Katherine Legge

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.

Racing greats past and present were in high spirits at Friday’s 2015 Indianapolis 500 Carb Day.

The stars aligned for the 500 Festival parade, which promised a fairly high celebrity quotient and did not disappoint. Floats and cars, bands and marchers—they all moved swimmingly along the route that started on Pennsylvania Street downtown, wounded around Washington Street and Monument Circle, and then proceeded up Meridian Street.