They came, they partied, they watched the race, and they left.

But when about 300,000 Indianapolis 500 fans departed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they left much behind: coolers, chairs, grills, a couch. And don't overlook the smashed doughnuts, peanut shells, cigarette packs, and beer cans. Lots and lots of beer cans.

On Monday, the arduous cleanup task fell to crews of volunteers and some paid workers, who arrived at the track shortly after 7 a.m. to spend the next 10 hours or so collecting garbage.

Channel surfing:The Indy 500 Victory Banquet airs on WTHR tonight. But for the Stanley Cup, change channels.

This was the second year volunteer Sonya Smith, who was gesturing around a Snake Pit lawn covered in trash, had taken part in the IMS cleanup. She said her experience did not inspire her to want to attend the race, even though she has never gone.

“It looks like a lot of chaos,” she said. “It’s almost like these people come here to have a party with their friends that they don’t have to clean up.”

Fundraiser for nonprofits

Still, there are pluses for the intrepid cleaners.

For many nonprofit groups, the activity serves as a one-day, big bang fundraiser.

This year Liberty Christian High School in Anderson will receive at least $3,500 for its role in helping to clean up a section of seats, said math teacher Jim Hostetler. He expected to earn an additional $300 to $400 for all of the aluminum cans they would recycle.

About 25 students and 15 parents participated, some armed with snow blowers to help reach the smallest pieces of trash.

“This is great for nonprofits,” said Hostetler, who was on his 20th year of cleanup at the track. “The track does a great job for us.”

Many of the students had come to earn money to pay for travel and supplies for the senior class mission trip to Costa Rica.

With that goal in mind, seniors Taylor Webber and Grace Davidson, both 17, said there was something sobering about the experience, seeing all of the uneaten food and half-consumed bottles of water.

“It makes me sad to know how much trash is left behind,” Taylor said.

Treasure trove, of sorts

At least the trash pickers can keep whatever they find if they want.

Phil Pasquarosa has been coming to the track for the past 22 years from Logansport, where his company, Labor Kings, is based. His business card bills the family-owned company as specialists in sporting facility and racetrack cleanups as well as landfill maintenance.

Originally, Pasquarosa said, he would bring out 100 people to do the bulk of the work. Now that the track offers this as a fundraiser, he brings about 30 people.

The prospect of bringing home some grills that looked to be in pretty decent shape did not appeal much to him.

“I got grills long ago and I still got them,” he said.

Over the years, he said, people have found as much as $300. But on this particular Monday, he hadn’t even seen a penny.

One dilapidated couch sat among the trash. In past years, Pasquarosa said, there were as many as 20 sofas — and at the end of the race, some revelers would light their couches on fire.

In general, the garbage buildup was not as great this year as in the past, he said.

“Every year, it’s getting less,” he said.

Back in the Snake Pit

In the Snake Pit, a group of about 20 volunteers from the Ben Davis band's booster club didn’t think there was a paucity of trash.

Laurel Leslie, a board member of the booster club, was scheming about how her group could bring home a large cooler on wheels that would be perfect for the band to use.

In three years of doing the cleanup, she said she’s found her share of odd objects, such as single shoes, pieces of clothing — “things that make you say hmmm.”

Some items, though, she planned to deliver to the track’s lost and found, such as the driver’s license and credit card she found (not belonging to the same person) and a set of car keys.

Because one must be 16 to volunteer, Ben Davis father Thomas Johnson raked through the mud alone, as his sophomore son slept in at home. Johnson found solace in the one piece of treasure he unearthed, a quarter, and in the fact that by next May, his tuba player progeny will be 16.

“Next year, he’ll have his turn,” Johnson said.

Although her son, Logan, was not enthusiastic, Smith dragged him out to the track for the second year to help with cleanup. Shirt off, Logan raked up can after can, deeming the experience “miserable.”

Last year, he said, was even worse. Not only was it one of the hottest Memorial Days on record, his group was assigned to a section of seats, which meant steps.

Overall, though, Smith said she thought it was a good lesson for her child.

“It’s a good way to teach my son he has to work towards what he wants,” she said.

And every now and then, there were moments of merriment, too.

When one of her two daughters sifting through trash on the small hill in the Snake Pit found the first $100 bill, Sandi Atherton and her girls were excited. But as they found more and more, eventually totaling $1,500, their excitement waned.

The bills, which resembled American money, had Chinese writing on them.

“I don’t know if they were trying to counterfeit or if it was a joke on cleanup,” said Atherton, who was working with the Ben Davis band crew.

Contact IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at 317-444-6354 or shari.rudavsky@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter: @srudavsky.