My Indy 500 Experience – It's Craziness I tell You, Craziness!!!

So I’m headed for the Indy 500 this weekend, and I’m so excited! This will be my 20th year of attending the Memorial Day race! It’s really become a family tradition for us. Each year my dad and I (and other family members as well) wake up early drive to the track in Indianapolis and experience something that, in my opinion, has no equal by any other sporting event in the world. Here are a few things I’m looking forward to:

• The sheer size of the event. From one end of the track to the other is 3/4 of a mile. It’s so big, you can’t see the whole thing. We have great seats (50 rows up on the front straightaway) and we can see all the way into turn 4, most all of the pits, and all the way into turn 1. It’s just massive. You can’t even describe it. It’s as big as the Vatican City, Yankee Stadium, Churchhill Downs, and the Michigan Football Stadium combined. It’s huge!!!
• The people. There will be an estimated 300,000 to400,000 people there. Are you kiddin’ me? It’s ridicuous and loud.
• My wife being with me. Sarah loves the race as much as I do. However, in recent years, she’s had to play the role of mom more than race fan. Well, not this year, baby! She’s going! And it’s going to be sweet!
• Breakfast at the track. When I was a kid, we had friends who would drive in from Iowa with their motor home and we would cook breakfast in some guy’s yard about a mile from the track. Today, it looks more like buying breakfast on the infield of the track (it’s just cleaner and safer and, well, the Iowa people don’t come any more so…). There’s nothing like the sound of Indy Car engines warming up to make your eggs taste better!
• Seeing my brother. Since we moved to Florida 5 1/2 years ago, I haven’t gotten to spend as much time as I would like with my brother. But the Indy 500 gives us an excuse to hang out for a day or so and reconnect. it’s just good.
• the first Green Flag. Peyton Manning is waving the first green flag this year. So that will be cool. There is no feeling like watching 33 cars do 235 mph straight into a 90 degree turn. It’s by far the most exhilarating feeling of my year. (I’m not exaggerating that!)
• Eating lunch in the grandstands. We always pack a cooler full of Soda and Sandwiches. Dad always buys Twizzlers and calls them (Tweeeeezlers). We have pretzel rods and m&m’s with peanuts. Historically, we have gotten Subway sandwiches the night before and then bring those, but this year we’re just doing the whole “pre-bought box lunches” from the track. They’re just better. (One year we tried Ice Cream. Yeah that didn’t work too well.)
• Listening to Bob & Tom on the way to the track. It’s become tradition that we listen to Bob & Tom on the radio driving in to the track b/c they always do a special race day morning show that is hilarious.
• The Keller Family “Pool.” Because we’re not particularly big race fans other than at Indy each year, in order to get us more into the race and have a few drivers to root for, we always have a pool. Everyone pitches in 5 bucks and then you draw 4 names out of a hat. (Literally it’s out of a hat… dad used to wear this bright, flourescent yellow hat when I was a kid. He told me it was so that if we ever got separated I could spot him in a crowd. Unfortunately, it was the 80’s and all 300,000 people were wearing flourescent yellow hats…) anyway, drawing 4 drivers out of a hat gives each of us different people to cheer for during the race. Winner gets $25, 2nd place gets $10, and 3rd place gets their money back. (In 20 years of racing, the stakes have never been raised. I can still remember the first year my dad made me kick in the 5 bucks myself…)
• The noise. the Indy 500 is loud. Here’s what we do. Each of us brings a walkman radio with earbuds to listen to the official radio broadcast of the race. (It just helps you follow what’s happen… this was before they had jumbo-trons on the infield bleachers) So you put in your earbuds, then we put on noise blocking headphones, then we turn our radios all way up as loud as they can go. Here’s the thing… when the cars go by, you can’t hear your radio! It’s that loud! And I love that! I will scream myself horse on Sunday. Not from preaching, but from yelling at Race Cars as they drive past me at 235 mph. That’s intense!

• The Memories. The Indy 500 has been apart of my childhood since I was 11 years old. The only one I have ever missed was the first year we moved to Ft. Myers in 2002. The church was 4 weeks old and I just couldn’t leave. I remember coming home from church that day and watching the end of the race on TV. It was a weird and eery feeling. May it never happen again! When I think about the memories that I have of this race track and what it means to my dad and I, it brings tears to my eyes. What a cool thing to have with my dad. May I be privileged enough to have an “Indy 500” with my kids as well someday. Thanks dad for making Race Day special for me! Let’s do 20 more!!!

Have a great race day everybody… oh yeah, anybody going to church, have a great time too!!! (Don’t worry Mike & Caleb will be there, so you’re in great hands!!!) And the race doesn’t start until 1 pm so you’ll be home in plenty of time to watch the entire thing!!!

Matt Keller