Gif : YouTube

It doesn’t really feel like a race until some big ol’ jets cruise over the crowds in the traditional flyover. This year’s Indy 500 had one of the best post-national anthem flyovers I’ve ever seen—and now you can get an incredible view from the inside of the cockpit.


This year, we saw the first double flyover in Indy 500 history. Basically, that means four planes performed a coordinated stunt not just once, but twice

. An A-1o Warthog and F-16 Viper did laps around the track. Then, after they reconvened for the second flyover, the F-16 shot up straight into the air.

Sitting in the grandstand a few drinks in, I have to say—that vertical climb was probably the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I was grabbing the arms of everyone I knew (and even a few people I didn’t know), directing their gaze up at the plane slowly becoming a tiny dot in the sky.


I didn’t think it could get any better than that. And then the Indianapolis Motor Speedway released on onboard from the F-16's climb into the sky. And yes, it got better.

I’m a real sucker for panoramas of race tracks from space, and I gotta say—the video above gives a real great view of the speedway growing smaller and smaller outside of the cockpit while the pilot ascends higher into the sky. I’ve never enjoyed secondhand vertigo so much.

Take a few moments out of your Tuesday to enjoy the video. If it doesn’t get you pumped up and ready to attack the rest of your day, I don’t know what will.