An Indy Car Racing fan is born!!

Sunday morning felt like it came entirely too quickly! By 8:30am the Jeep was packed, we were showered & jazzed up... and on our way downtown to the Hilton again to meet our 500 Festival friends!!

After grabbing a quick bite in the hospitality area, we were led out a back door to an awaiting bus... after settling into our seats, we were joined by numerous other event people (Rose Parade & Shambhala Music Festival) and a few VIPs (Kellie Pickler & Judge Alex). My favorite moment of the bus ride, outside of having a Police escort to the speedway and passing thousands of cars waiting for hours in a mere 15 mins, was Kellie Pickler shouting "I'm ready for some Coors Light, I'm an effing redneck!!" (and I use effing in the politest way) :)

Once we arrived in the infield, we made our way to the garages & pits with our special credentials & pin that Leigh's friend who works for Indy Car hooked us up with. It was cool to see the cars roll out to their pits & track, see all the crazy amounts of tires each pit utilizes over the 500 laps, and we even passed by a garage just in time to collect some (free) fun racing merchandise!!

Leigh, Jess & I in the garages

Tires for the 500 laps

Cars rolling from garages to their pits down Gasoline Alley!!

After we checked out the garages, it was on to the track & pits!! It was super cool see the pit crew prep the cars and get organized before the race. PLUS seeing them up close helped me select who I would root for during the race... the Target racing team employs some pretty good looking pit guys!! :)

Danica Patrick's car & pit

Borg Warner Trophy

Sitting on the track wall

We decided our seats in the North Peak were a little too far for us to walk to, so we settled for watching the laps on a large screen outside of The Pagota. Which was cool because we were in the shade and could people watch (the outfits on some of these folks was off the chain!!). Kelly Clarkston & Seal sang a really awesome National Anthem complete with a fly over by a Stealth Bomber (I have never seen one before, it looked like an alien ship... I've probably watched Independence Day a few too many times!!) What I really appreciated before the beginning of the race, is that a they had a pastor lead the crowd in prayer for the drivers, men & women over seas and the safety of all those in attendance. I have never been to a sporting event before where a prayer was said before kick-off, I think that's when I officially fell in love!!

Headphones that let you listen to the drivers & the pit crews

By Lap 100 we were ready to explore. We met up with our 500 Festival friends and walked through the infield to find our friend Fred from the night before... who had promised us signed Indy 500 posters by the artist David Uhl. On the walk we got some great views of the track, one spot I said to Leigh "OMGosh how cool to watch from right there..." and in return she says "That's dangerous, people could be killed right there!!" After watching a car speed past, I determined she was right, sitting right on the track wall in your lounge chair is dangerous... but you must really love racing to risk it!!

All the girls with artist David Uhl, who designed the official race poster for the 100th Anniversary

I was super pumped we decided to walk over to David Uhl's booth... Leigh & I had been searching all morning for shirts or hats celebrating the 100th Anniversary and it appeared that A) they didn't have anything or B) it was already sold out (and we walked to about 10 booths)!! But when we reached David's booth, not only did he have the coolest art... he had the coolest v-neck (and we all know how I feel about v-necks) tee's with the full 100th Anniversary logo!!

After all 5 ladies in our group bought the same shirt :)... we headed back to The Pagota to hang out in the 500 Festival hospitality suite & grandstands... this is where we got the best view of the race all day! AND we were directly in front of the finish line!!

Getting the money shot of the final laps

The final lap of the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500... gotta love Jess & Leigh at the end, when no one could figure out if the race was over or not :)

I never thought I would like racing... I am sure my friends & family never thought I would like racing. As my one of my friends, Mod, emailed me after I returned to Detroit "We may have to have a talk about you liking Nascar" I made a quick defense reply... Indy Car is NOT Nascar!!

What have I become?!! :)

xoxox

PS A special THANK YOU to our 500 Festival friends & Leigh's friend Natalie for the VIP treatment over the weekend... definitely memorable & super fabulous!!! :) Woo Woo!!

Winner Dan Wheldon