It’s another beautiful day in the neighborhood at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday morning. The sun is shining, skies are blue with scattered clouds, and there’s a breeze. Crowds are thronging for Grand Prix of Indianapolis race day – four races. The feature race is the Verizon IndyCar race at the end of the schedule, preceded by the three Road to Indy support series – Indy Lights, Mazda Pro Series Presented by Cooper Tires, and Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda.
In Pagoda Plaza, more than 150 beautifully restored classic cars are on display, by groups. These meticulously detailed cars, invited by the Classic Car Club, will be seen all day. There is judging underway, and Saturday night there will be an Awards Banquet to present the trophies.
In the IndyCar garages the teams are starting to ramp up for the late afternoon race, slowly and surely. There doesn’t appear to be anything frantic ongoing. So far the Tech Shed is vacant, awaiting visitors. Signs are starting to go up for the incoming Indianapolis 500 drivers.
The highlight of my day came early, with a Hot Lap in the Chevrolet Camaro Safety Car driven by Professional Driver GAIL TRUESS, who also drives the Indy 500 Doctor’s Car. What a thrill!
Racing begins at 11 am and continues into the afternoon, finishing with the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis – a 82-lap/200-mile IndyCar race on the 14-turn, 2.349-mile road course. The live TV broadcast is on ABC beginning at 3:30 ET/local time.