SPEEDWAY — This weekend, the Indy 500 returns to full capacity for the first time in two years. The day before the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the residents of Speedway are ready to once again feel the need for speed.
"I love Speedway in May. It's great. It's a good place to live. It gets your heart pitter pattering. It's just a great place to be," says lifelong Speedway resident Cheryl Taylor.
Taylor's family throws a large family party every year. Her parents taught her the ropes, and she'll pass the love of racing on to her children.
Right up the street, best friends and lifelong Speedway residents Mia Adair and Jenna Brandenburg are selling a variety of items at their tent. It's set up on the corner of Ford and Winton. They're focused on hydration with waters, vitamins, and other health snacks, but they also have purses and scarves.
The friends grew up listening to the sound of the race and are excited that it's back.
"It's craziness. Everybody from everywhere is coming, the roads are crazy, the people are usually intoxicated, but they're here for a good time, and I love it. I love the energy when it's race time. It just feels like it's all alive," says Adair.
"There's lots of money to be made," says Brandenburg.
This will be the women's first time trying to monetize the race, and this is the perfect year. With restrictions lifted, the women can do a lot of business.
"It's been weird. A ghost town, and you'll hear the cars racing and stuff, and you get this buzz, you get excited because it's May, and you hear the cars going and you expect the liveliness of everything, and we just haven't had it. So It's nice to get that back," says Brandenburg.
