I’m at the Indy 500, and well, there isn’t much going on. A pretty severe storm system is making its way through central Indiana and has brought pre-race festivities to a halt. The 108th running of the famed race was scheduled to start at 12:45 pm Eastern Time, or roughly an hour ago. As of right now, everyone is hunkered down due to heavy rain and lightning, and fans have even been told to evacuate the grandstands. However, this hasn’t stopped some (likely quite inebriated) people from taking matters into their own hands.
Due to my lucky position along the Gasoline Alley balcony (thanks, Honda), I enjoyed a perfect birds-eye view of a few dozen fans who got together and organized some old-fashioned sprint races. You can see the Instagram video below or click here.
At first, it was just a few random people running from one roof to another to avoid the rain, but then folks started challenging each other. Before you knew it, someone was using their green t-shirt to kick off a race, and someone else took off their chequered flag jacket to crown a winner.
The race course consisted of a short section of the corridor that runs down from Pagoda Plaza toward Turn 1 along Gasoline Alley. As you can see in the videos below, people are just having a good time—because that’s what they came here to do and some silly rain ain’t gonna change that.
In fact, this group of folks accomplished more in terms of diversity in a few minutes than IndyCar has done in years, with one of the races featuring all-women competitors, while others had several women, older men, and even a child on the grid. Truly a beautiful thing.
Seriously, this is awesome. It shows that no matter what Mother Nature throws in a racing fan’s way, or how much someone’s plans are ruined, people are here with a good attitude and just wanna have a fun ‘ol time. High five.
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