Neighbors of Churchill Downs have parked cars in their yards during Derby Week for decades.

But a new shuttle service and traffic changes made in 2018 prevented some from making money.

LMPD and Churchill Downs have promised to make more changes this year in response to complaints.

Chris Brooks gets maybe 15 seconds to convince a Kentucky Derby-goer to park in his yard — shouting his sales pitch through the windows of cars on Heywood Avenue.

It's there that Brooks has spent every first weekend of May since he was a kid, waving drivers toward his house down Sixth Street, where they'll pay up to $60 for a spot close to the main entrance of Churchill Downs.

In the South Louisville neighborhood, just north of the track, the Kentucky Derby hustle is an art form passed from generation to generation — and Brooks is a master of his craft.

But come May 4, you'll no longer catch him on the streets of the working-class community, where for a few days each year residents with an enterprising spirit feel like they can rise above their area's modest means.

Last year, revised traffic plans have kept cars from reaching the neighborhood's makeshift lots. And the few vehicles that pass through police blockades are no longer worth the fight it takes to get paid.

"It's obvious they're trying to reroute traffic elsewhere, and we're the neighborhood that gets hit the hardest," Brooks said.

"We deal with not being able to park in front of our houses, people throwing debris or trash in our yards, all the crazy stuff that happens because of Churchill Downs being open. Then when it's time for us to make some money. It feels like everything under the sun is being done to prevent us from making money."

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Louisville Metro Police Maj. Andrea Brown said the agency's annual traffic plan is meant to keep vehicles flowing on the streets around the track, which typically hosts more than 150,000 people each Derby Day.

Some streets in the neighborhoods will always have to be restricted to prevent traffic backups. But Brown said that doesn't mean officers will block all traffic from reaching residents' parking lots.

"We encourage them that if they have people who park in their yards each year, reach out to them and let them know they'll have an officer at the corner of their block," Brown said. "They can let the officer know 'I usually park down there at such and such's house.' They will let them through."

Neither LMPD nor Churchill Downs wants to prevent people from parking in the surrounding neighborhoods, added Ryan Jordan, general manager at Churchill Downs. And they'll make a few changes this year in response to residents' complaints.

"We could not pull off the Derby without our neighbors who surround the property, who help make sure our customers are taken care of," Jordan said. "That's not something you usually find when traveling to big events."

But for some living in the area, the continued tweaks to traffic routes and regulations for the event are an affront to the entrepreneurial culture that's become as much a part of the Kentucky Derby as the race itself.

"It's just one of those things where money ruins everything," said Brad Guntar, who lives west of the track. "Churchill's trying to make as much money as they can. ... (But) you're going to lose who you are, what got you to where you're at.

"They need to preserve that, I think."

Parties, parking and Southern charm

Guntar's property on Wizard Avenue is maybe 500 feet from Gate 10. And from Thursday through Saturday last year, it should have been full of cars that paid $50 or $60 to park.

But on Thurby, when Guntar often relies on business from cars passing by, some of the spaces in his yard sat empty — absurd for a house that close to the track.

Guntar has been parking cars at the Kentucky Derby for more than 20 years and said the pop-up industry has been hurt by traffic routes that push vehicles away from the neighborhoods toward lots at Cardinal Stadium and the Kentucky Exposition Center, where a new shuttle system was implemented last year.

Parking at the football stadium costs $20 per car, while parking at the fairgrounds (just over 2 miles away) is free.

"It's kind of funny because Churchill Downs has said (neighborhood parking) is good for everybody," Guntar said. But more and more, drivers are having trouble reaching his property.

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Guntar owns a house on Wizard and rents yards from neighbors who let him park cars there for a small fee.

"The way I run it now, it's a full valet operation," said Guntar, who's parked cars for some of the same Derby-goers for more than 10 years. "They pull up out front, I take the keys and the car and say, 'See you when you get back.'"

Guntar takes pride in keeping his customers happy, something he said takes strategy.

Before drivers leave for the track, Guntar asks how long they plan to stay, and he chooses where to park their vehicles depending on their answers.

All of the drivers have Guntar's cellphone number, and they'll often call weeks before Derby each year to make sure he can save a spot for them.

It's the same for a lot of residents who own homes along the perimeter of the track.

Derby-goers aren't people to scam, they're clients who want the best possible experience — something Churchill Downs alone can't always give them.

It's the parties in the yards, the food prepared by homeowners, the Southern charm that keeps many coming back.

"You want those people to come back to the Derby, period," said Bill Caswell, who helps a friend park cars near the Paddock entrance. "You want someone to make you feel like this is the best place on Earth to come visit on Derby."

Caswell has been parking cars for almost 25 years and said he can make $1,000 a day for the Kentucky Oaks or Derby.

That's money that pays taxes on people's homes, that's been saved to buy cars or to put kids through college, Caswell said.

For Big Al Harley, who lives off Dresden Avenue, the money is an extra mortgage payment.

"We look at it as our way of Churchill Downs helping pay for our house," Harley said. "In return, we're helping take care of their customers. Whether they look at it that way or not."

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Harley charges just $20 per car to park in his yard because it's farther away from the track. He's been parking cars for 12 years, wearing his popular "Sexy People Parking" shirt, and has met people from Philadelphia, Canada and even New Zealand.

In his backyard, he sets up a party every year with free food and "kamikaze karaoke," in which he lets people pick one song to sing, as long as they'll perform another that's randomly chosen.

"Everything kind of changes and everything goes away," Harley said of the hustle. "I'm 51 now. If it lasts another 10 years, I would have had a bunch of good times."

Improvements in 2019

One of the biggest changes to Kentucky Derby weekend in 2018 was the addition of a shuttle system from the Kentucky Expo Center to the track's main entrance.

The service was a response to frequent calls that Churchill Downs received from visitors who wanted express instructions on where to park, said Jordan, the general manager.

Combined with a $32 million construction project along Central Avenue, the shuttle system unintentionally cut some cars off from neighborhood parking lots — something LMPD and Churchill Downs have agreed to fix in 2019.

Though the shuttle service will stay as a supplement to parking in the neighborhoods and at Cardinal Stadium, Churchill Downs will improve the pedestrian routes leading into the track from neighborhoods off Central and Longfield avenues, Jordan said.

Last year, LMPD installed fencing along both sides of Central that limited people to crossing at only two intersections — Third and Ninth streets. But the agency will allow Derby-goers to cross at Sixth Street this year, as well.

A temporary pedestrian bridge that Churchill Downs installed across Central last year will not be back. And a new walking route painted from Longfield Avenue through the company's expansive parking lot will make it easier for pedestrians to approach from the track's southwest side, Jordan said.

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LMPD officers and Churchill Downs employees met in March with neighbors to discuss the changes and get additional feedback. And they'll meet again once the 145th Run for the Roses has passed.

"To the extent we can make changes and improvements, that's something Churchill has been doing for 145 years," Jordan said. "... How we work with neighbors has been very positive. We have an open dialogue, and we'll do it again after this year's Derby."

Duke Morris, who lives about 300 feet from the track, said he appreciates some of the changes that have kept Derby revelers from stumbling onto his property.

Twenty years ago, when vendors still set up along Central Avenue during the Kentucky Oaks, crowds would swell outside his home, sending more than a few unannounced drunks through his front door.

But that was before Central was widened, before homes were torn down to make way for new parking lots, before the avenue was closed to bus traffic only.

"It’s been a hell of a ride with that many people that close to your home," Morris said.

The changes are just part of the Kentucky Derby's evolution, but "personally, being old-school, I liked it better the way it was when the twin spires were the tallest part of Churchill Downs. It kind of, from my view now, looks like a factory.

"But it’s progress. What are you going to do? Things are going to change."

Bailey Loosemore: 502-582-4646; bloosemore@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @bloosemore. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/baileyl.