My Media Day Adventure

I had the great pleasure of participating in Indy 500 Media Day this past week. I had not realized how big and spread out Media Day was, but IndyCar does a great job of sending its drivers all over the country to promote not only the Indy 500 but upcoming races as well. (Except for California; why weren't any drivers sent to Fontana or Sonoma?) I don't know how they determine which driver gets to go to which location, but I think Tony Kanaan got a pretty good assignment.

TK was the lone driver sent to promote the Firestone 600, and someone saw this as an excellent opportunity to jointly promote Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. Six Flags is debuting a new ride this season, called the Wahoo Racer. The ride pits six competitors against one another, who race down a waterslide head-first on a  foam toboggan. What a perfect promotion for a race car driver! TK was one of the first people to christen the new ride, along with an Arlington, TX city manager (who ultimately won) and members of the Arlington police and fire departments. As I watched TK's splashdown, I wasn't convinced he fully enjoyed it but he gamely participated anyway. He also rode the "Mega Wedgie," which is a thrill ride like a halfpipe. Typically two people ride a raft down the halfpipe, but TK did it all by himself. I rode both of these rides, and they were a lot of fun. My boyfriend, who is much taller than me and can get better angles, took some pictures:

TK, moments after finishing last in the inaugural Wahoo Racer 500

After the race, TK presented the trophy to the winner, along with a pair of "six shooters" (water pistols in this case), as is tradition for anyone who wins a race at Texas Motor Speedway. He also donned the traditional cowboy hat:

In keeping with Indy 500 tradition, all six participants also received a small bottle of milk:

After drying off and changing clothes, TK did some interviews and joined some fans for lunch. Since this was announced as a "meet and greet," I had expected a more organized fan Q & A experience, but I still greeted TK and had my picture taken with him. When TK left, we were invited to ride the open rides, but most people left instead. (Not me! I had never been to Hurricane Harbor, and I love riding some waterslides so I took full advantage of the free opportunity to enjoy the Wahoo Racer and other rides multiple times.) I think the Six Flags employees got a little bored, and the poor DJ was left to play music for about ten people. The event was supposed to be free for the first 100 fans (plus a guest) to sign up, but I don't think there was anything close to 100 fans there. I suspect that's because the event was scheduled from 9:30am-2:00pm on a Tuesday, when kids were still in school and most people were working. But it also wasn't publicized very much in my opinion. I'm not sure if TMS season ticket holders were invited, but that would have been a nice touch if they had been. It sounds like other cities had much better Media Day turnout, especially Milwaukee. Nonetheless, I appreciated the opportunity to take part in some fun water rides and meet one of my favorite IndyCar drivers, so thank you Texas Motor Speedway. My first (and hopefully not my last) Indy 500 Media Day was a blast!