Rainy Day Doesn't Faze Carb Day Fans
by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com
 Beverage vendors at Indy Carb Day.
Photo: AndySallee |
The rains fell but the showers couldn't dampen the spirits of over a hundred thousand strong at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday's (May 23rd) Carb Day. The precipitation began overnight and continued intermittently throughout the day.
Many chose to wait out the downpours by huddling underneath the long row of grandstands along the Brickyard's front straightaway. Others found overhangs and porticos they could use as shelter. Some even discarded care for the weather in its entirety and simply went barefoot and bare-headed through the raindrops in Indy springtime's best imitation of a day at the beach.
John Derriton of Columbus, Ohio put it best when he said, "Hey, if we can't race let's not waste the day crying about it." Derriton and friends from the Buckeye State drove from 5 AM to Indianapolis for the day, carrying a sizable plastic cooler of 'beverages' to maintain the right frame of mind on Carb Day.
Cooling Off with a Cool One in the IMS Catacombs
A number of ardent fans headed to the Indy Lights Series garages, which were open during the day to interested and curious onlookers as the safety trucks and sweepers circulated the track. Marianne Sullivan of Indianapolis found the cars much larger than she had imagined, marveling at the broad expanse of carbon fiber midships of the sleek Dallara chassis and taking in the fore and aft wings with wide eyes.
In the spirit of the occasion, a group of enterprising fans buried beneath the North Tower Terrace grandstands and the Media Center distributed beads as barter for a small fluid-dispensing station they operated surreptitiously beyond the eyes and ears of the 'yellow shirts' on guard for deviant behavior. Indeed, it's doubtful the authorities here at the Speedway could have penetrated the phalanx of young people enjoying the impromptu saloon had they been aware and inclined to interrupt its activities.
Fans in Gasoline Alley mulled the prospects of a resumption of IndyCar Series practice which never came as they chatted with drivers waiting, just like them, for the rains to end. It was a bountiful opportunity for the faithful to collect the 'John Hancock' of their heroes, many of whom stood in the sprinkles with Sharpie at the ready for several minutes to show their appreciation.
Any Shelter in a Storm Will Do
As the Miller Lite flowed and the day dragged on many called the experience 'done' and headed for the exits. By 3 PM the throngs had been diminished to simply a 'nice crowd'. The hardiest of all waited in the covered sections of grandstands in the Paddock Penthouse tier across from the empty pitboxes while clouds thinned, and then returned.
In the Media Center itself the jaded journalistic community joined 2007 Indy Lights champion Alex Lloyd and his teammates Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon of Chip Ganassi Racing for a demonstration of the large Wii console installed there. The attraction was not 'Grand Theft Auto' but a Winter X-Games-esque skiing competition full of somersaults, helicopters and aerial acrobatery.
Police called the crowd 'average' in terms of the need to intervene on Friday, probably relieved that the rain had dampened the enthusiasm of many to a modest level of enthusiastic inebriation somewhat short the point of inappropriate behavior.
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