The Official Blog of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The second annual Winter Indy Tweetup– a grassroots, IndyCar fan event co-hosted by Monica Hilton and Elizabeth Lenzi, is officially in the books. In today’s blog, the event’s creators recap highlights from the weekend. New to the Winter Indy Tweetup? Read the pre-event blog post on IndyCar.com and visit their website.

The second annual Winter Indy Tweetup is officially in the books. Finishing in P1: the fans. So now it’s time to crank up the hurdy gurdy and give you the recap.

WIT 2010 kicked off with a Welcome Party at McGilvery’s Pub in Speedway, IN. Attendees got a chance to grab some grub and mingle with one another. Martin Plowman stopped by to chat with the fans and give us his off-season updates. Don Kay of Autosport Radio was also in the house to help us with the audio and brought videos of past Indy 500s. We were also lucky to have legendary IMS historian Donald Davidson do a customized trivia contest just for WIT attendees. Paul Dalbey took home the grand prize: a rear wing flap from Dan Wheldon’s memorable 2010 Sonoma race. All of the participants took home a limited edition Indy 500 Centennial Grid poster.

We woke up Saturday morning to the first real snowfall of the season, but we didn’t let that stop us! The IndyCar Nation showed up in force, throwing a middle finger to the weather and screaming, “This better be worth it!” And worth it, it was.

First snow of the season at the Museum -Photo by Mike Nelson

The event started in the museum’s Tony Hulman Theatre with an exclusive update from Daniel Incandela , Director of Online Media at IMS. Daniel reminded everyone to keep tweeting, as both IMS and the league are listening. They love the good tweets, but also appreciate the bad, as it helps them to figure out how they can do better. Daniel also talked about the upcoming promotions for the Centennial celebration of the Indy 500. We can’t speak for everyone, but we are ridiculously excited about some of the new things in store.

Comment below and share your Twitter account if you were in the Saturday morning crowd! -Photo by Mike Nelson

Next, fans were treated to a private Q&A session with Indy Lights drivers James Hinchcliffe ,Stephan Wilson and Phillip Major , who let us know how they were doing during the off-season and kept everyone laughing the whole time. After that, Sarah Fisher Racing’s own Ed Carpenter stopped by for a chat. If you want to know what was said, you should have been there. Ahhhhh, we kid. Everyone was excited to find out about the drivers’ plans for 2011 and how they’re spending their off-season.

Ed Carpenter Greets IndyCar Fans -Photo by Mike Nelson

Due to the big pile of facepalm (snow) outside, we were unable to do the track tour, but that didn’t stop the fun. Next, attendees did a scavenger hunt – a new twist on exploring the many cool displays at the IMS Museum.

Things were rolling along, but they were about to go flat out as we headed to Fastimes Indoor Karting for the Fanimation Grand Prix. The grid was set at 16, until surprise guest, IndyCar driver Alex Tagliani added his name to the list and showed the field how it’s done. After several hours of tough competition, we crowned a winner.

Alex Tagliani Races with IndyCar Fans -Photo by Mike Nelson

Did you compete against IndyCar driver, Alex Tagliani, in the Grand Prix at FastTimes? Comment below and let us know! -Photo by Mike Nelson

We finished off the night at the Main Event Party at Broad Ripple Tavern. After some delicious food and drink, we kicked off the raffle. All weekend long, participants had gathered tickets for attending (and winning) events. We also gave out tickets for the important credentials, such as “furthest traveled” and “most Indy 500s attended.” Some of the completely incredible raffle prizes included autographed die-cast cars from Scott Dixon, Danica Patrick, and Graham Rahal, the program for TK’s very first win (catch an additional video where TK Says ‘Hello’ to Tweetup attendees), various IndyCar parts, some great Champ Car memorabilia, autographed apparel and MUCH more. Attendees had a great time and left with ARMLOADS of prizes and freebies.

Over the past few weeks, we had gathered video messages from IndyCar drivers who were unable to attend WIT. We had hoped to show the video at the Main Event Party, but didn’t have the proper AV capabilities– so watch it here.

Finally, we bid farewell to friends new and old at the grand-daddy of breakfast joints, Charlie Brown’s in Speedway. It was a great chance to unwind and say goodbye to friends new and old we’d caught up with throughout the weekend.

All weekend long, fans were able to purchase the 2011 IZOD IndyCar calendar, with proceeds benefitting the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation and Racing for Kids.

We’re SO thankful to everyone who came out to WIT 2010.  Check out additional pictures from this weekend on the Winter Indy Tweet Up Facebook page.

-Monica Hilton and Elizabeth Lenzi

Row 4 from the October 2010 photo shoot of 33 iconic cars, representing 37 Indy 500 victories

33 Iconic Cars, Representing 37 Indy 500 Victories- Row 4

Morning of the 1953 Indy 500

Morning of the 1953 Indy 500

One of the exciting things about working at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is that nearly 365 days a year there is something happening worth sharing with race fans–  the work does not stop once race season is over! Today’s blog post, written by members of the IMSC Licensing team, Betsy Stuebgen and Drew Boyd, talks about their recent visits in the Indianapolis community…

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway teamed up with IZOD IndyCar Series drivers this week and made special appearances at the St. Mary’s Child Center and Riley’s Hospital for Children.

The St. Mary’s trip included a tour of the facility, classroom observations and visits with the children.  We had a great time learning more about the school and met some amazing kids and teachers.  This school is providing a great learning opportunity for these kids.  We liked how the children learned through project work and expressed themselves and documented their learning through arts, including pottery, photography, sculpting, paintings, dance, and music. What they do is important to the kids and the community!

Did you know that IZOD IndyCar Series driver, Tomas Scheckter dedicates some of his time and support to St. Mary’s Child Center?

IMSC staff members present donated toys to a teacher at St. Mary's school

The trip to the Riley Hospital for Children was in conjunction with the Racing for Kids organization.  We were joined by IZOD IndyCar Series drivers Alex Tagliani, Justin Wilson and Ed Carpenter who really put smiles on the kids’ faces.  It was a special day for the drivers as well.  They got to meet some really special kids and their families.  We visited the playrooms where the kids were drawing or playing with toys and video games.

Alex Tagliani, Ed Carpenter, and Justin Wilson spend time in the playroom at Riley Children's Hospital

The drivers enjoyed talking with the children and giving away signed hats, hero cards, IZOD IndyCar Series calendars and Hot Wheels diecast.  In addition to the playroom visits, we also had the opportunity to visit individual rooms where the drivers met some really great kids as well.  It was a wonderful day for everyone!

Written by Betsy Stuebgen and Drew Boyd

Rick Mears, the most successful car in history and Johnny Lightening

Rick Mears, the most successful car in history and Johnny Lightening

Aerial view of the 1994 Indianapolis 500

Aerial view of the 1994 Indianapolis 500

Race Morning in 1955

Race Morning in 1955

The 33 Car Shoot

The 33 Car Shoot

Last week’s Emerging Tech announcement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway brought to light the enormous role that college and university students can play in advancing automotive technology.

On May 7th, as part of the celebration of the 100th running on the Indy 500, the IMS will welcome colleges and universities from across the United States to showcase energy efficiency, solar power and hybrid power. Emerging Tech Day at the track will include a Formula Hybrid competition, an American Solar Challenge series event and an exhibition kart race by Purdue University students.

What fans must really be thinking though is whether or not Emerging Tech Day will be worth an outing to the track. After learning more about the event, I expect a lot of “yes” responses to that question.

Formula Hybrid competitions challenge students to design, build and race high-performance, fuel-efficient, plug-in hybrid vehicles. The competition requires advanced electrical, mechanical and computer engineering applications but more importantly, encourages students to work within a team to drive innovation.

Returning to Indianapolis in May from Western Michigan University will be student competitors in the American Solar Challenge  known as the ‘Sunseeker’ team. Their team, including the six engineering students who traveled to Indianapolis last week to display their car, will spend countless hours tweaking the solar technology empowering their ‘Sunseeker’ car (Check out some neat photos of the car here) before the competition.

Western Michigan University students with their Sunseeker solar car

Students from Purdue University in nearby West Lafayette, Indiana will race electric-powered karts in a Grand Prix-style race. A special course will be built at the Speedway for the evGrandPrix event. The winner will be the team with overall best kart design, race placement and energy efficiency during 100 laps of racing. The event will include qualification runs and sprint races,

As part of his speech announcing Emerging Tech day, Jeff Belskus, IMS president and chief executive officer, stated that “There’s no better place than IMS to display green technology due to the Speedway’s rich heritage of automotive innovation through the Indianapolis 500.”

Emerging Tech day on May 7th will provide race fans with an inside look at the innovative minds of the college and university students who may someday revolutionize racing as we know it. As if that was not enough, there will also be race action on the track through the evGrandPrix event. Personally, I cannot think of a better way to gear up for the 100th running of the Indy 500.

Now it’s your turn. Do you plan to join us at the track on May 7th for Emerging Tech day? What do you think the greatest innovation in motorsports has been? As a student, were you ever part of similar competitions?

The 1964 Indy 500 Race Officials

The 1964 Indy 500 Race Officials