11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
Inside IndyStar: Larry Bisceglia was equal parts nostalgia and tradition for the Indy 500
Two vehicles caught my eye in September 2023 when the Indianapolis Speedway Museum began clearing out its basement ahead of recent renovations. They weren't race cars, but those of everyday fan Larry Bisceglia, a tire mechanic and wanderer who spent most of his life on the West Coast.
As someone not originally from Indiana, I was unfamiliar with his name. I wondered why the museum had not one, but two of his rather unremarkable vehicles — a Chevy panel truck and a Ford Econoline van, both covered in race stickers and parked next to some of the museum's most prized race cars.
'Larry was famous for being first in line,' Luke Edwards, a former museum employee, told me. 'He became really a local celebrity.'
For 37 years Biceglia would be the first in line at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, driving from the West Coast and sometimes arriving at the track's entrance in April. He would live out of his vehicle during his annual pilgrimage to IMS.
I delved into the Indianapolis Star's archives and was delighted to find a collection of images documenting Bisceglia's 37-year tradition, starting in 1950. Our reporters and photographers covered his arrival at the track each year. Even in his later years, when illness prevented him from showing up, they coordinated his air travel to ensure he made it to the race.
"Those vans are probably a key memory to a lot of spectators," Jason VanSickle, IMS Museum vice president of curation and education, said. "In some cases, they connect more to the vans we have than to some of the race winners or cars we have in our collection."
Why revisit Bisceglia's story? Because the blend of nostalgia and tradition is too compelling not to share and defines the passion of the ordinary race fan.
