The gates to the Indianpolis Motor Speedway were locked and the grand stands were empty for Saturday's two races, but some fans still came to Speedway.
A few gathered along West 16th Street where one can look through the fencing and see a glimpse of cars.
Buddy Urbanski came down from Chicago to see friends he hasn't seen since January. He's been coming to races at IMS for years. In fact, the last 500 he missed was while serving in Vietnam 50-years ago.
"Still get to see the friends that mean something to you," said Urbanski. "Its a combination of the tradition, the event and everything, the history of the 500 and the Brickyard. I've been fortunate to be in the same seat for every Brickyard until this one."
Daughter-father Ariel and Michael Hicks were not going to break with tradition, either. "We haven't missed a race in 14-plus years we don't plan on stopping now," said Ariel. "We came out on what would have been race day in May. We wouldn't miss it for anything."
Said Michael Hicks,"We have always been to the Indy 500 races and Grand Prix. Even though we can't go in, we didn't want to miss this event. Luckily Penske put a nice TV for us. We can watch it right through the gate. Get to spend a lot of time with my daughter on race day."
Father and daughter says they are passionate about racing and the traditions of IMS. They are thankful a limited number of fans will see the 500 next month, if all goes as planned.
