It's a trip to Indiana for the 2004 Indianapolis 500!
I won big bucks on last year's Indy Winner, Gil de Ferran. Would I win again backing Tony Kanaan?
Here's Pa Smith in front of the fancy new Pagoda.
The Purdue marching band takes a rest between rain storms. The race is delayed two hours to dry the track.
Florence Henderson and Jim Neighbors wait near the podium for their singing duties.
Despite the weather, the stands are packed for the greatest spectacle in racing!
This year is movie themed. "Lights... Camera... Traction." Sounds kind of lazy if you ask me.
Our herd waits for the race to start. That's my dad's old buddy Bill on the left, Dad, my cousin Brandon, and Uncle Steve.
Our seats are straight across from the last pit. We watch as they push the cars out onto the track.
The parade lap. Everybody's driving slow enough for still cameras to catch them.
That changes real quick as the green flag waves. It's race time!
Brandon enjoys the show.
Dad's rooting for Helio Castroneves
There's a wreck coming out of turn four that slides almost half a mile down the track, stopping in the pits.
Emergency crews are there in seconds, and everybody's okay.
After a red flag for more rain and another hour to dry the track again, the race picks up where it left off. Buddy Rice takes the checkered flag, and Tony Kanaan comes in second. I lose three bucks.
Nobody told us the real reason they stopped the race early. We were under a Tornado Warning.
The sirens started going off as we headed for the car, and half a million spectators tried to find shelter.
We hid out at the mall for a while and listened to the chaos on the radio. Tornado sightings everywhere.
Finally it calmed down enough to hit the road. It was an awesome Indy 500!