IndyCar

For the last 90 laps of the Indy 500, Rossi’s team strategist wanted him to do the impossible—go farther than the fuel he had could take him.

“I’m ready to go,” Karam says. “I’m starting 23rd—but I don’t think I’m going to be there for long.”

While some drivers put in headphones and get themselves pumped up before a race, Hinchcliffe likes to crack jokes with his team until they put him into the car.

“The car can’t tell what color it’s painted, it can’t tell what color my helmet is, and it can’t tell what gender I am when I’m driving it,” says Mann. “I’m just one of the drivers in the race.”

“Since I’ve been over here for a year and a half, I’ve had more success on ovals than I’ve had on road courses,” says Chilton. “Hopefully that pays dividends come May 29.”

Driver Charlie Kimball has diabetes, but if anything in his blood is driving him to win, it’s not glucose. It’s the mystique of Indy.

The IMS has aged gracefully, aided by a few facelifts along the way. Take a look at some of the biggest upgrades over the years.

Ride-along mechanics were a fixture into the late 1930s, and “Back Home Again” blared over the speakers for the first time in 1946. Point being, the Indy 500 and its traditions have had some tune-ups over the years.

“It is a team very hungry for victories,” Aleshin says. “It feels good to be back, and these guys mean a lot to me.”

If you live in this family-friendly neighborhood, you might pass–or more likely, be passed by–the 2013 Indy 500 champ.

“It’s very nerve-wracking for me when Graham is racing,” says Bobby Rahal, “especially on ovals because of the speed.”

“It was like, I don’t know, when you do a flip into a swimming pool,” says Castroneves. “I closed my eyes, because I didn’t want to see what was coming. ”

“We’re starting all over again,” says Castroneves. “Just because we won three times, it won’t be easy, and it won’t be the same as the times before. Every year, it changes.”

“I think when people see it, they move out of the way,” Pagenaud says of the car’s gaudy color scheme. “It’s disturbing. So it’s perfect.”