Our quest to find the ‘best seat in the house’ at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
INDIANAPOLIS – With more than 250,000 seats at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, what makes each turn or suite special?
In fact, including all the infield space, there’s room for close to 400,000 people in Speedway this weekend.
With all these options, Meteorologist Krista McEnany and CBS4 This Morning News Anchor Melissa Crash went to find the best seats in the house.
“There’s not really a bad seat,” said Ronald Baugh, a Gold Badge at the track who’s worked there for more than 30 years.
Some say every seat has a story at the Indianapolis 500.
“What the person in turn 3 sees is not what somebody in turn 1 sees,” said Bill Cartwright, a fan who also works as a “Yellow Shirt.”
Starting at the top, Krista and Melissa went to check out the suites in the Hulman Terrace Club. You’ll find this space on the outside of the front straightaway, just past the exit of turn 4. With more than 1,100 seats, you get the view and the club experience.
“It’s got the food atmosphere, the people can take the shuttle and go down to the garage area, they’ve got seats that are out front and a bar at either end,” said Baugh.
If Baugh wasn’t in the Hulman Terrace Club, you would find him near the yard of bricks.
“It just gives you goosebumps, that’s all about I can say, like, when they start the race,” said Baugh. “The national anthem, the ‘Back Home Again in Indiana,’ it’s just something, if you’ve come a lot to this it’s just… I’m getting goosebumps now just thinking about it.”
Next stop for Melissa and Krista is turn 4. There’s a lot of open space, accompanied by monitors so you can see the race from all angles, while also looking down the way to the start and finish line. You won’t find shade in this area, but that doesn’t matter to the thousands of fans sitting in this area.
“My favorite? Turn 3,” said Cartwright when asked about his favorite place to sit.
Cartwright likes to see the cars come through turn 2 down the back straightaway.
“All the way to where they hit the suites and the front straightaway,” he said. “We also have all of the Snake Pit right in front of us, we see a lot of crazy things going on over there.”
There are only a few people that have sat in more seats than Ed Gyenes, who will attend his 73rd Indianapolis 500.
“There’s nothing like it and it’s my Christmas,” said Gyenes.
On race day he’ll be in stand B about 12 rows up, but for Ed, there’s something special about sitting up high on turn 1.
“This is where I sit every year for time trials and practice,” he said. “Where we’re sitting now is where I’d love to sit. But you can just never get seats.”
As for the best seat in the house? There are many! Experience, traditions and memories make every seat a winner.
Perhaps Gyenes summed it up best.
“It means the very most to me and I look forward to it every year.”
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