Sunday, May 30, 2010

Review of 2010 Indy 500

Congratulations to Dario Franchitti, Chip Ganassi, and the Target Ganassi Racing crew on their 2010 Indianapolis 500 victory. What made Franchitti's second Indy 500 win extra special was that it made owner Chip Ganassi the first owner to win the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 in the same year.

Despite the recent economic downturn, the prize money for the Indy 500 keeps going up. Franchitti, who is married to actress Ashley Judd, earned $1,645,233 for winning the 2007 Indy 500. Just three years later, Franchitti earned $2,752,055 of the race's $13,592,815 purse for winning the 2010 Indy 500. It is definitely a Sunday Funday in the Franchitti house...

So why am I covering the Indy 500 on a Cheesehead Sports Blog? Last year Cheesehead Chick and I went to our first Indianapolis 500 with Cheesehead Chick's parents. Cheesehead Chick's dad (a huge Dayton Flyers basketball fan) is very knowledgeable on all sports, but the surprise of the weekend was how much Cheesehead Chick's mom knew and loved the Indy 500. Here is a picture of the great view we had of the start/finish line from our seats at the 2009 Indy 500.

You always hear that there are certain sporting events you have to catch before you die, the Indy 500 has to be in the top five of that group. It is hard to put into words how fast the cars are going when you see them in person for the first time. If you go to the Indy 500, make sure to sit fairly close to the start/finish line at least a dozen rows back from the fence. Those seats are ideal because you can catch all the action at the start/finish line as well as some of the action in the pits.

Helio Castroneves won the 2009 Indy 500, the third Indy 500 victory of his career. Although according to my racing friends, the proper pronunciation is Heelllliiiiooo Castroneves! As usual, Castroneves did his patented "Spiderman" move where he climbs the fence by the start/finish line to celebrate his victory.

Trust me, if you want to have a great sports Sunday Funday, make sure you catch an Indy 500.

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