What Indy Means...

From the beginning, the Indianapolis 500 has been a place at which to test both man and machine.  That test extends beyond the men behind the wheel, as all that join in to accept the challenge of Indy, from the person that sweeps the garage floor, to those that fuel the car and change the tires on race day (and everybody in between), are tested by what has come to be referred to as “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.”  Indy is what drives this sport.  Indy is why we do what we do.  Indy is its own championship, and success here overshadows success everywhere else.  Every participant will gladly exchange an IndyCar championship for an Indianapolis 500 victory and the racing immortality so conferred.  Nearly 400,000 people will fill the Speedway on race day, because they are drawn by its inescapable lure.  Choice seats are handed down from generation to generation.  It defines the city and the state that serves as its host.  The opportunity to participate, let alone win, is reason enough to experience all of the highs, the lows, and the unnerving frustrations that the Brickyard has to offer.  The Indianapolis 500 is Monaco, LeMans, and Daytona all rolled into one and then some.  Every turn is Eau Rouge.  Every lap is the final lap.  Race day at Indy is Christmas, New Year’s Day, and your birthday combined.  Indy is pageantry and tradition and speed and danger.  Throughout its history, the world’s greatest racers have come here to test themselves and to share in its mystique.  A win at Indianapolis becomes the defining moment in the career of a race car driver.  It is the race that all want to win.  It has humbled the greatest champions.  It can be soul-stirring and heart-wrenching, producing both chills and tears.  If racing was a religion, Indy would be its temple.  Indy is where heroes are born, and it is where legends never die.