I was out of the state on business for the last several days. I didn't think at all about it when booking my return flight to Indy, but when I looked at the departures board upon arriving in Detroit to catch a Northwest Air flight home last evening (Wednesday evening), I was surprised to see five flights leaving for Indianapolis within a fifteen minute period and several others within the hour - - RACE FANS! And these weren't the normal CRJ's and MD-88's, they were A-320s & 757's - all full flights with gaggles of folks hanging around hoping to catch a standby break. And when my flight arrived at Indianapolis International at about 10:30 p.m., the airport was packed (never happens in Indy ...). Flights continued to come in from Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Detroit jammed with race fans.

So the city is starting to fill up again in preparation for The 500. If you're coming to visit, or here already, ... WELCOME! If you're thinking of coming next year, I guarantee you that folks have a good time when they're here. There's plenty of race related activities on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday prior to the race to keep you busy, and Indianapolis is a great city to visit now - a lively downtown and a number of suburban areas with great bars, clubs, and performance halls too. The fans on the plane last evening were ebullient - the energy and buzz was great, visiting race fans chatting with Indy natives about their favorite race memories, getting tips on where to go for a great meal, or a great bar experience, or live music, and trying to convince one another that their race favorite was going to win the big one.

My oldest daughter is coming into town this evening (by happenstance) and we're going to pack up the car and head downtown for dinner, hoping to join in with some of the pre-race energy and festivities that have now decended on the city.

With an event like this every year (100,000 to 150,000 fans from out of state) plus the U.S. Gran Prix and the Brickyard 400, it's easy to say "eh, not that big of a deal" after losing-out to Dallas for the 2011 Super Bowl. Well, ... not that easy, but it helps.