Went yesterday and today. Parking was an absolute shitshow today, and getting around the track was awful. But it was still a good time.
It looked like some kind of hippie, Burning Man thing as it was near a mushroom forest. Only sparsely populated area of the track. Not much activity around that tent all weekend. Texas doesn't seem to suffer dirty hippies, even if it's Austin.
They said on the telecast that they had 400k attendance. It sure looked like the place was STACKED. That turn 1 spectator mound was unreal. Liberty Media has turned out to be the Feld Entertainment of car racing for sure
It may be my age but those were my favorites. Back when they had qualifying engines that revved to the moon!
Thanks for that. I still remember my first day at the Indy race in 2000. Early in the weekend and early in the day, as I was excited to be there. Well, they started up the first cars in the pits in that big bowl, and it was *amazing*. Like seeing your first top fuel dragster pass. I'd never heard anything fuel-powered like that. Fast forward to 2014 and a motorcycle/train trip to the Montreal F1 race. Still excited to be there, waited for the cars to come by... Blah. Total disappointment. The support classes sounded better, let alone MotoGP, Indycar or IMSA. I know it is all in support of efficiency, but I hope they can do something about that in the future.
I was at Indy in 2000 myself and know exactly what you mean. It was the first time I'd ever heard a Formula1 car live...damn near an orgasmic experience. My favorite place to watch the practice sessions was on the golf course side of the walkover bridge because it was only like 20' from the edge of the track as they screamed by. I miss those times and even if they come back, it won't be the same.
You could almost feel the heat of the rotors glowing from that little hill. That weekend was the loudest shit I ever experienced (AC/DC concerts inc.) I remember EVERYONE had ear protection, That was the day I damaged my hearing forever....