On one of our recent travel jaunts, we happened to be near Indianapolis and decided to tour the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. We took the Kiss the Bricks Tour. Before taking the tour, we were not really into open wheel racing. Now we are because we are blown away by how much we both enjoyed the entire experience! If you are planning a trip in that direction or are in the area, you should definitely take the Kiss the Bricks Tour and go through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Kiss the Bricks Tour
Before we toured the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, we took the Kiss the Bricks Tour and it was fabulous. There are two other types of tours but both the VIP and golf cart tours were all sold out. If you want those I would suggest you get there very early. We arrived at 9:20 and there were only a few vacancies in the bus tours left. In spite of that our tour was fabulous!
The Bus Ride Portion of the Tour
We boarded our bus in front of the museum where we met the driver and her assistant. The two guides, Cindy and Debbie, were friendly, knowledgeable, and extremely helpful! When we told Cindi we were from out of town and looking for places to visit, she also was a wealth of information about Indiana and provided tons of info and suggestions.
The actual bus tour consisted of a drive around the track with a stop in front of the big pagoda. As you go circle the track, the commentary is provided via a recording. It was a little cheesy but still interesting. The driver stops and you disembark in front of the big pagoda, right on the finish line.
The track itself is different than typical asphalt. The guide told us to not run or do anything where we might fall because doing so would cut up our skin. The surface is of a harder, more textured type of asphalt, made to provide more tire traction.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Yard of Bricks
During the bus stop, you can actually kiss the bricks- a strip of bricks left in place from the original bricks laid in 1909. Until 1938, the track surface was 100 percent brick. Later, it was covered in asphalt. The engineers purposefully left a 36-inch strip of bricks intact, stretching across the speedway in front of the big pagoda. This is known as the “Yard of Bricks”.
Kissing the Bricks
In 1996, NASCAR champion Dale Jarrett celebrated his victory in the Brickyard 400 race by kneeling and kissing the yard of bricks. Since then, all of the Motor Speedway winners, both of the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 races have all followed the tradition. As part of the tour, you can get your picture taken kissing the bricks, as well.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
Even though the museum tour is self-guided, the staff was so knowledgeable and helpful. Just ask any question and they are a wealth of information!!! You can tell each of the staff loves their jobs as well as the Speedway!!
At the completion of the Kiss the Bricks tour, the bus deposits you at the trackside of the museum, which is on the opposite side of the building. As we enter for the self-guided tour, a museum attendant encouraged everyone to take our pictures in an Indy Car.
Sitting in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Race Cars
Sitting in the car was a lot more fun than I expected- the cockpit of their demo car is very tight and small, so unless you have a driver’s physique, just plan to laugh and squeeze in. I promise, the harder it is to get in and out of- the more fun you can make it!
In the Museum
The first stage of the museum had a number of race cars from different eras and interestingly, an exhibit of Goodyear tires used on Indy cars through the years. It is fascinating to see the evolution of sizes, treads, and rubber compounds. We spent a lot of time in this (as well as the other two stages of the museum) and attendants were available to explain some subtleties of the exhibits.
Museum Personnel
A staff can certainly make or break one’s experience at any business but the employees at the Indy 500 Museum were some of the best we have ever been around! They definitely made the whole experience even better for us!
The Indy 500 staff were the friendliest, most helpful group of people that we have ever encountered throughout all of our many years of traveling and visiting museums. They were absolutely top-notch and obviously enjoyed their jobs and loved the museum.
The museum tour was billed as self-guided, but the museum employees are full of information about every Indy race and every year of the Speedway’s history. From our guides on the bus to every employee throughout the museum, you could hear the passion they have for the museum.
There are a couple of videos on loop, and I feel like they change from time to time. While watching one, an attendant came and watched with us, then asked what we thought and sought questions. I had several and he was ready with answers and explanations.
The attendant and I then began talking of my Indy hero, Mario Andretti. Our amazing attendant could estimate Andretti’s years of participation but remembered every single one of his podium finishes. It doesn’t end here, I went on to the next section of the museum and admired other exhibits, and here came that same attendant with a senior attendant.
The first attendant impressed me, but this second person was an encyclopedia! He walked us through a thorough and intricately detailed history of Andretti’s participation in the 500.
Hall of Winners
The third and final museum segment had more than a hundred winning cars. I was fascinated with the progression of design over the years from modified production sedans for the first few years to the bespoke racers of today.
I wouldn’t expect the same museum configuration and exhibits on my next visit, but I know the personnel will be top-notch. Be sure and visit the gift shop before you leave. There are technically 2- both right up front on either side of the entrance. They have a ton of merchandise and lots of cool souvenirs.
The Kiss the Bricks Tour and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum were so much more than we had expected. Not being racing enthusiasts, we were happy to go but our expectations were not super high. However, we loved every minute of it and would definitely recommend everyone- Indy 500 fan or not- to go.
For more information on the Kiss the Bricks Tour and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, click HERE.
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