The Indy 500 was a big part of my life growing up.  My family loved the race and followed closely all the month of May activities.  It was traditional to listen on our family radio as the IMS Radio Network described the race.

I never understood the world-wide impact of the race until I was on a tour bus during my first visit to New York City.  The year was 1981 or 1983, I am not certain about the year.  However, I do remember this story.

The guide asked all passengers where they were from.  We had people on the bus from Soviet Russia, London, Paris…well you get the idea.  It was a very international crowd.  We were last to be asked and I told the guide we were from Indianapolis.  I expected a shoulder shrug from this worldly crowd, but no, everyone asked me about the Indianapolis 500.  They were all familiar with the race and wanted to know more about it.

I had covered many qualification weekends during my radio broadcasting career in the 1970s.  I took a working vacation after switching careers and covered practice and qualifying for many years in the 1980s.  I have always loved the race and its iconic history.

The race lost some luster when there was a split in the open-wheel racing family and it took about 10 years to get everything back and many said it had lost some glory.  The 100th running brought a lot of the excitement back and the race has been gaining steam once again the past few years.

It didn’t hurt that during the 2021 race, history was made.  For the first time in 30 years, a driver won a fourth Indy 500 title.  Helio Castroneves joins AJ Foyt, Al Unser (Sr) and Rick Mears as a 4-time winner.

Castroneves is a favorite with the fans and the media.  It is better that this year’s race had fans in the stands, even if limited.

Congratulations to Helio Castroneves.  You earned the win and earned the right to enter into Indy 500 history.