10 reasons you need to experience the Indianapolis 500 before you die

INDIANAPOLIS — There are certain sporting events that transcend sports.

During my career I’ve been lucky enough to go to the Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup, Wimbledon, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Final, Rose Bowl, Final Four and WrestleMania.

But there’s one event that always eluded me. 

The Indianapolis 500.

That finally changed this year and it was everything I had dreamed it would be and more.

You don’t just attend the Indy 500. You experience it. You survive it. You become part of it. For one day, you join the more than 350,000 people who descend upon Indianapolis for what can only be described as America’s greatest racing pilgrimage.

I had wanted to go to the Indy 500 my entire life. It sat there on my sports bucket list alongside the Summer Olympics and The Masters. I finally made it to Indianapolis this year and somewhere between hearing “Back Home Again in Indiana,” seeing the Snake Pit in person and watching cars fly by at more than 230 mph, I realized this wasn’t just another event I could cross off a list.

It was one of the best sporting experiences I’ve ever had.

You can feel it the moment you arrive in Indianapolis. During race week the city transforms itself around the speedway. There are checkered flags hanging from buildings, race cars parked downtown and fans wearing vintage Indy jackets like they’re family heirlooms.

As soon as you land at the Indianapolis International Airport, the lobby is made up to be a mini–Indianapolis Motor Speedway complete with a race car and brick-laced finish line. No city and no airport embraces a big sports event quite like Indianapolis. Nearby there’s a pop-up gift shop where you can buy just about anything with an Indy 500 logo on it. The woman ringing me up noticed the foam brick I was buying and smiled.

“Is this your first Indy 500?” she asked me.

When I told her it is, her smile got even bigger.

“This will be my 50th race,” she said as she scrolls through old photos on her phone showing herself at Gasoline Alley and in the Snake Pit when she was, well, slightly younger.

That’s when it hit me.

The Indy 500 isn’t just a race. It’s tradition. It’s family. Its memories passed down through generations. It’s Mecca for racing fans.

And if you love sports, you owe it to yourself to go at least once before you die.

Here are my top 10 reasons why.

10. The sheer scale of it all

Nothing prepares you for the size of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Nothing.

The place looks like a city dropped inside another city. More than 350,000 people pack into the speedway on race day, making it the largest single-day sporting event in the world. The infield is massive. The grandstands stretch forever. Even walking from one side of the track to the other feels like crossing an airport terminal.

TV simply can’t capture how enormous this place really is. It covers nearly 660 acres and could fit the Rose Bowl, Yankee Stadium, Churchill Downs, White House, Yaj Mahal, Libert Island, Vatican City, and the Roman Colosseum with room to spare. 

9. The speed is unlike anything you’ve ever seen

I’ve covered Formula One in Las Vegas and NASCAR at Daytona, but the Indianapolis 500 is just different.

When the cars rip past you at over 230 miles per hour, your body feels it before your brain processes it. The ground shakes. The air changes. Conversations stop mid-sentence because there’s no point trying to talk over the noise.

You can watch highlights for years and still not understand how absurdly fast these cars are until you see them in person.

8. The people make the event

Sporting events are always better when the fans care deeply and Indy 500 fans care deeply.

Everyone I met had a story. Someone told me about camping at Turn 3 every year with his father. Another fan showed me ticket stubs dating back decades. A grandmother proudly explained how four generations of her family now attend the race together.

Nobody treated the Indy 500 like just another sporting event. Whenever you told someone it was your first Indy 500, they wrapped their arms around you like you were a long lost relative and filled you in on everything you had to do and experience. 

I met up with Will Buxton, who joined Fox Sports last year after being the voice of F1 and Netflix's popular “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” at Dean’s Steak & Seafood inside the JW Marriott Indianapolis the night before the race. 

He wears silver bracelets bearing the names of his children and one with the numbers 52525. It was a gift from his wife to commemorate the date he called his first-ever Indianapolis 500 last year.That's what the race means to him and you can tell when he talks about it. 

“I've done Le Mans. I've done the Monaco Grand Prix and the whole Formula 1 World Championship,” he said. “There is nothing I have experienced on this Earth that levels up to what the Indianapolis 500 is. It is so much more than just a race. 350,000 people plus will be there tomorrow. They estimate one in every 1,000 Americans is here at the Speedway on race day. That is a ridiculous number. It is literally win or total devestation for these drivers. The history, the pageantry. There's something almost organic about this place. Like it's got its own soul and personality.” 

He made it clear to me that I was entering sacred ground on race day.

Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Snake Pit on Sunday, May 24, 2026, during the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

7. The Snake Pit is real and somehow even crazier than advertised

Every sporting event has a party section.

The Indy 500 has an entire infield music festival.

The Snake Pit feels like a music festival dropped into the middle of a racetrack. Thousands of fans dance in the infield while race cars fly around the oval nearby. It’s equal parts Coachella, spring break and controlled chaos.

And somehow it works.

Only at the Indy 500 could a race and a rave coexist this perfectly.

6. The traditions hit differently in person

I had seen clips of “Back Home Again in Indiana” before.

I had seen the milk celebration before.

I had seen the helicopter fly over around the track, almost racing the cars during the first lap. 

But in person? Completely different. You get emotional taking it all in. 

There’s something about seeing 350,000 people collectively pause for tradition that gives the race emotional weight. It stops feeling like a sporting event and starts feeling like Americana.

You realize quickly why so many people come back every single year.

5. It feels like the Super Bowl and county fair combined

That’s honestly the best way I can describe it.

The Indy 500 has the prestige and importance of a championship event but somehow still feels approachable and local. Fans grill outside the track. People toss footballs in parking lots. Families camp nearby for days.

It’s massive without feeling corporate.

That’s rare in modern sports.

MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Fans walk to and from Gasoline Alley Friday, May 22, 2026, on Carb Day ahead of the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

4. Gasoline Alley is a sports fan’s dream

Even the name sounds legendary.

Walking through Gasoline Alley feels like stepping into racing history. Mechanics are working inches away from million-dollar cars while fans lean over fences trying to get a better look.

There’s no fake presentation there. It's just racing and it's beautiful for race fans. 

3. Indianapolis embraces the race like no city embraces an event

You know how New Orleans feels during the Super Bowl or Augusta during Masters week?

Indianapolis during Indy 500 week belongs on that list.

The race isn’t just happening in the city. The city becomes the race.

Everyone talks about it. Everyone wears it. Everyone knows someone connected to it. Uber and Lyft drivers discuss qualifying times. Bartenders debate strategy.

The entire city feels plugged into the event.

There's no city that buys into hosting a big sporting event quite like Indianapolis. Having just been there for the Men's Final Four, the entire city rolls out the welcome mat for visitors.  From the world famous shrimp cocktails at St. Elmo's to lighting up a cigar nearby at Burn, everyone wants to make sure you're having a good time. 

2. The start of the race is one of the greatest moments in sports

“Drivers, start your engines.”

Those are simple words we've heard countless times but it just hits different before the Indy 500.

The flyover. The roar of the engines. The anticipation before the green flag waves. Thirty-three cars accelerating into Turn 1 together.

For a few moments, the noise becomes overwhelming and the crowd becomes one giant reaction.

I’ve covered championship games and title fights all over the world and the opening moments of the Indy 500 ranks up there with any of them.

1. It reminds you why sports matter

This is the biggest reason of all.

The Indy 500 reminded me why people fall in love with sports in the first place. It’s not just about winners and losers. It’s about shared experiences. Traditions. Family stories. Generational memories.

It’s fathers and mothers bringing sons and daughter. Grandparents bringing grandchildren. Friends making annual trips. Fans returning for their 50th race.

You leave Indianapolis understanding the Indy 500 isn’t simply an event people attend.

It becomes part of their lives.

And after finally going myself, I completely understand why.