Some people buy their dads ties for Father's Day; I take mine to the .
It was the first time either of us had gone even though we both wanted to for as long as F1 has been at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I bought the tickets online a week earlier, and we arrived early Sunday morning. Unlike the traffic-choked 500 or Brickyard, Dad and I, to our pleasure and amazement, were able to drive straight in to the infield parking lot.
The day was beautiful; cloudless blue sky and unseasonably cool, springlike weather. We shouldered our seat pads and small coolers filled with drinks and set off across the noisy pedestrian bridge to our seats. The corner 6 terrace, where we sat, gave us a pristine view of seven turns, brought us closer to the track than anwhere else, and gave us a chance to walk along the back straightaway later in the day. We felt it was one of the best places to sit. After dropping off our baggage, we wandered around the infield. A small band played trite classics near the press pagoda while the manufacturer tents clustered around the racing museum. It took all of Dad's willpower to walk away from a $75 BMW F1 shirt.
At 9:40, the race began. The Carrera GTs served as a good precursor to the main event. That started at noon after the usual driver presentation, national anthem, and F16 flyby. (Why don't they race those things, I wonder?)
I had seen F1 cars on TV, but, like everyone says, it didn't do those machines justice. They shot around the turns effortlessly and, as they hit the straightaway, accelerated through five screaming gears in a few hundred yards. I could feel when they shifted. Amazing. Dad was in heaven.
We watched the first half of the race from our seats where we witnessed the first two crashes and a few interesting battles. At the halfway point we went walking along the back stretch. There the cars blurred by and attempted to set up for the sharp eighth turn. We returned to the grandstand in time to see Michael Schumacher win. Big surprise there.
I won't go through a point-by-point of the race (it's ), but I will say I enjoyed it immensely. Dad and I are already planning for next year.
Update: And the requisite panorama.
