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Indianapolis 500 attendance: 135,000 fans! (Original Post) True Dough May 2021 OP
Safe race! Only two yellow flags-- dawg day May 2021 #1
And, across the country, masses of people on the move too... True Dough May 2021 #2
Amtrak now selling all seats (previously was only 50%); this weekend's trains were almost full brooklynite May 2021 #10
I'm taking the Downeaster (Amtrak) up to Maine next weekend. smirkymonkey May 2021 #31
My daughter is down in Cancun this weekend LeftInTX May 2021 #20
all it needed was a diatribe by trump nt msongs May 2021 #3
I wouldn't want to be in the same place as this guy... True Dough May 2021 #4
Waste of lettering SheltieLover May 2021 #6
Oh, I've met more than a few of those. shrike3 May 2021 #18
Guess he didn't know Seuss was anti-nazi. captain queeg May 2021 #23
It's Indiana. I wonder how many are unvaccinated. Crunchy Frog May 2021 #5
Likely vast majority SheltieLover May 2021 #7
I have some roots in Indiana, and have lived there for some brief periods. Crunchy Frog May 2021 #8
I hear you! SheltieLover May 2021 #9
I wish more Illinoisans felt like you. shrike3 May 2021 #15
Please pass the word that we're a hellhole and everyone will stop coming here. shrike3 May 2021 #16
Just for a wee bit of perspective..... A HERETIC I AM May 2021 #11
That's a lot of people underpants May 2021 #17
My wife is from an hour southwest of Indy. GulfCoast66 May 2021 #21
Ahhh yes...the Snake Pit! A HERETIC I AM May 2021 #25
I was there when Rick Mears set the speed record. GulfCoast66 May 2021 #26
If After 2 - 3 Weeks Pass After This Holiday And We Have No Covid Surges.... global1 May 2021 #12
And I think that's about as fair an assessment True Dough May 2021 #13
That's how I see it too. FoxNewsSucks May 2021 #14
The ones that get sick will be the unvaccinated SoonerPride May 2021 #19
Not everyone is eligible to be vaccinated yet, for starters. Ms. Toad May 2021 #28
The discussion was the 135,000 at the Indy 500 SoonerPride May 2021 #30
This sub-thread is broader than that. Ms. Toad May 2021 #32
Went to a MLB game today for the first time since July 2019. Ace Rothstein May 2021 #22
Well, we know one thing True Dough May 2021 #24
Two in that crowd are my second cousin and her husband. Ms. Toad May 2021 #27
That is less than 50% capacity MichMan May 2021 #29
 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
31. I'm taking the Downeaster (Amtrak) up to Maine next weekend.
Mon May 31, 2021, 12:04 AM
May 2021

It's not full yet, but I am taking business class since nobody passes through the BC car.

It's either at the very front/back depending upon which direction you are going so it's just an extra measure of precaution since it will be the first time I have travelled in well over a year. I'm kind of nervous about leaving my neighborhood. It's been so long!

SheltieLover

(57,073 posts)
7. Likely vast majority
Sun May 30, 2021, 05:13 PM
May 2021

IN is like the Twilight Zone - no offense to a great show - land where time stood still.

Crunchy Frog

(26,548 posts)
8. I have some roots in Indiana, and have lived there for some brief periods.
Sun May 30, 2021, 05:17 PM
May 2021

I wouldn't want to even set foot in that hellhole. And I was mostly in Bloomington, the "nice" part.

shrike3

(3,283 posts)
15. I wish more Illinoisans felt like you.
Sun May 30, 2021, 06:03 PM
May 2021

They're all coming over here in droves. While developers tear up what prairie we have left and destroy habitat for mink, hawks, etc.

Please pass the word to your friends that we're a hellhole and maybe they'll stop coming.

shrike3

(3,283 posts)
16. Please pass the word that we're a hellhole and everyone will stop coming here.
Sun May 30, 2021, 06:04 PM
May 2021

It's getting out of hand.

A HERETIC I AM

(24,321 posts)
11. Just for a wee bit of perspective.....
Sun May 30, 2021, 05:26 PM
May 2021

The Speedway used to get 130,000 in on a Friday practice day on week one of “The 90 Days Of May” as it used to be called.

I was working as a participant in what could be referred to as the Glory Days of IndyCar, and there would be 50,000 in the stands on a Wednesday afternoon, the 1st week of practice. That Friday would see in excess of 130,000.

It was said that the single largest gate take of any Sporting event in the world was race day at the Indianapolis 500, where close to a half million would come through the gates between 5 AM and the Start Engines command at 10:50. The second largest was Pole Day at The Speedway, where in the 90’s, 300,000 was expected.

GulfCoast66

(11,949 posts)
21. My wife is from an hour southwest of Indy.
Sun May 30, 2021, 08:09 PM
May 2021

They had 6 tickets and we went every year between 89-93.

That crowd had to be seen to be believed. The Snake Pit(4th turn I think) was still there and during one rainy race day morning I witnessed impromptu female mud wrestling which always involved the rapid removal of the participants tops. I was only 23 at the time and was awestruck. By the entire spectacle. Nothing awing about the participants!

Is my memory correct that it was on a Sunday so you had to bring your own beer?

A HERETIC I AM

(24,321 posts)
25. Ahhh yes...the Snake Pit!
Sun May 30, 2021, 09:02 PM
May 2021

Last edited Sun May 30, 2021, 09:54 PM - Edit history (1)

And you’re right, for years it was inside turn 4.

I don’t profess to be a a Speedway historian by any means, but inside Turn 4 has as much history as almost any other place on the property!

It was inside that turn back in the 60’s where the infamous scaffold towers were constructed and one of them collapsed, killing two and injuring scores more, leading to them being outlawed. Nothing higher than a lawn chair on top of a van, basically.

Pics herein are of the accident in progress;

http://indymotorspeedway.com/scaffold.html

People would drive into the infield with all the materials needed to construct temporary towers. These were commonplace for years;



Open prostitution happened. Illicit liquor and drug sales. Nudity, public sex acts and all manner of good fun! Bonfires that would require several Indy Fire Department pumpers to put out after the race. Ahh yes, the good ol’ days!

A lot of that moved to inside turn 1 in the 90’s because of crackdowns, and as things moved forward and the speedway management changed hands from grandmother to son, they really put the kibosh on a lot of that.

I was a participant in the years before, during and after the refurbishment of the infield portion of the golf course. After they redid the holes on the infield, they really clamped down on where people were allowed to go and what they were allowed to do during the month of May. After all, the Speedway spent millions in an effort to attract a PGA event (which they ultimately did) and did not want their investment trashed by race fans! I played golf on the old course during practice one day. I remember specifically teeing up my ball and watching Emerson Fittipaldi doing 220 down the back stretch, not 50 yards away from my left!

Once they constructed the F1 style infield road course, they cut back on the number of people allowed inside the track by a dramatic amount. The general count is around 330,000 seats around the outside of the track. They used to get another 150.000 at least inside. No longer.

GulfCoast66

(11,949 posts)
26. I was there when Rick Mears set the speed record.
Sun May 30, 2021, 09:37 PM
May 2021

I think he hit 253 on the backstretch. A year or so before they switched to carburetor engines to slow things down. Just did not sound the same without the injected superchargers. That whine was amazing.

Little remembered fact: Indy Racing actually held a race on Disney World property for several years in the 90’s. Disney built a track near the Magic Kingdom parking lot. Think it was a tri-oval. We went to all of them. That track was just demolished a few years ago. Also went to the first few brickyard 400’s. It was just too hot and we quit flying up.

Can’t believe I saw that as fun. Now it seems a nightmare!

global1

(25,169 posts)
12. If After 2 - 3 Weeks Pass After This Holiday And We Have No Covid Surges....
Sun May 30, 2021, 05:32 PM
May 2021

I'll give a sigh of relief and say - it looks like we've made it back.

In the meantime - I'll still be proceeding very cautiously.l

FoxNewsSucks

(10,378 posts)
14. That's how I see it too.
Sun May 30, 2021, 05:54 PM
May 2021

The percent of Americans who are vaccinated seems too low to just throw the masks away and take up where we left off.

The next few weeks will tell.

SoonerPride

(12,286 posts)
19. The ones that get sick will be the unvaccinated
Sun May 30, 2021, 07:01 PM
May 2021

So they had a choice.

If there is a surge it will be among those who think they know more than science.

So where’s the problem?

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
28. Not everyone is eligible to be vaccinated yet, for starters.
Sun May 30, 2021, 11:39 PM
May 2021

0-11 year olds won't be eligilble until next summer. Until then, it is our responsibility to protect them.

Next, 5% of a very large number (of COVID-causing exposures) is still a very large number. The more exposure those of us who are vaccinated have, the more breakthrough cases there will be.

Finally - variants. So far, with very limited data, the vaccine seems to be holding up against variants. But a new variant was just discovered today (a combination of two already in existence) tat combines the worst of each.

SoonerPride

(12,286 posts)
30. The discussion was the 135,000 at the Indy 500
Sun May 30, 2021, 11:58 PM
May 2021

If there were 5 year olds there I would be surprised.

And unvaccinated people (whether by choice or not) in that throng should be wearing masks.

So again, if there is a spike among those that went to the Indy 500 then what’s the problem?

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
32. This sub-thread is broader than that.
Mon May 31, 2021, 01:08 AM
May 2021

The post to which you responded was discussing the timing of removing the mask mandate, not just people in attendance at this event. You responded talking about surges which, again, aren't limited to this event.

A quick look at crowd shots tells me you are wrong about 5 year olds (not to mention 5-11 range). In the the one shot I found, I spotted at least 3 in the roughly 0-5 range. It's our responsibility to keep them safe - so unless they are checking cards at the door, slapping wrisbands on everyone who isn't yet vaccinated, and wandering around enforcing mask wearing by the unvaccinated, they should be enforcing mask-wearing among everyone. Because that works, and doesn't require the tough step that no one seems willing to take - selective enforcement against the unvaccinated.

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
27. Two in that crowd are my second cousin and her husband.
Sun May 30, 2021, 11:35 PM
May 2021

He's a flaming idiot. Not sure what happened to her, since she used to be rational and liberal.

They at least had masks around their necks in the pictures they posted . . .

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