Go See a Race!

Five of my favorite hours of the entire year come during the two Indycar races I attend annually. It feels good to settle into a seat (er, balance on the edge of a bleacher) and watch a race unfold. The sights, sounds, smells, and general experience are nothing like one gets on TV. A modern race-watching experience usually includes video boards and scoring towers that convey most of the information the coverage is good for. Television universally, however, misses and flattens out the real experience. Just how long does the backstretch at Indianapolis look? How busy are two dozen drivers on a flat 1-mile oval? How fast does a car slow down to negotiate the esses at Mid-Ohio?
I've given up trying to do basically anything on my phone during a race (if you know who you are, sorry... I didn't want to miss anything...), but my stopwatch and camera are always at ready. I spent the final couple of stints at Milwaukee timing Will Power's deficit, and got a lot of good (for my skills, anyway) pit stop photos. Anyway, it will be a long wait until Indianapolis next year, when I plan to be at my next Indycar race...

In any event, maybe the most fun part of actually going to races is meeting and hanging out with all those friends I seldom see any other time. To everyone I met up with at Indianapolis and Milwaukee, Thanks and I'm looking forward to next year!