INDY DIARY 2025: Episode #2

As the tension and excitement builds for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, Dale Rodgers is on the spot and feeling the need . . .

What the hell is Carb Day?

'Carb Day' at the Indianapolis 500 is not named to salute the giant crowd stacking on carbohydrates.

It's an historical term tracing back to the days when race teams would use carburettors to feed their gasoline-powered engines. It was originally called 'Carburetion Day' because crews would make the final minor tweaks to their engine tuning ahead of the 500.

Of course, modern-day turbocharged and fuel-injected hybrid IndyCars don't use carburettors, but the name 'Carb Day' has stuck as a tradition – the same as singing the historic tune 'Back Home Again in Indiana', which was first performed in the lead-up to the race in 1948.

It could also be called Party Day.

After days of empty grandstands and IndyCars pounding around, Carb Day draws a huge crowd and boy do they get into it early!

Final Practice for the 33-car field took place at 11.00am and the stands were pumping. Beach balls were being punched into the air and there was a constant parade of people looking for seats with their favourite beverages.

As the sun finally shone over the Brickyard, it was party time.

Added to this was the inaugural, and nail-biting Weiner 500 and the Pit Stop Challenge.

In the Pit Stop battle the Team Penske crews had plenty of incentive after all the drama of the past week, and it was Josef Newgarden and Will Power fought it out.

Newgarden won by half a second to provide the first good news for Team Penske this week, with a cool $50,000 going to the winning crew. Like the Borg Warner Trophy, Team Penske now has 20 Pit Stop Challenge wins.

The defending Indy champion also clocked the quickest time on Carb Day, ahead of fellow former winners Takuma Sato and Scott Dixon.

Then fans were treated to a late-afternoon rock concert featuring Poison front man Bret Michaels and the place was rocking.

For most at the track on Carb Day, it was the first view of the IndyCars on track but for the additional 200,000 spectators arriving for The Big One on Sunday, the first time they will see a car on track will be the warm-up lap on Sunday.

 The Rookie on Pole

Fans of racing in the FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships will know the name Robert Shwartzman but, in the USA, he was just another Rookie trying to make the grid for his first Indy 500.

His PREMA team was also totally new to the Indy 500 and Schwartzman had never driven on an oval.

But, with help from Aussie Ryan Briscoe as his sporting director, he produced a stunning Qualifying performance to bag Pole Position and rock the IndyCar fraternity.

The pressure on him come race time will be enormous, but he appears – as he said at his official press conference – to be calm and relaxed.

 “I was like, ‘This is a dream; it can’t be true,” Shwartzman said.

“I don’t know what even to say. The car felt amazing. I can’t thank PREMA and Chevy. Coming here for my first oval race, I would never even expect it to be in this position. It’s unbelievable.”

Military takes centre stage.

Rehearsals for flyovers took place on Carb Day with a few US Air Force jets screaming overhead, but the sight of the 38th Combat Aviation Brigade highlighting two Black Hawk helicopters only a hundred feet or so off the main straight was a highlight.

Not surprisingly, the pit straight spectators went off!

Locals cashing-in.

The obligatory ‘Welcome Race Fans’ banners adorn houses all around the Speedway.

Parties and BBQs are in full swing and those with an entrepreneurial flair are loading up their front lawns with offers for parking.

It's a very commodity at Indy on race day.

Charges range from $40 a day – for a spot about three kilometres from The Speedway – to $100 a day within five minutes from the gate.

And there is no shortage of takers.

 Slaw Dog wins the Wienie 500

And finally, to an event which was bizarre, unique and highly entertaining.

The Wienie 500 saw six Wienermobiles – historic mobile hot-dog vendors – take what seemed like an hour to cover two laps of the Speedway.

There were crashes, one smoky Dog, and a grandstand finish.

But it was Carb Day, so the fans were up for it.