Club Arnage

Hi there,

I'll be working in Detroit the next 2 weeks and plan to go to Indianapolis from there to see the track and the Hall of Fame museum on the last weekend in Oct.

Anything else worth visiting while being there on a weekend?

Cheers

Werner

Probably best to ask Fax as he is a regular visitor to Indy.

You could always try to get to a Detroit Red Wings NHL Hockey game whilst you are in Detroit. Upcoming home games are as follows

Sat 23rd - Anaheim Ducks 7 pm
Thur 28th - Phoenix Coyotes  7.30 pm
Sat 30th - Nashville Predators 7 pm
Mon 8th Nov - Phoenix Coyotes 7.30 pm

Sure you would have a great evening at the Joe Louis Arena,  600 Civic Center Drive, Detroit

Not that i would be jealous or anything.  ;)

There is also alot of short track ovals in the Indy area , there may be some racing on at one or two of them that weekend. I will ask my mate who has a better idea on those those tracks than me.

Not been to the Indy track, but have been to Ford's plalce at

http://www.thehenryford.org/visit/index.aspx  or see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Henry_Ford

http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/visit.php

went there over 10 years ago, but seem to remember was good, lots to see and only have to see what u want.


If your going over the last weekend of October, then what you may be amazed at is how much the Americans celebrate Halloween.

Oh yea, wrap up warm, it can be a bit cold there already

Have fun.

Hi Neil,

thanks for this - I did the Henry Ford Museum 4 weeks ago on my last stay in Detroit - and found a nice car there ... the 1967 Le Mans winning Ford. On the description they claim that the dent in the roof was only there to accomodate the tall driver Dan Gurney  ;D

I'll be in Indy on 30/31st Oct

Cheers

Werner

Hi Werner
             The Speedway  museum is good and there is an interesting Resturant close to the track with a Mini on a pole. Has all sorts of race related stuff on the walls. I will try and find the name for you.
 If driving from Detroit you will pass Auburn which has a fabulous museum.
1 hour time difference between Michigan and Indiana.
How long is your project? Toronto is about 4 1/2 hours from Detroit.
Phil

Hi Werner,
Of course IMS its museum are essential, make sure you take the track tour, and go upstairs to the speedway photo studio, its fantastic, spend an hour or so just going through the photo archives.  The museum displays were terrific last time I was in there a couple of month's ago.  Clark's '65 winner is in a Lotus corner with his 1963 car and Graham Hill's 1968 turbine.  A re-creation of a Gasoline Alley garage circa late fifties-early sixties, including Foyt's 1961 winner in the stall is very nice.  NASCAR stock cars and Moto GP bikes are also on display these days (Tony Stewart's first Brickyard winner, straight from victory Lane to the museum, bugs, tire debris, and windshield tear-offs still in place.  Kevin Schwantz's 1993 500cc title winning Lucky Strike Suzuki).  And of course Rudolf Caracciola's entire trophy collection is still a conerstone of the collection
Do lunch at Charlie Brown's near the speedway,  a complete dive, but you'll likely run into a Bettenhausen or Andretti in there having runny eggs or pancakes, and for dinner do St.Elmo's Steakhouse downtown, annually rated one of the best steakhouses in the US.  Not sure if the Colts are in town when your there, but a NFL game in Indy (the Colts) or Detroit (the Lions) is well worth the effort
Agreed with Chris, in Detroit?  Catch the Red Wings at "The Lou" if at all possible,  My wife, Kirsten (who many of you have met)  is a Detroit native (she eats sleeps & breathes Red Wings Hockey, we see them several times a year in Detroit and Columbus)), and her family all still live up there, I'll ask them for some must-see's for you.  But yes, the Ford museum is one one of them.
Fax

Hi Phil,

this time I'm staying 2 weeks - until 5th Nov. But I will most likely be back for another 2 weeks stint before the end of the year. Do you live in Toronto?

Hi Fax,

thanks a lot - I'll follow your advice while in Indy - especially ST. Elmos Steakhouse sounds tempting

Hi Werner, hope you enjoy your stay over here.  IMS is easy to find, its over on the west side of Indy, just north of the airport off I-465, take the Speedway-Crawfordsville Rd exit and follow it east toward the city, about two miles down the road, you'll run right into the intersection of 16th St and Georgtown Rd, and the main entrance to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, pass through the tunnel under the short-chute between turns 1 & 2, and the Museum is right in front of you. Admission to the Hall of Fame & Museum is something like five dollars.  The standard track tour I think is bout Five or six dollars, and there's a more expensive "grounds tour", where they also take you back into Gasoline Alley, and up into the Pagoda tower, etc. they don't always have this one available, but definitely do it if they are offering it the day your there. The neighborhood around the speedway (appropriately enough named "Speedway") is old and very blue collar, not much else to see or do over there other than IMS (and some seedy nuddie bars), but Indy has a vibrant dowtown area, lots to do down in the city.  Detroit less so downtown, no major US city has been devasted in recent years by the econoimc recession more so than Motown, and its dowtown area is mostly a ghostown.  But Detroit still has some nice ethnic neighborhoods, like Greektown, and you can always go across the bridge to Windsor Canada, there's all sorts of silly trouble to get into there.
Fax ;D

Hi Fax,

yes, I share your point of view about Detroit - 4 weeks ago I was teher for the first time and downtown is really a ghost town. I found the Greek Town but didn't make my way across to Windsor yet.
In case I get bored in Indy I'll settle for the "seedy nuddie bars" ;D
BTW: I plan to go from Detroit to Indy by car - I'll try to rent a Corvette for the weekend so I'll arrive in Indianapolis in style

Cheers

Werner

Hi Werner,
              The bar with a Mini on a pole. Union Jack Pub 6225 West 25th Street Speedway Indiana.;
It is West of the track close to Interstate 465 (the ring road)
On your way i suggest a visit to http://www.welcome.to/acd.museum  in Auburn Indiana.
Phil
       

If you happen to see Tony George, please punch him in the teeth.

Thanks in advance.

Twice

Trust me guys, when we were at the Bricktard 400, and down in the pitlane before the start. I was looking for him to give him a pop in the chompers.  Would've been worth getting arrested for.
I should mention there's some nice Le Mans stuff in the museum as well, the 1965 winning Rindt-Gregory Ferrari is in residence, as is the 1979 Klaus Ludwig-Wittington brothers winning Kremer Porsche 935.  The '66 winning Mclaren-Amon GT40 was there for many years but is now gone, as is the 1987 Stuck, Bell and Holbert winning Porsche 962, which was there for several years as well.  I suspect they have both gone to their respective homes in Dearborn and Stuttgart.
Fax

Great, a car from my hometwon and my favourite team for which I cheered many years at Le Mans. I look forward to see it

No Corvette available for rent at Detroit Airport today, so a Dodge Charger will need to do it for the trip to Indy. Good Stereo in there...

Hi Werner,
Just curious what you thought of Indy, the Speedway & its museum?
Fax

Hi Werner,
              Yeah Inquiring minds need to know ;D ;D    All the news fit to publish ;D
PS are you coming to Toronto some time soon?
 Phil

Back in Germany now - my current project requires regular travel between Frankfurt and Detroit. Last weekend I went from Detroit to Indianapolis, a rather boring 300 mile drive by car, but it was well worth the effort. I couldn't get a Corvette do go there in style - so a Dodge Charger needed to do it.

@Fax: Thanks for the lead with the grounds tour at Indianapolis, it was excellent value at 25 USD . Seeing facilities like the winners press conference room, the paddock, the media centre for 600 journalists - most european race track owners would be glad to have those quality of facilities. And the track lap by bus was also very interesting. What a waste that all of this is just used for at present only 3 events per year. The Hall-of-Fame Museum was impressive - what a wonderful collection of cars :D.
Most interesting to watch I found:
- the 1968 Lotus 4-wheel-drive Gasturbine racer. Although it didn't win that year, this car was so much ahead of its time - Colin Chapman was a genius in his days!
- very first winner from 1911 - This race has history.
- and 2 former Le Mans overall winners are also there - the 1979 winning Kremer Porsche from my hometown-team in Cologne. It would be interesting to know the story how that one ended up in a museum in Indianapolis. And the 1965 winning Ferrari 250 LM driven by Jochen Rindt and Masten Gergory.
- and - and - and - so many wonderful cars. The only drawback is that all is so narrow, they should have more exhibition space allowing them to display the cars in a way one can watch them from all sides.

@Phil: Thanks for the adress of the Union Jack Pub - Cool place and tasty food! I'll probably come over next to Detroit the 2 weeks before christmas and will put Toronto on the agenda if there is a free weekend in there for me - let's stay in touch.

Some more pics

The last ones:

Glad you enjoyed it Werner, agreed about the size of the museum, it would be great if they could expand it more, but I think they're pretty well locked in place, with the hospital directly behind it.  It looks from the photos that the two Clark cars are now gone, shame, they were sitting with the 1968 turbine.  Great news that you were able to do the entire grounds tour, look just like Dario sitting there facing the press ;D
Next time your in Indy let me know and I'll try to get over for perhaps another trip to the speedway, can share some Fax memories of the place, been going to the 500 since 1972, and few cold beers.  Would love to have gone over when you were there, but was working on the Saturday, and Kirsten & I were handing out candy to the kiddies on Sunday (yes, we do make a big production of Halloween over here
 ;)) Fax

Hi Fax,

yes, next time I go there we'll need to get in touch. One of the Jim Clark cars is still there:

Well done.  I don't see one IRL sh*theap in any of those pics. :cheers:

Any Tony George slappings to report?  ;D

Hi Werner,
              Thanks for the pictures. Glad you enjoyed your visit to Union Jack Pub.
Yes do keep in touch.
Phil

Nice pics Werner, glad to see one of Jimmy's cars is still there.  I suspect his 1965 winning 38 is back home at Hethel or Dearborn.  I know from a recent MotorSport article that it underwent a comprehensive restoration by Classic Team Lotus (many of whom are the guys who originally built it and prepared it at the Speedway).
You have a nice pic of Bobby Unser's '68 winning Eagle, I'm pretty sure that it, and Foyt's 1964 winning Watson Roadster are two of the 500 winners still in "victory lane condition", they went to the museum more or less straight from the post race ceremonies.  Mario's 1969 winning car in the museum is an exact replica, built up from a spare tub, the actual winner being in the Smithsonian Museum. (I originally thought it had been destroyed in a shunt, but a friend corrected me on this)
The 1972 Sunoco McLaren driven by Mark Donohue (in your photo of the winners, you can see its shiny rear wing end plates) was the winner my first 500.
You mention its a shame the facility is only used three times a year, there have been rumors for a few years now of some kind of endurance race using the road course configuration.  I have it from a pretty reliable source that its a done deal there will be a Rolex Grand-Am series race there soon, distance & date TBD.  Although I'm not a huge fan of the Grand-Am cars, the Speedway is a short two hour drive west of our home Cincinnati, and if the race happens I'll probably go check it out.
Fax

Just because I wish failure upon everything they do, I hope it's a 45-minute race on a Tuesday night in February.  ;D

Speedway management and Grand Am are birds of a feather.  Blech.  A nice ALMS 12-hour there would be great.  It'd be even better if it was at Elkhart Lake. 

That said - if you go, I hope you have fun.  ;)

Fax, there's short video on Piston heads of Dario taking Jimmy's 38 lotus out. Link below:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=23&t=935147&nmt=RE:%20Video:%20Franchitti%20Drives%20Lotus%20Indy%20Winner%20#topicTop

Very nice find Jules,  Dario is a huge fan of the history of the sport, unlike a great many of the current drivers, so this must have been a real thrill for him.  A couple of years ago on race morning at Indy, Jimmy's winning Lotus was given a few demonstration laps, I think three-time 500 winner Johnny Rutherford was driving, and the sound of that four cam Ford was just incredible.
Fax