Indy 500

I raced after his golf cart, jumping through pedestrian traffic like it was a game of Frogger. I charged through the doors, but an imposing security guard turned me away as Jim entered the conference room.

“I still feel like I’m living a dream,” Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay said on the podium, his car and pit crew to his left. “I can’t believe my face is going to be on [the Borg-Warner] trophy.”

Mann stood out from the rest of the field—and not just because of her car’s highlighter-pink hue. Mann was the only female driver to cross the Yard of Bricks, the first time in eight years the race hasn’t fielded multiple female competitors.

“I’m not that drunk, I swear. Just dance with me, “ slurred a clearly intoxicated sweaty thirtysomething man, who insisted I take a photo with him. I respectfully declined.

“I’m trying not to be too emotional, or I’ll gargle the song,” Nabors said.

Superstition runs rampant in autoracing. Some teams never wear new clothing on race day, others always put a certain tire on first before mounting the rest.

Highlights: Susie Wheldon, a tender moment between Will Power and wife Liz, teen and future-face-of-IndyCar Sage Karam, Tony and Lauren Kanaan, and more.

Dario Franchitti, on getting his first speeding ticket: “[My father told me] going fast was for on the track and not on the road—I was told that many, many times.”

See what car number has been most victorious over the year, plus how many gallons

“It is so nice to have a virgin experience at this stage in my life,” says Michael Feinstein. “And so I will be coming with great expectations but no attachment to any particular driver.”

Whatever “it” is, every year it captures the imaginations of the 33 drivers who compete for the Borg-Warner Trophy. And they all have this in common: At one point in their lives, something drew their attention to the Indianapolis 500.

Why did Villeneuve decide to return to Indy after all these years? “That’s the question I get the most,” he says. “And, you know, why not?”

Only by winning a major (non-athletic) contest does one force Andrew Luck to play second fiddle during this parade, but Josh Kaufman did just that.

Yesterday morning, Julie Vance was visible through the front windows, piecing together the intricate wreath that Sunday’s Indy 500 winner will wear on the victory podium—as every champion has since 1960.

They’ll start the race behind everyone else. As an added insult (literally), they dutifully attended the Last Row Party—an annual Indy tradition that returned yesterday evening after a hiatus last year.