Tag Archives: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

It’s that time of year…CARB DAY!

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Those of you who know me really well…and readers of this blog if you read the “It’s almost time” post from the beginning of the month…know that car racing is not my thing, but it is a HUGE thing for Indy and I support anything positive that brings focus to our great city!

Do you know the history of it?  Known for many years as “Carburetion Day,” and shortened only in fairly recent years simply to “Carb Day,” it refers to the day on which cars qualified for the starting field are given the opportunity to practice in “Race Day trim,” as opposed to the less-economical setups required for out-and-out speed during time trials. A major portion of this used to involve adjustment to the carburetors, but even after the introduction of fuel injection in the late 1940s, the original term “carburetion runs” continued to be used. For the record, the stock-block Ford-powered Lotus cars of Jim Clark and Dan Gurney in 1963 were the last to actually use carburetors on Carburetion Day.

So what does Carb Day mean to the fans…well, it’s an excuse to take the day off work, see the Pit Stop Challenge at 1:35, and this year…listen to one of the great “hair bands” from the 80’s…Poison!  Poison will take the Coors Light stage in the infield.  Click here for all the details!

From the IMS website, here are some Fun Facts about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway…

  • Churchill Downs, Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Roman Colosseum and Vatican City all can fit inside the IMS oval, which covers 253 acres.
  • The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the world’s largest spectator sporting facility, with more than 250,000 permanent seats. If the seat boards from the grandstands at IMS were laid end-to-end, they would stretch 99.5 miles.
  • The first event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a helium gas-filled balloon competition on Saturday, June 5, 1909, more than two months before the oval was completed.

What about your memories of visiting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – here in Indy, we just call it “the track” – good, bad, had fun but can’t remember?  Share your memories with me!

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Vicki Reed

Are you ready to run????

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May is upon us…and that means Indianapolis 500 Festival, kicked off by the Mini Marathon tomorrow morning at 7:30.  The OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon is the nation’s largest half-marathon with 35,000 participants and has sold out for the past 11 years…really…35,000 people running and walking this race, I applaud the drive and stamina it takes to complete this feat, but it isn’t my cup of tea!

One of my favorite memories of working downtown for the once Bank One (now Chase) Corporation was when the Mini was held on Friday mornings.  The race started at Meridian and Ohio streets and I worked in the Bank One Tower, getting to work was sometimes challenging, but the sight of the runners filling at least the northern half of the circle and funneling North on Meridian to the starting line at Ohio was beautiful…and when the race started, watching the mass of people move North on Meridian and slowly start spreading out…it was great!  I am surprised however that the Bank One Tower didn’t fall over as nearly everyone on the 48 floors was on the West side of the building watching the spectacle!  Bob and Tom would broadcast from the pool deck at the Hilton (now Radisson) on the corner…some great memories!

Now the course has changed, it begins near the intersection of Washington and West streets, heads west toward the Indianapolis Motor Speedway along Michigan Street and does a complete lap around the 2.5 mile track before heading back down New York Street to the finish line.  Because of the horrific events at the Boston Marathon, there are more stringent security measures in place, click here to view the most up to date information.

There are so many things happening this month, what events will you participate in?  Let us know!

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Vicki Reed