Barb Harmon (age "79-plus-a-year"), son Adrian Van Osch (55) and great granddaughter Morgan Howard (19) each had the opportunity to drive an IndyCar around the Brickyard on Tuesday.

IRE Fan Focus: Driving Home a DownForce Deal
Three Generations of IndyCar Fans Take the Wheel at the Brickyard Tuesday

Just days after watching the 93rd Indianapolis 500 from her Turn 3 seats, Barb Harmon could not wait to get back to the track on Tuesday.  The longtime IndyCar fan had accumulated enough points through her membership with INDY DownForce – the Official Fan Club of the IndyCar Series – that she was able take to the Brickyard behind the wheel of an IndyCar machine, and host her son and great granddaughter as well.

It was a day of generations at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway brought together by one common bond – a passion for IndyCar racing.

For Harmon, a born and bred Hoosier who currently resides in Warne, N.C., Tuesday was not only a day to experience her favorite pastime, but also one in which she was able to prove something to herself and others.

“I’m just really pleased that me and (my great granddaughter) Morgan were able to do this,” said Harmon, who asked to be listed as ’79 plus a year.’  “We weren’t sure we could do it, but we said, ‘Let’s go for it!’ and we did it.”

Harmon was the first to take to the track and was soon followed by great granddaughter and 19-year-old Morgan Howard and 55-year-old son Adrian Van Osch, who first came to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Harmon when he was just a year old.

“I live out here in May,” said Van Osch.  “My first 500 was in 1955 and I have been here every year since 1986.”

And just as Harmon introduced her son to IndyCar racing at an early age, Van Osch did the same with Howard.

“I was born into racing and it has always been a big part of my life,” said Howard, an Indianapolis native.  “I would always go to qualifications with my grandfather and a stopwatch in hand.”

Which is why it did not take long for Howard to accept Van Osch’s subtle invitation.

“My grandfather called me and asked if I wanted to drive an IndyCar with him and my great grandmother,” she recalled.  “I said, ‘Is that really a question?’”

Van Osch and his family have moved around the IMS grandstands throughout the years and have taken in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” from several different seats.

On Tuesday, in the seat of an IndyCar cockpit, Van Osch gained a newfound respect for the famed 2.5-mile oval.

“Turns 1 and 3 really stuck out to me,” he said.  “Coming out of the backstretch, Turn 3 was really no big thing for me.  But it’s like a dark hole going down into Turn 1.  I had to make myself flat-footed through that first turn just to get through it.  There was definitely a difference psychologically.”

The driving experience also played mind games on Harmon, who donned her INDY DownForce member T-shirt underneath her Delphi fire suit.

Not only did she have a tough time telling how close she was to the wall because of the massive Firestone Firehawk tires on the car, but she also stressed out envisioning 32 others drivers racing by her as well.

“Oh, they’d be running over me out there,” she said.

Ultimately, Harmon got exactly what she was looking for on Tuesday.  Her membership to INDY DownForce allowed her to accumulate enough points to earn $100 off for each of the drives she and her son and great granddaughter experienced around the IMS.

But perhaps most importantly was the fact she left with a greater appreciation for what IndyCar drivers endure. 

There is no question Harmon had quite the vantage point from her seats on Sunday when Tony Kanaan crashed head-on into Turn 3.  Yet it wasn’t until she herself cruised through that very same turn and noticed the blackened aftermath on the SAFER barrier that she realized the risk at which these drivers compete.

“Just amazing.”

The Indy Racing Experience operates daily at the Walt Disney World Speedway and opens for both riding and driving experiences at 4 p.m. ET. Reservations can be made online or by calling (888) 357-5002. For more information on the Indy Racing Experience, which also operates at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and at all North American IndyCar Series tracks, please contact us by phone or submit questions and comments HERE.