Mike-san- I have been to the USGP every year since they’ve been to Indy. Had a great time every time except of course last year. I’m expecting better things this year. My experience has been that the sooner you get your tickets the better your seats will be….although there is always people trying to sell tickets the day of the race. If you aren’t too picky about where you sit, 15 minutes or so before the race begins the scalpers prices seem to go down dramatically! If you sit in the main grandstands across from the pits, don’t sit in rows 1 through 10 unless you like seeing just the on-board camera zoom by at 200 mph. Our seats are down past turn one in stand J, section 24 and we get a great view of the first turn of the race (which always seems to have action) and the twisties after that. There is also a big screen TV there for us to watch as well. I would suggest you go Friday or Saturday and walk the track. It is general admission (open seating) those days so you can scout out where you would prefer to sit if you go back another year.
Getting a hotel can definitely be a problem……I suggest you start now as most of the hotels in Indy proper are already sold out. Sure there may still be a few but mostly outside of the city.
If you enjoy racing, experiencing it in person is great! Of course you can’t see the whole track but the huge TV’s help you follow the action in other areas you can't see. Different than most other US sporting events, this has a very international flavor and VERY passionate fans that fly in from all over the world. Makes for a fun weekend.
Radical- If you sit in the main grandstand section that has the roof over it you’ll want earplugs! If you sit elsewhere, I don’t think you’ll need them. They do sell earplugs at the track for a couple of bucks.
