On August 15, 2004, the Indy 300 came to Kentucky Speedway, only about an hour away from AutomotiveForums.com’s home office in Lexington, KY. Obviously, we were not going pass up on an opportunity to see cars going at a constant 210 mph plus right in our backyard. Fortunately for us, the mayor of Lexington, Teresa Ann Isaac, turned out to be quite a speed fan herself, and by a lucky turn of fate we were able to join her in our trip to the race track.

Being more of an “import man” myself, I found a peculiar excitement in going to see good old American merry-go-round racing. And boy, was our trip Kentucky style or what? Instead of taking state highway 27 straight north to Sparta, KY where the race was taking place, we had to commit to a huge detour via two interstates in order to avoid being bogged down by… yes, you guessed it, the largest yard sale in the world!! After we finally got to the track, the modest AutomotiveForums.com staff could not help but feel overdressed in our jeans and t-shirts, as most of the men around us preferred to keep their Budlight filled bellies out in the sun. Yes, I was in a different world, and to be quite frank, I wasn’t very prepared for it, for things immediately started going wrong. My camera ran out of batteries after the first couple of shots, my ATM card got eaten by the machine, and when I finally got some cash for the replacements, little did I know that AA batteries don’t make it to Sparta, KY. When I finally caught up with everyone, they were waiting for me in a racetrack service vehicle.

Us in a service vehicle

Turns out there were two Lexington fire fighters working fire safety at the speedway. One of them, Lexington fire chaplain Lt. Stewart Dawson, was at the wheel of the service truck. The Mayor in the front passenger seat and AutomotiveForums.com crew timidly cramped in the back, we departed to the infield of the track. As we approached two huge one-way tunnels that would take us under the track, Lt. Stewart Dawson told us that just a week earlier, during a NASCAR race, a safety worker was killed at the speedway. He was picking up debris when he was hit by a flying racecar. The mood in the car was serious, a great contrast to the drunken entertainment at the stance. It reminded me that a lot of preparation and hard work goes into putting up a “show” as exciting as car racing. The chaplain stepped on the gas, apparently my earlier battles with the ATM machine were making him late for his briefing, plus he hasn’t yet put on his protective suit.

Safety crew briefing

As we drove through the infield, we passed several helicopters. One of them had flown in Ashley Judd, a Kentucky native movie star and wife to car number 27 driver, Dario Franchitti. The safety crews were silent in prayer as we approached.

 

Marlboro team Penske pit crew

The race was expected to be a dual between the season leader Tony Kanaan and the emerging rookie who also qualified first at Kentucky Speedway, Buddy Rice. And, for a long time, it was. Kanaan almost immediately overtook Rice, but after two pit-stops, he fell to fifth place.

However, two minor accidents that followed and the appearance of pace cars on the track, must have created opportunities for Kanaan to slip back to the front. During lap 142, Pennzoil Panther car with Tomas Scheckter at the helm drove off the pit while the fueling hose was not completely retracted. As a result, Schechter’s Chevy received a methanol shower and immediately caught on fire. The driver jumped out, and fortunately escaped unscathed. 6 laps later Kanaan was back to second place.

Tony Kanaan's pit crew

But the race had still over 50 laps left. After the final pit stop Adrian Fernandez managed to suddenly spring out from sixth place to first in his Quaker State Telmex Tecade Honda. 7 laps later Fernandez was still in the lead when Team Purex racecar scraped the concrete wall and the race has to be brought to a caution halt. I watched in awe as several emergency team crewmen had to walk over a quarter of the 1.5-mile track checking for debris, while only feet away the caravan of Indy 300 monsters continued to fly by. Last weekend’s tragedy still fresh in people’s minds, one could only hope that each driver would keep his car precisely in line, his steering wheel not a degree off. Fortunately, this time mishaps were avoided. After a caution start, Fernandez managed to hold his lead till the end, withstanding constant attacks from Buddy Rice, and beating the number one qualifier by only 0.581 seconds, the closest finish in five IRL races at Kentucky Speedway. Tony Kanaan came in fifth.

The experience of watching Indy racing so up-close was mesmerizing. The unique high pitch roar of 3.5-liter naturally aspirated engines doing up to 240 mph made me seriously reflect on the sanity of the drivers willing to climb into the cockpits of those things. Lets also take our hats off for the emergency crews, who selflessly put their lives on the line for the safety of the drivers, disregarding all the odds, no matter how fresh the memories of their fallen comrades still may be.