we'll be coming out in July and my question is... does anyone have any first hand info on any decent resort-ish places to stay. Looking to have something for the wife and kid to do if they don't want to go to the track. I looked at great wolf lodge in cincy but $550 for 2 nights is alittle rough...

I’ve stayed at that Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati a couple of times with the family while I’ve gone to the races. It’s well worth it. Plus it’s right next door to Kings Island Amusement Park. Sign up to receive their emails. They run discount offers all the time. You might get lucky and catch a break, cost-wise, on the days you plan to be in town.

If you want to be closer to Indy, there’s a Caribbean Cove Hotel & Indoor Water Park on the NW side of town. I haven’t stayed there myself but I know people who have and they had a good experience. It’s still going to be pricey ($200/night) but it’s less than Great Wolf Lodge (but not quite as nice).

French Lick Resort

There is a West Baden Springs motel with gambling in French Lick. It is in southern Indiana so you could stay there Monday and Tuesday nights and head up to Terre Haute on Wednesday night for the second leg of sprint week.

Fourwinds resort & inn Bloomington In.
Right on lake Monroe..Sprintweek weather is always warm enough for a swim.

Louisville could always be an option. Has a AAA baseball team and they have a really nice stadium, zoo, Louisville slugger factory/museum, riverboat trips, museums, and I'm pretty sure there are some caverns around there somewhere.

I've made the trip from just south of the city to both Tri-State and the Burg in less than two hours. Bloomington is probably less than two hours from there as well. Not sure about LPS or Terre Haute.

I would agree with the above posts about French Lick. The French Lick Resort, and the West Baden Springs hotels are both really pricey though. There is a brand new Best Western in French Lick. It's close to Bloomington Speedway (45 minutes or so) and not too far from Haubstadt. Pretty cool area with plenty to do there.

French Lick. Live a little and have a ball. Great central location to hit many tracks.

Swan lake resort if your willing to go up north.

Speaking of French Lick, they've also got an indoor water park/hotel called "Big Splash Adventure" I was able to find a discount for it on Groupon one time and I think 2 days at the water park and a room for the 3 of us came out to around $130, I think. They've also remarkably got a lot to do for such a relatively small town, there's a winery, indoor go karting, as mentioned before there's a casino, there's a railroad museum with train rides. There's a ton of caves within an hour drive, and Hoosier National Forest pretty much surrounds the town, and Patoka lake is just south of town on 145 if your family wanted to do some boating/fishing.