Historic traditions at the famous oval

Have you ever been so close to a destination you could almost see it but just couldn’t seem to get there? Indianapolis has some areas around town where city planners thought the idea of one-way roads made sense. It’s always entertaining to see a vehicle with out-of-state plates turning onto a one-way road and the subsequent look of terror in the eyes of the driver when they realize their predicament.

This past weekend, all roads led to Speedway, Ind., as hundreds of thousands of race fans from all over the world journeyed here to experience the 92^nd running of the Indianapolis 500. Now that’s a tradition that’s hard to top! The folks over on West 16^th Street are also getting ready to launch what many motorcycle enthusiasts hope will become another longstanding tradition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS); the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, Sept. 14, 2008.

Weeks of planning went into every movement of the day to execute a very special demonstration to give the fans attending “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” a chance to experience a MotoGP bike first hand.

2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden made a couple laps of the IMS oval before the start of the 92^nd running of the Indianapolis 500. I didn’t personally experience this special demonstration, but from the brief glimpses during the televised pre-race activities, it appeared Nicky was having no problem finding his way around this one-way road just off of West 16^th Street.

Here’s a shot from IMS photographer Brad Love of Nicky Hayden making his way around the famous oval. Also, check out IMS media correspondent Pat Sullivan’s interview with Nicky after his historic demonstration lap at redbullingindianapolisgp.com.

See you all next week as we continue our countdown to September on redbullindianapolisgp.com.

Greg