Indianapolis Motor Speedway

In this post, Bethany explores the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on a VIP Golf Cart Tour.

In August 2022, I headed out to the beautiful state of Indiana to visit two dear friends that I met on my “Tulips and Beer” river cruise. Connie and Paul graciously welcomed me to visit them in their home state. The first order of business (after lunch, of course!) was a visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). This 2.5-mile-long track was built in 1909 and has a permanent seating capacity of 257,325, making it the largest capacity sports venue in the world!

Arriving in Indianapolis

I made it to Indianapolis safe and sound the morning of August 12. I snapped a few selfies in the bright and clean Indianapolis International Airport upon arrival. They had a few displays set up with a hint of what was to come that afternoon…a visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But first, my hosts picked me up at the airport and took me for a fantastic lunch before our tour. I got to try my first tenderloin sandwich, a local specialty. This is a MASSIVE fried pork cutlet sandwich. The picture below shows the regular-sized hamburger bun perched precariously on top! Needless to say, I did not clean my plate. But the sandwich was delicious!

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Tour

After lunch, we drove around the corner to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We had pre-booked a two-hour VIP Golf Cart Tour. We entered the museum and checked in at the reception desk to pick up our tour lanyards and meet our guide.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum

Our tour started with a visit to the IMS Museum. The museum is situated within the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track. There are a lot of interesting artifacts and exhibits within the museum, including a room with all of the winning cars on display. Another highlight is the Borg-Warner Trophy. This massive (and gorgeous!) trophy honors the winners of the Indianapolis 500. The trophy, made of sterling silver, is over 5 feet tall, and weighs more than 150 pounds. It is on permanent display here in the IMS Museum; the winners each get a smaller (18″ tall) replica of the trophy to keep.

The Pagoda

From the IMS Museum we headed out to the track itself. We hopped on a golf cart and our guide drove us around a bit. Our first stop was the famed Pagoda. The Pagoda has various rooms and facilities inside. It has nine tiers and reaches a height of 153 feet (the equivalent of a 13-story building). We got to visit several areas in the Pagoda, including some of the VIP suites. We also saw a lot of historic photos in the hallways that showed the various incarnations of the Pagoda through the years.

Media Center

Another area in the Pagoda is the Media Center. This is a massive, open room that spans most of one of the levels of the Pagoda. There are seemingly endless rows of tables and chairs, where reporters from around the world sit and report on the races. While the room itself has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the track, there are also several monitors throughout that show the race. Paul, Connie, and I also had the opportunity to sit at the main media podium and pretend that we were racers being interviewed after the race.

The Track

From various levels of the Pagoda we got some fantastic views of the track. They were hosting a BMW Driving School so we were not able to actually go out and “kiss the bricks” but we did get a great view of them! Another fantastic view from the Pagoda is looking out over the golf course. There are four holes within the track and 14 holes outside.

Winner’s Circle

Next up was a tour of the Winner’s Circle. The podium itself is several feet above ground level. The checkered areas pictured below are actually lifts that are used to get the winning car up onto the podium. It felt great to flash the “V for Victory” signs as I posed for a picture…the closest thing I will ever have to actually winning the Indy 500!

Garages and Gasoline Alley

After spending a lot of time in and around the Pagoda, our very friendly and knowledgeable guide then took us to a few more areas near the track. We drove through the garage area and got to see Gasoline Alley.

Conclusion

My afternoon VIP Golf Cart Tour of Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a fantastic experience. I will admit that I am not a racing fan, but I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and told several stories about the history of the facility. This afternoon kicked off a fantastic weekend visiting my dear friends and seeing a lot of the beautiful state of Indiana.

Links

Click the button below for more information about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the various tours they offer: