Arie Luyendyk Jr.

We’re already well into this droll, sporty, and yet downright painful 2013—St. Elmo and soccer and Lance, oh my—and so here, without further ado and based on pageviews, are the top 12 stories of 2012 at IndianapolisMonthly.com as determined by you, our readers:

The feeling of anticipation at The Bachelor premiere party in Indianapolis last night was contagious, as enthusiastic young women sought out seats with perfect views of the man of the night: former Bachelorette contestant and racecar driver Arie Luyendyk Jr. An electrified crowd of mostly females in their 20s and 30s filled the first floor and balcony of the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Tobias Theater.

Listen up, ladies: Arie Luyendyk Jr., the dreamy former Bachelorette contestant and racecar driver, is hosting a viewing party for the season premiere of The Bachelor tonight at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, starting at 6:30 p.m. Fans will get to ask Luyendyk their long-burning questions during a 7:30 p.m. Q&A session and then watch the first episode of the new season with him at 8 p.m.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. is in the driver’s seat, and he calls the shots for us as to where one should take a date and what to do there.

IndyCar star and Bachelorette heartthrob Arie Luyendyk, Jr. was in town recently for a celebrity cook-off benefiting the Children’s Bureau. He stopped by Indianapolis Monthly beforehand to reveal some his favorite local date spots for our Best Of Indy issue, coming up in December. You’ll have to pick up the magazine to find out what they are—but we got him to stick around long enough to offer a few other nuggets.