INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — NASCAR weekend is in full swing as drivers prepare for races.

Team 23XI Racing, a professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, had a kickoff to the racing weekend on Friday evening at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with food, music and drivers. The event came ahead of Saturday and Sunday racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, concluding with the Brickyard 400 on Sunday.

Driver Bubba Wallace said, “It’s a fun get a away from the madness that we’re always a part of at the race track. I love it here in Indy, bringing car culture here in motorsports.”

He signed autographs and cars of young fans.

Riley Herbst won the Xfinity Series race in 2024. He said of Indianapolis, “It’s a cool town. The fans are awesome. The history in this place is really neat and to be able to add to that history last year with winning the race. Hopefully, we can make more history on Sunday.”

Aside from drivers, fans got a chance to see NASCAR vehicles get their tires changed. Dante Johnson is a pit crew member. He said he can change a tire weighing 40 pounds in 23 seconds. “Speed. That’s what you just saw was me taking off the right front tire and putting it on. Tightening it up so that’s usually how we start off our pit stop.”

He tightened up the tire with pit gun; the loud sound was deafening.

Fans even got a chance to test their skills on simulators. Gage Moon is a young fan who played on racing simulators. He said that he liked “the I-racing one. I like that better because it’s the home track.”

Indy is known for Indianapolis 500 but for Maksym Kostryk and other new racing fans it could be a new frontier. “I like to zag. I mean Indy car town so I’m gonna pretend that NASCAR is superior, even though I know Indy 500 is a big deal.”

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