Having lived in Indianapolis for 17 years now, I always wondered who got to drive the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Camaros I’d see around town each year starting in the spring. Well, now I know because I’m one of them!
An Extremely Brief Introduction to the IMS
If you’re not familiar with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (aka The Brickyard), it’s the 114 year-old venue that has hosted the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race (the Indy 500) since 1911. The race is the largest single-day sporting event in the world with as many as an estimated 350,000 people attending.
The Indy 500 was the only race held at the IMS until 1994 when the Brickyard 400, a NASCAR series race, was introduced. Beginning in 2021, the race was changed from 400 miles on an oval to 200 miles on a road course.
So there’s your background and that brings us up to today and why I was driving a…
2023 Chevrolet Camaro SS Festival Car
Each spring, there are 50 IMS-branded festival cars sent to the Speedway to help promote the Indianapolis 500. 33 of the cars are driven by the 500 Festival board members throughout April and May (the race is held the day before Memorial Day).
To be clear there are 33 board members, not 500. The events surrounding the Indy 500 are called the 500 Festival.
The remaining cars are driven by a variety of IMS leadership, staff, and others who handle promotional events throughout the month. The day before the race they’re driven in the 500 Festival Parade where the IndyCar drivers sit on the backs of the cars and greet fans. And finally on race day, the cars drive the 500 Festival princesses around the track for a ceremonial lap before the race.
After the race, the cars are sold in Chevy dealerships around the country and some stay on board to promote the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard. And this is where I come in.
Promoting the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard
My family and I are working with the IMS to promote the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard. So this coming weekend, we’ll be at the track documenting our experiences! There are FOUR races in three days, so definitely a lot to do and take in!
You can learn all about the events this weekend by clicking here.
In addition to documenting the race weekend experience, last weekend I took the Camaro out for 72 hours!
My 5 kids all took turns taking rides around town, taking their friends out, and having an absolute blast! We stopped at various spots so I could do what I do best: take photos. I made sure to stop at several landmarks around town and just really any place I thought the car looked good. Especially when I saw roads paved with bricks.
I’m including some of my favorites here in this post. Here’s one of the promotional pieces I made with the car…
Race Photos Coming Soon!
Also be sure to follow me on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram from more photos and videos from this weekend’s races!
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To see some of my photos from the IMS, check out my posts from the 2023 Indianapolis 500 or the IMS Museum.