Fans enjoy Indy 500 on picture perfect day

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) — An estimated 325,000 fans packed into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday for the 106th running of the Indy 500.

“Listen to it, that’s it right there, listen to it, you can hear the crowd,” Rodney Osborne of Ohio said.

He attended his first Indy 500 since 1989, and said the track has changed a lot.

“I don’t remember the grandstands being across from the suites and everything. It was open, I was on Turn 3 back then in 1989, and just graduated high school,” Osborne said.

Sunday’s race is the first one ran since COVID restrictions were completely lifted at the track.

The near capacity crowd was a benefit even to those who didn’t go to the race. Emily Smith was able to park 6 cars in front of her home, just two blocks from the track.

“Definitely paid for pizza for the night, and some kind of dessert too,” she said.

Smith said there was a mad scramble for parking even after the race started.

“Probably for a half hour there were people begging trying to get lots, and we were calling neighbors trying to get to get them in,” Smith said.

Road closures around the speedway are expected to end by late Sunday evening.