Indy 500 fans set to celebrate 77th, 75th consecutive races will be absent Sunday

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The heartbeat of the Indianapolis 500 are stuck at home for the 104th running on Sunday. 

Late August, no fans: Yes, nothing feels normal at the Racing Capital of the World this year. Every driver has said it over the past 10 days: It stinks without you. 

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the roar will be absent Sunday afternoon during the unmatched pre-race pageantry. The gasps, gone, as the lead changes hands throughout the 800 left turns at 220+ mph.

Meanwhile, outside of Indianapolis, two of the most legendary race fans the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has ever known, won’t know what to do with themselves.

“The earliest memory I have is in 1941,” Pittsburgh native Richard Bennett said. “I was too young to remember the race, but the thing I remember distinctly was a fire.”

There was indeed a fire in the garage area in 1941. Bennett knows because he was there. He hasn’t missed a race since 1938, and that doesn’t count when mom was carrying him along in 1937. Unfortunately, that race isn’t a part of the streak. 

But, Bennett is in great standing either way, just like Tom Eaton of Dayton, Ohio. 

“The first race (I attended) was after the Second World War, in 1946,” Eaton said. “My dad got home from the South Pacific, and he said to my mom and me, ‘Let’s go to an Indianapolis 500.’”

Eaton hasn’t missed an Indianapolis 500 since. 

The irony is that the road, I-70, connecting Bennett and Eaton is nearly a straight shot east of Indianapolis. An almost perfect, parallel line, from these two loyal fans to the heart of their childhood obsessions, the Indianapolis 500. 

“I was identified by the track (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) four or five years ago as being the race fan that has attended the greatest number of consecutive races,” Bennett said. “For me, it (2020) would have been (No.) 77.”

“Never, in 74 years, did we have the slightest problem getting there (to Indianapolis),” Eaton added. “This year, who would have thought, a global pandemic and I am missing my 75th.”

Bennett and Eaton, just like so many other race fans, will watch from home for this first time in their adult lives on Sunday. 

As for those lucky enough to have a spot on the sacred grounds this week, we wanted to lend all the loyal patrons a hand. 

Let’s get this on record.

What happens to all these incredible attendance streaks? 

“For me, you guys are grandfathered in,” said Meyer Shank Racing driver Jack Harvey. “This year doesn’t count for that. I know people who have been coming for 50 plus years. … I think you get a pass.”

“I mean you should (get a pass) really,” said Andretti Herta Steinbrenner driver Colton Herta. “I mean, now, I just heard we are going to have a million people camping outside (of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) so they don’t mess up their streak.”

Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles agreed. He confirmed it. 2020 is a wash. All streaks are carried over into 2021.

And inside the numbers are where the real stories live.

“Believe it or not, we start planning next year’s race, before we leave the track,” Bennett said. “It seems everyone has caught the same bug. We are on the third and fourth generations of this trip (from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis.)”

“I always get tears in my eyes, thinking about ‘Back Home Again’ in Indiana,” Eaton said while fighting tears. “That is such a great thing.”

Few places on earth are gifted, generations of familiar guests.

One year away, won’t change anything, at this place.