Diamond Jubilee: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

July 2021

The Indianapolis 500

I grew up with the race and even if I wasn't a fan, I certainly knew about it. I remembered it had special cars only for its track (different from similar Formula One vehicles). The one place AQ and I had not visited in the city was the racetrack. At the end of the day, we made it our final stop (luckily it was open on July 4th).

Perhaps the reason I didn't know more about the city is that its famous race eclipses all other things. For me, Indianapolis IS the Indy 500. AQ, of course, knew about the race and was completely excited to visit as he is a huge racing fan. The place is set up for mass tourism, so I think I was happy we visited during COVID when the crowds were thinner. We opted for the museum-only ticket. A more expensive one took visitors around the track one time. AQ really wanted to do that, but when we saw the price, we declined. The racetrack is clearly making money even outside of racing season.

For a person not that interested in cars, I had to admit the museum is extremely well done. It shows the evolution of the Indy-type racers with many on display. It was interesting to see how the race evolved as the focus intensified on one thing alone - speed. A car where visitors could be photographed in the driver's seat was very popular, and AQ waited patiently to have his photo taken (by me). He LOVED the museum and I was happy to see him so delighted (clearly a better choice than covered bridges).

We finished the museum and went back to the hotel. There we discovered the best place to view the fireworks was the War Memorial. We drove back downtown and found parking with difficulty nearby (a LOT of people drove into the city). Then we climbed the steps of the War Memorial, took a seat, and watched - the show was spectacular. The display seemed dangerously close.

The next day, AQ took me to the bus (Amtrak-operated) at Indianapolis Train Station where I would travel to the rail line in Normal, Illinois. He was ending his travel with me mainly because he didn't want to be more than a day's drive from Kent, Ohio. I understood completely. We had a great time and I was happy to see some of America with him since he and I had explored many places in Saudi Arabia together.

The next phase of the journey was about to begin, solo. It was ironic that the last place we visited was dedicated to cars. My journey was supposed to be by train, but because AQ had joined me, we had done everything with his car. That was all about to change.