As part of our entry to the 500 Festival Mini Marathon, you receive a free ticket to opening day at the Indianapolis 500. I had never been to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before (other than the run the previous day) so Jaimie and I decided to head out to the track. We were able to park on the lawn within the track, which I thought was pretty cool. You never know how big that old oval is until a) you run on it for 2.5 miles or b) you try to find your way around it and then figure out how to get back; it ain’t easy!

The opening day is really just rookie day. All of the rookies try to qualify for the actual Indianapolis 500. We sat on the bleachers in absolutely perfect weather just watching these newbies fly around the track. One rookie that Jaimie and I were particularly fond of is Will Power. I kid you not, his name is Will Power (throw your fist in the air and say his name…it’s exhilerating!). Other than having a cool name, apparently he’s pretty good because he posted the fastest times of the day.

Will Power

We also got up close to some driver whose name we never figured out, so if you know who it is, leave me a comment and let me know:

Unknown driver

The Unsers were also there to give a talk and sign autographs. I know they’re a pretty big name in racing, but I could care less. I just thought it would be cool to get a picture of someone famous:

Unsers

We had a great time just laughing, talking and learning the panning technique for photography (you get a pretty cool effect, especially with the race cars driving so fast!). After that, we went to Carmel to do some shopping. The entire weekend was a great time catching up with an old friend. I have a feeling it won’t be the last time we get together and hang out! (Please excuse my absolutely frizzy hair)

Me and Jaimie

(All of these images taken with a Canon SD 1000 point and shoot)