On a recent trip out to the wild-wild-mid-west, I had the opportunity to take in a spectacle know as the Indy 500. I hesitate to call this a sporting event, as the term sport to me would have to exhibit direct human functionality or individual effort. However, am not trying to say there is no athletic ability involved with driving a car at that level, but I just fail to see the benefit in spending millions of dollars and wasting precious resources while polluting the earth on many levels just to drive around in circles. But,,, that may just be the hippie in me.
However, having attended the event, with approximately 300,000 of my closest friends, it was quite the experience to say the least. Just imagine the largest amount of people you have ever seen, all hammered, with a mean education of around the ninth grade all watching toys go around in circles. Additionally, not only are these toys really really expensive and fast, but the people with mullets and handle bar mustaches live solely for this day. The combination not only creates the most tense energy alcoholic brethren-hood, but it is nothing short of spectacular.
The people watching was comparable to standing in front of a Sam’s Club on black Friday, however the vibes were slightly more exhilarating and intoxicated. As a guy who grew up in Vail Colorado, I felt right at home in the white sea of un-diversity, but I felt safe because everyone was flabbergasted or elated. Aside from the one ignorant group who thought it was okay to run off with our cooler of beer, and when I say run I mean take it fifty yards away and drink out of it; the event was rather innocuous. We frolicked around the infield of the massive track, socially/binge drinking out of the coolers we carried with us, interacting with the crowed of pandemonium. We saw every Dale, Joe, and Sally, and all their cousins, who had come out of the wood-work to experience the event they had clearly been planning since last year. People set up camp for days before the race. RV’s for miles surrounded the track and people had come prepared with everything you could imagine from grills, to bathtubs, to personal lit up stages for nightly entertainment. To make things more interesting this is all taking place in a state that promotes the use of fireworks. There was explosions all over the place going off every few minutes and loud enough to send veterans into flashbacks. Enough to scare you if you were not paying attention, but scarier knowing the people lighting them had been drinking for days too.
None-the-les, like any event there is a high and a low. Winning or loosing in this event is no matter, in fact I bet half the people walking out of that place couldn’t have told you who won, but the experience and energy that is shared created a unique camaraderie. For me a one-time thing, but forever something I can say I have done. Plus, having never watched the whole race before, I now know that the race is really only 200 laps, not 500.
Just think, this wasn’t even a NASCAR event.