Just Got Back From the Indy 500-- Part 2: May 24, 2019: Carb Day

My 68th birthday.  A party just for me.

Piece of birthday cake from Sue, Paul and John and a card.

This was Carb Day, which we have just recently started going to because all of us are now retired.  Carb Day, even though Indy Cars no longer have carburetors, is the last time racers get to have their cars on the track before the big race on Sunday.  This is always on a Friday.

Carb Day costs $30, $25 if tickets purchased earlier, and includes the last practice, a 100-mile race, pit crew competition and a concert.

We like to sit in different places for the practice and race to get a different perspective.  We sat across from the famed Pagoda, right near the Yard of Bricks.

The Freedom 100 Race pits the Indy Light cars, which are a little smaller than the Indy cars and driven by racers wanting to become Indy Car racers.  They drive 40 laps around the track for the 100 miles (the track is 2 1/2 miles around).  This was a good race.

We go back to the RV for a bit as the pit crew competition is a bit boring.  Then we walk back across the street  to the racetrack for the concert.  This year we saw Kool & the Gang and Foreigner.  Last year it was Blues Traveler and Train.  The year before was Barenaked Ladies and Steve Miller Band and before that, Journey.

Back to the RV for cocktails and eating, then to the Legion for a band and more beer.

Great 68th.  --RoadOld

A PLETHORA OF TIDBITS:  TWEETY BIRD, the animated Looney Tunes character, was originally pink.  Bur censors complained that Tweety looked naked, so animators gave the bird yellow feathers.

Heading Out for Indianapolis for This Little Ol' Race This Weekend

In just a little while, I'll be heading over to Long Lake, Illinois, to meet Sue and Paul and leave in their RV for another trip to Indianapolis to see this little old race.

This is now probably my seventh or eighth time there and I am becoming a bit of a fan, though I never thought I'd be.  I'm not a racing car fan.

Thursday, we park the RV at the American Legion Post 500 in Speedway, Indiana, which is located right across the street from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  You can't get any closer than that.

Thursday, we walk over to Speedway's Main Street and party there.  Friday we go to Carb Day which will have the racers doing last laps before Sunday, then there is a 100 mile race by the Indy Lights cars, which are racers trying to make the 33-car field on Sunday.  Then there is a concert, this year featuring Foreigner and Kool & the Gang.

--RoadDog

'The Joker' Plays Carb Day at Indy 500 in 2017

From the May 27, 2017, Indy Star. Dave Lindquist.

"For sing-along tunes and a feel-good atmosphere, Indianapolis Motor Speedway hired the right Carb Day headliner in the Steve Miller Band.

"Vocalist-guitarist Steve Miller, looking fit at 73, brought Friday's Indianapolis Motor Speedway party to a close with a run of enduring radio hits "The Joker,"  "Fly Like An Eagle" and "Rock 'N Me."

"An estimated audience of 20,000 inside Turn 4 kept the mood light, which followed an example set by opening band Barenaked Ladies.

"Known for the songs "One Week" and "If I Had $1,000,000," Canada's Barenaked Ladies improvised a song about one fan's 'beer snake' that towered above the crowd at perhaps 20 taped-together cans."

We had a blast at this event and were sitting near a beer snake as there were several being built.

Ric Flair, pro-wrestling icon got up and really amazed.

This Friday, we will be seeing the groups Blues Traveler and Train perform at Carb Day.

Whoop!  --RoadDog


REAL LABELS - REAL PRODUCTS:  On a large folding cardboard sunshade for car windshields:  "Do not attempt to operate vehicle with sunshade in place."

Turned 66, But Not On 66

Yesterday my odometer clicked over to 66, but I wasn't on Route 66.

But, we plan to be on Route 66 a lot this year since we are both 66.

Like Paul McCartney, we plan to drive the entire length of the Mother Road this fall.  Doing 66 when you're 66 has long been a dream.

Also, no posts for a few days as I am heading out to Indianapolis for this little old race they have there this time of the year.  Friday is Carb Day and along with final runs, we will be seeing two great bands:  Bare Naked Ladies and the Steve Miller Band.

--RoadDog