Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

We asked Dan Wheldon to share a few thoughts as the Indianapolis 500 neared. Here is a pre-race update.

What a month it’s been so far in Indianapolis. My Target Chip Ganassi Racing team has performed flawlessly and put my teammate Scott Dixon on pole position, with myself close behind in second for our first ever one-two start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I’ve always been fortunate in my career to be in great equipment, and I hope to take the No.10 Target Honda Dallara to victory lane Sunday.

What a great feeling it would be to win a second Indianapolis 500. Winning this race in 2005 was the highlight of my professional racing career, and the highlight of my personal life came just a few short months ago in St. Petersburg, FL when I married my beautiful wife Susie. Things are going extremely well and I can only hope we have lady luck on our side when the green flag drops in a few short days.

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The comments in my last post about our new computed radiography (CR) system spurred me into writing a second post about this topic.

In the comments on that last post Karen T discussed the importance of being able to make a 1:1 comparison between a radiograph and a painting, and then Christina responded with some first-hand experience with our new system. I confess, though: I cheated a bit and asked Christina to answer that question because, after all, Christina is an experienced paintings conservator here at the IMA, and I’m not.

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It’s Memorial Day weekend and everyone in Indianapolis knows what that means…It’s time for the THE GREATEST SPECTACLE IN RACING! For as long as I can remember the Indianapolis 500 has been somewhat of a sacred tradition in my family. If the weather is above 55 degrees and it isn’t raining, my dad will turn on the race broadcast and pull into the driveway every car and/or lawn mower he can find. And so the annual race-day car wash begins. With the broadcast blaring so loud you can hear it for at least a half mile, the rest of the family (and neighborhood) is forced to listen. I won’t complain. I love the broadcast. The bellow of Jim Neighbors singing the line “Back home again in Indiana” gives me goosebumps. The first roar of the engines makes my adrenaline rush.

While many people stay at home and listen to the radio, hundreds of thousands more pour into the track every year as spectators. As the largest and highest-capacity sporting facility in history, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway can hold more than 400,000 fans. That means in one day the track gets as many visitors as the IMA does in an entire year. That’s amazing!

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Author (and goalkeeper), Albert Camus, wrote - “All that I know most surely about morality and obligations, I owe to football.”

I also owe a lot to football and it’s something I’m always willing to discuss, play or watch. It’s even more appropriate to discuss today and even into the summer. In a matter of hours, over in Moscow, the Champions League Final kicks off featuring an all-English match up of Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC (I’m rooting for Man U). In a matter of a few weeks (17 days to be exact), the European Championships begin, sadly without England, but I’ll be rooting for the Orange Crush (that would be the Dutch National Team) and glued to every game I can catch on TV.
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It’s simple advice and a tip not to be forgotten when exploring unfamiliar cities and towns across the globe: Walk downtown. And while you’re out, scope out the city’s local art museum, no matter its size or popularity.

When traveling to Asheville, NC, last week for a family getaway, neither a stroll downtown nor the art museum were tops on the resort’s list of local attractions. The Biltmore Estate was actually at the top, but we opted not to splurge on the $50 tickets. After a few days of hiking, tennis and movies at the resort, my curiosity motivated me to find out about the history and culture of the area.

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