Here’s the really fun post — all of the racing celebrities we saw.
As soon as we arrived in the garage area, we saw Jon Beekhuis and Bob Jenkins, two members of the TV commentating crew on Versus.
Next up was our favorite moving chicane, Milka Duno.
When we moved to pit road, we saw Michael Andretti watching the Indy Lights race.
As well as Sam Schmidt. His driver, Pippa Mann, won the Lights race.
Before the main race, we saw him on pit road again.
Back in the garages, Dan Wheldon (who we affectionately refer to as “Caps” because of his goofy capped teeth) nearly ran us down in his moped.
Chris was pleased to see that Dan wears his own merchandise.
At the Sarah Fisher Racing hauler, we saw both Graham Rahal
And his boss, Sarah Fisher.
Near the Penske garages, we saw The Captain himself. When we saw him go into another trailer, we waited for awhile, hoping to see him come back out.
Not only did we get a closer view, Roger Penske actually spent a lot of time signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.
Driving through the garages were Vitor Meira
and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Near the media center, Janel pointed out Pippa Mann leaving the building with her winning trophy. Cool! So we got a few pictures of her. Then Chris stepped in and politely asked for a photo.
So he got a picture of the Lights race winner just 30 minutes after her victory!
Also near the media center, we saw Robin Miller, who used to write for The Indianapolis Star and now works for Speed TV.
This is IndyCar technical director Kevin Blanch. He’s the guy Helio Castroneves tried to attack after the race in Edmonton.
Just before we left pit lane, we saw Arie Luyendyk sauntering toward the two-seater car. (He drove Terrell Owens in the two-seater before the green flag dropped. Chris couldn’t let this Indy 500 legend walk by without getting a picture.
So here are Chris and Arie maybe 30 minutes before the start of the race.
Look! There’s another legend, A.J. Foyt. We weren’t brave enough to approach that tough guy for a picture.
Here are the drivers waiting for their introductions.
We didn’t get very close to the stage, but we did see Tony Kanaan
as well as Graham Rahal
Although I was so excited to see all of the famous people up close, I was a little disappointed that I never saw my favorite driver, Dario Franchitti, except when he was standing on the platform for drivers’ introductions. I guess that was my only disappointment for the entire evening!
IndyCar up close: The people