As my transition into becoming an old man continues, I was disappointed to learn Helio Castroneves says he’s a celebrity because of his appearance on Dancing with the Stars and not because of his Indy 500 titles. The Indy 500 is running right now, so excuse me if I seem distrac–come on, Castroneves, how do you clip a car on pit lane?!

The Scaia family has a rich history with the Indy 500, though this picture was taken in California where we drove Indy cars around the speedway there, causing it to shut down. The pre-Alan Scaias lived in Indianapolis, and the Alan-Era Scaia parents would pull my brothers and me out of school to make the trip over for qualifying once each year when we moved to Dayton.

We’d go to the speedway then eat at that Steak n Shake in Downtown Indianapolis with the leaky ceiling.

Now, though, Indy 500 champions say it’s not a big deal and Steak n Shake is a nationwide chain, so they probably fixed that ceiling.

Mario Andretti was driving a car ahead of the pace car this morning to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his win in 1969. If he cut open the throttle, he’d probably lap Castroneves several times.

Bobby Rahal, who has only won the Indy 500 once more than me, is a team owner and says we’re entering a second golden age for Indy racing.

With 300,000 expected today, it’s still the biggest single-day sporting event on the planet. Sure, the race has changed. They don’t spend all month at Indy like they used to. I once covered Tony Kanan opening a new water slide at Hurricane Harbor in Arlington just a few days before he defended his title [He’s also only won the Indy 500 once more than me].

They also have a second race at the speedway earlier in May on the track they used for the Formula One race. Formula One would later follow Scaia from Indiana to Texas.

We also no longer have Jim Nabors’ heavenly singing voice welcoming us all back home, but they’ve modernized the scoring pylon, so they can put the Indiana torch back there to make you feel ways about things.

I bet Castroneves never even thinks about the moonlight on the Wabash.