Carb Day means one thing: Indy 500 weekend starts now
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George Thorogood & The Destroyers are ready to rock IMS. Photo: Dave Simpson/WireImage
If you're feeling "Bad to the Bone" and got "No Particular Place To Go" tomorrow, Carb Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the place to be.
Why it matters: Carb Day marks the start of Memorial Day weekend at IMS, and signifies the true home stretch on the way to the Indianapolis 500.
Driving the news: The event is a full-day affair that packs the final Indy 500 practice, a pit stop challenge and the annual Miller Lite Carb Day Concert into an 8am-6pm window.
- Practice starts at 11am, and the pit stop challenge starts at 2:30pm.
- Concert gates open at 2pm, and the show starts at 3pm.
Fun fact: The name "Carb Day" has nothing to do with the carbs racegoers will eat and drink over the weekend.
- It's a holdover from when the event was a closed practice called Carburetion Day, which allowed race teams to adjust the carburetors of their gasoline-powered engines. It opened to the public in the 1950s.
- Indy 500 cars haven't used carburetors since 1963, but we still call it that anyway.
The concert has been held at the track since 1998, but the shows were originally held downtown at Union Station the night of Carburetion Day.
- The first "Carb Day" concerts were in 1992 with Doug Lawson and the Middle of the Road Band and Carl Storie band as the headliners.
Zoom in: This year's concert is headlined by George Thorogood & The Destroyers, the rock band that created hits like "Bad to the Bone" and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" while moving 15 million albums over the past five decades.
- Grammy-nominated rock band Gin Blossoms is the special opening guest.
- Additional tunes will be provided by Kid Quill, a rapper who hails from Shelbyville and became a global ambassador for the Indiana Pacers.
Be prepared: We put together a playlist of tracks from all three artists on Spotify or Apple Music.
If you go: The gates for Carb Day open at 8am.
- Tickets start at $45 for general admission.
- Concert wristbands can be purchased for $30 or bundled with admission for $75.
- VIP tickets are $275.