Back Home Again in Indiana: It’s Time to Cut Off the Sleeves of Your Shirts and Get Ready for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing

May is for the Indy 500

May 1 in Indiana, the checkered flags come out. This month is all about one major event, Race Day.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is home to the largest single-day sporting event, held in the largest sporting facility in the world. It can hold up to 400,000 people, and as many will gather there on May 29 this year to watch the Indy 500.

I live exactly 37 minutes away from the Speedway, but I won’t be there.

It’s a family tradition

The first-ever Indy 500 was in 1911, but for me, the tradition began in 1983. My grandparents had moved from Indianapolis to a 10-acre property 50 minutes west on a little gravel street called Stringtown Road. My parents settled somewhere between Indy and my grandparents, and I am still here today.

My grandparents used that property as a second home for our gigantic family with so many siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Race day was our biggest event.

It was the day we realized that summer was here. We breathed in the smell of fried chicken. Coleslaw, chips, and desserts were spread out amongst the six picnic tables placed under a huge shelter my grandpa built. We played horseshoes and volleyball while the race blared on the old radio my grandpa sat out.