Snake Pit

Is it still Race Weekend without the Race? Yep.

The month of May is canceled.

A photoessay of Snake Pit attendees.

Good, sweaty American fun inside the Snake Pit.

There is beauty in the simplicity of the “Race Day Chic” attire. There is majesty, even.

Whether donning retro-inspired T-shirts or suiting up to get down in the Snake Pit in their finest “American-flag casual,” attendees of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing have plenty of fashionable race-day options from local retailers. Broad Ripple’s The Shop is a popular destination for people looking for apparel for their favorite Indy sports team or […]

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.

“I grew up four doors down from the current president of the Speedway, Doug Boles, so I’m confident he’ll take these suggestions seriously.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines. And let the bass drop!”

Revelers in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield cut loose at the 2015 Snake Pit Party. What did you miss? Music, beer, cutoffs, tanks, groping, and—judging by the photos, at least—a damned good time.

“What we’ve had to do is look through the lens of, is something really a tradition?” says Boles. “Is it really core, central to our DNA? Or is it something that has just happened over time, and if you changed it, it doesn’t really change the importance of the race?”

“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.