The 2016 edition of the Indianapolis 500 brought in around 350,000 fans, making it one of the biggest crows in racing history. With all of those fans celebrating the 100th edition of the race, it wasn’t just a racing event, but also a massive party. As a result, a lot of trash was left behind.
The Indy Channel posted a photo gallery to show off just how much trash was left behind after this weekend. The amount of garbage is just ridiculous. It almost looks like the infield of the race track and the surrounding parking lots are a new trash compound and not a historic and famous race track.
It is important to keep in mind however that not just the race goes on during Indianapolis 500 and Memorial Day weekend at the track. There is an EDM festival in the infield known as the “Snake Pit.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSHJqIeatrg
That’s a lot of people and a lot of trash.
What’s neat is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has come up with a brilliant way to get the infield and surrounding area cleaned quickly. According to the IndyStar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway awards cleanup groups a stipend for their cleaning efforts.
The IndyStar reports snowblowers are often used to push the trash in central areas. Despite this creativity, it doesn’t make the cleanup efforts any less messy.
“Every time you empty the trash cans, liquids pour out,” a 16-year-old girl cleaning told the IndyStar.
Some groups go help clean up the Speedway to raise money for new athletic uniforms or to send their kids or students to camps. Other groups have developed strategies to cleaning up the Speedway.
Tom Finicle is a volunteer with a group from Southwood High School in Wabash, Indiana. Finicle is part of one of the groups who uses a snowblower.
“We learned how to do this after the first year,” said Finicle, who has volunteered for the last five years. “Each year we gotta get smarter.”
One things for certain, there’s a lot of institutions that could learn from the Speedway when it comes to cleaning up messes. Whether its sports teams or even colleges, paying people to help clean up your giant mess is smart and one would assume it gets the job done quickly.
