Forget all that talk about how the Indianapolis 500 is a shadow of its former self. It doesn't matter how many cars are in the field or how many people are watching in the stands. It doesn't matter who is in the field and who is not.
What matters is 88.
That's the number of time the Indianapolis 500 has been run. With a history going back 93 years, these things can not diminish the Indianapolis 500. Its importance may wane, but it will not go away. It's been around that long.
Walking through Gasoline Alley, as I have done many times, things begin to change. The air smells different, the sky changes color, the world feels different. Tradition and history fill the air, and can be felt by anyone who passes under the Gasoline Alley sign onto Pit Lane.
This race is still important, both in the minds of the drivers and to the state of Indiana.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the only thing that separates Indiana from Ohio, Kansas, Oklahoma, Vermont, Montana, and countless other states in the union. Indiana has an entire sport named after it in IndyCar racing, and people worldwide know the Indy 500.
Where, other than Indy, does the winner drink milk? Where, other than Indianapolis, will a humble 35-year-old like Gil de Ferran climb a fence? Where, other than Speedway, Indiana, will people get chills when Jim Neibors sings the state song?
There is a reason the Indianapolis 500 makes Indiana.
It's the same reason why there is an IndyCar on our state quarter. It's why our license plate should have a checkered flag on it, rather that the hideous design that currently graces the back of my car.
It's why, when driving around the Indianapolis area, and even here in Muncie, signs hang that say "Welcome Race Fans."
There's just something about Speedway, Indiana.
Oh, sure, you can talk Hoosier Hysteria, you can root for the Pacers and the Colts, but the Pacers and the Colts will have down seasons and lulls. The Speedway never has a lull; and you can always be sure that the biggest event in the sport, that the best team in the country is right here in Indiana.
I will go to Indianapolis again this year, as I have done on a regular basis since I moved to the state, and will once again be watching in awe as cars zoom by my face.
And there will be 33 cars, and there will be milk in Victory Lane. The winners face will go on the Borg-Warner trophy. The crowds will roar, the engines will fire, and the balloons will soar into the air. Rain will be coming, as it seems to always be at the Speedway. And somewhere in the stands, a 5-year-old will be witnessing the Indianapolis 500 for the first time.
And that is why there will always be an Indianapolis 500.
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