After having the opportunity to see a few races in 2012, I was sitting here thinking about how lucky we are here in Indiana. I put together the following list of just how lucky we are. Here goes.

1)How lucky us Hoosiers really are to have the quality and quantity of race track facilities close by. Bloomington, Brownstown, Gas City, Paragon, Kokomo, Lincoln Park, Tri State, THAT, Lawrenceburg, the Indy Fairgrounds, Montpelier just to name a few dirt tracks. On the asphalt side we have Anderson, Salem, Winchester, LOR, Baer Field, Plymouth (combo now), Illiana, the Speedrome and others as well. Also would mention some that are shuttered like Angola, Avilla, Bunker Hill, Kamp and Warsaw that come to mind.

2)How lucky are we to have USAC midget week and sprint week and all of the local tracks that run open wheel cars on a regular basis.

3)How lucky are we to have the opportunity to see touring series like WOO, All Star Sprints, AVSS/HOSS, Must See, Powr I, The UMP Hell Tour, Lucas Oil Late Models, KISS, AMA and numerous others. Variety for sure.

4)How lucky are we to have seen Bettenhausen, Dickson, Elliott, Darland, Wilkerson, Branson, Gaines, Hewitt, Beale, Sessions, Larson, McCluskey, Jones, Rutherford, Tinglestad, Foyt, Duman, Andretti, Rice, Bigelow, Vogler, Knepper, Spaulding, Gordon, Stewart, the Kinser's, the Unser's and so many more........All on "our" home turf.

5)How lucky are we to have promoters like Rudisell, Ford, O'Connor, Thomason, Spiker, Helfrich, Sargent and all of the others who work long and hard trying to satisfy us each and every week during racing season. And after hearing how bad everything was, willing to start all over and do it again next week.

6)How lucky are we to have the trained safety personnel and medical facilities here in the Hoosier state to handle the drivers if anything should happen to go wrong.

7)How lucky are we to have knowledgeable push truck operators, wrecker drivers and track officials to expedite the racing programs.

8)How lucky are we to have Bill Gardner and IOW. Through this forum, many of us gather much of our racing news and information. It also provides opportunities to talk racing with car owners, drivers, promoters and other racing fans we wouldn't have met without it. Friends we just haven't met yet.

9)How lucky are we to have all of this in our backyard. Others travel from all over the country to witness the greatest short track racing in America.

10)How lucky am I to have been relocated to Indiana, the Mecca of Traditional Sprint Car and Open Wheel Racing. Pretty darn lucky for sure.

This is only a beginning so add to it and let us all know how lucky we all are.

Throw in a few of us down south who make the 500- 600 mile drive when we can!

Throw in 1 more paved oval at 16th & Georgetown. All great points, but i'll throw in an extra vote for point #5, the track owners and operators that take a beating on race nights, then just dust themselves off and prepare for next week. Great post MP, bob

Almost all the tracks are really fan friendly , they don't charge for parking unlike California tracks .

PS great post Mudpacker .

How lucky are we to have a great fellow fan like Mudpacker. Your post brightened my day already.

How lucky are we the race fans not from the area to be treated to such fine Hoosier Hospitality every time we visit! Some of the best race fans anywhere are right here in Indiana!

Yep, you are lucky. non winged sprint car racing is the best racing in the world. and Indiana has some of the best tracks!

Add in the Hoosier hospitality and you can see why me and some fellow Brits fly over from England. But we could do with it being a tad cooler in July, we just ain't used to the heat :-) !!

...but it's a WET heat! Here in Indy, we like to throw in the 99% humidity to make it extra pleasant for our visitors. Just another treat for our visiting race fans. And remember, July can be even hotter...24 days till USAC Sprint Weeks begin, start hydrating now, bob.

I agree davidm, the Hoosier Hospitality I am shown by fellow race fans when ever I am in Indiana speaks volumes about what great race fans they are and how lucky they are to live in Indiana with some of the greatest open wheel racing in the country.

Patti

While the past two Sprint Weeks have had some humid weather; there is a way to go to compete with the Gulf Coast. . . . I have been to Sprint Week where y'all were apologizing for the humidity, and Penny and I had just made a comment about how dry the weather is.

One of these days, I might take time off and not go to Indiana. Maybe the winter time. . . . .