekend, a good time was had by all!

The Fam!