Behind the Scenes of the INDY 500! (inside a pro race car driver's RV)

When we asked y' all what we should do in Indiana, everyone said we had to go to the Indy 500. So we asked Instagram if anybody had any connections, and, man, did y' all come through for us. Thanks to you, we have behind the scenes access all weekend long. And because we live in a van, we're gonna tour one of the driver's RVs.

We can have some type of movie. Look at you.

Look at her.

Even if you're not into racing, I still think you're gonna enjoy this video.

When we found out we were getting behind the scenes access to the Indy 500, we were in our 31st state.

Of Maryland, not how we do it back in Tennessee.

So we quickly packed up the van and got an early start for our 11 hour drive to Indianapolis.

All right, media day.

You are all set up. Thank you very much. Any day that starts with credentials is gonna be a good day.

I feel so cool.

I feel like a little bit of a frau. Yeah.

We just drove into the largest sports stadium in the world. There's a drone. Oh, no, it's a bird. What is that? That's a golf course inside of the track.

All right. This place is huge. It is three days before the big race, and we are meeting up with Paige from the Meyershake racing team, and she's going to show us around.

This place is so the cars go this way.

Just one day.

This counterclockw.

Full transparency. Before we knew we were coming here, I didn't know anything about the Indy 500. But after watching every video we could find about racing on YouTube, I'm pretty much a pro at NASCAR now. Just kidding. I know. This is Formula One.

So we're on the top level of the Pagoda, and this is one of the sponsor suites. This is pretty much the best place in the entire stadium to watch the race from.

That feels like an airport lounge.

What kind of people get access to the suite?

It's going to be people who put up a lot of money to put their names on their car. So it's going to be invited guests only.

We're out to make some friends.

Wow. We are out on the balcony of the suite and we're getting our first 360 views of the racetrack. It's really hard to appreciate just how big this place is. The grandstands are over here. The track wraps all the way around. These are the garages. This is where all of the drivers live in their RVs. Here's the golf course. More grandstands over there. And then it Just keeps going.

This is amazing. On a normal race day, we become the size of a small city. There's a lot of people that fit in here.

So we were up at the top of that building right there.

Look at this. We're currently in an area called the garage and it's where they're just working on all the cars. All the racers have actually been here for about a week and a half practicing on the track. Each day they kind of learn like a new tweak that they want to make to the car. So that's what they're doing in here. We get to go inside this one.

If you're not into racing, it's my understanding this is pretty much like having access to the locker room at the Super Bowl.

This thing gets up to about 240 when it's fully t ready to go. The things that set us apart from other teams all comes down to what's underneath the car and what these mechanics are putting into it.

The Meyerschenk racing team has two different drivers in the Indy 500. We have Elio's car over here and Jack's car over here on this side being worked on.

There's been a couple instances of smiling the last couple years. People like to put some people in plain clothes and walk them around.

Only reason we're able to film this right now is because this video won't come out until after the race. Otherwise we'd be giving away secret information.

So after living in a van for a year, we were super intrigued when we learned that the Indy drivers actually live in an RV for a month leading up to the race. And Elio, a three time winner of the Indy 500, has been nice enough and offered to give us a tour around his RV. Helio Castro Nevis has won the Indianapolis 500. Helio Castro Neves open the door to the three time winners club. There's a brand new member and his name is Elio Castro Neves. This is crazy.

Look at all these RVs.

This Airstream looks really out of place. So this parking lot is where all the drivers are living right now. And these are some incredible RVs. Like, if I had to guess, million dollar plus RVs. For some reason, this RV has a bunch of blowup lambs.

Drivers like.

Here we go.

Okay, first impression, it might be a little nicer than our van.

I'm Cara.

Nice to meet you.

Hey, Nate.

Pleasure to meet you.

Very nice to meet you. Let me turn on the lights. I'm sorry.

No, don't be sorry. I'm not going to lie, Elio. I. I'm very starstruck right now.

Oh, okay, Good.

You're a legend.

Oh, wow.

Thank you.

You gotta tell that to my wife. This kitchen just was there, and I moved the way around because I wanted to be here entertaining people.

Sitting over here.

I don't cook, but when I cook, it's, you know, I'm here. Hey, how you doing, guys? You know, and we want to create this white scenario because if you see the coach outside is already black. So I want people, when they come in, it's like, oh, I was not expecting that. And I like modern. It feels comfort fresh.

Exactly. These chairs look incredibly comfortable.

A massage. I'm currently sitting in the front seat.

Getting a massage when I'm riding. It goes four hours, you know, short trips because you're so comfortable. Like, oh, man, I want to keep it. Can we go back and come back again? It's so cool coming over here we have the dining table. This is probably where I do my work or review all my things with racing. And the refrigerator, it's like a full size.

Full size refrigerator and freezer. It's like we're in a house.

Yeah, it is. It is like a house. The bunk beds, you know, because my daughter's not very organized. So we have like an electric. So that means you keep everything as you can see. I said, okay, you know what? You don't need to make your bed. Just make sure you press this button and you have.

You.

You can get out and play around.

We need to install one of these for Nate's side of the bed. I think maybe one of the only things we have in common with each other is we both live in a home on wood wheels. Except ours is about a tenth of the size of yours. Do you drive this monster?

I try. I'll be honest with you.

So I assume you're a pretty good.

Driver in this small, tiny, little, big cars. It scared the heck out of me, I tell you. Cylinder rolls were like this. The cars were right here. I'm like, come on, I don't want to drive this. I live to the professionals. We have an extra bathroom here. Now you come into paradise.

Oh, yeah.

Have a king size bed. I put a TV here, so kind of like take advantage of the space.

Yeah.

This is the bathroom. We have two sinks. So I put the shower over here.

Which full walk in shower with a waterfall shower too.

Yeah, it is. It is very nice. It's very relaxing.

Can we spend the night tonight?

I would be here if you were to say yesterday.

No problem when you're coming over here.

Oh, it keeps going. I thought that was the end of it.

Oh, no. And then you have here the washer and dryer.

No way. Fancy.

Oh, yeah. Plus, you have the closet as well. I don't need more than this.

Yeah.

I've seen some motorhomes here with a lot of great closets, but this is just absolutely perfecto.

This is incredible. I feel like I shouldn't have come in here because now we're gonna go back to our tiny van.

We chose this kind of like, wood image tile floor.

Does this double as a dance floor?

Can you show us your moves?

We can have some type of move, you know.

Look at you.

Look at her. I don't even know what move this is.

That was pretty good. It went like a cha cha cha.

I think Dancing with the Stars winner.

It's been a long time, by the way, but it was a lot of fun.

You're a man of many talents.

Oh, wow. Tell that to my wife.

My wife. Where is she?

She's coming. She's coming. Well, I hope you guys enjoy. This is a lot of fun. And it's home away from home.

Yeah, it's amazing.

Thanks, guys.

Thank you so much, Elio.

All the best. Bye.

See ya. Wow, wow, wow.

Can we just talk about how nice of a guy he is to take time out of his day three days before the biggest race of the year to give two YouTubers a tour around his RV?

He was so sweet.

What a cool guy.

Eliot, number one, we're rooting for you.

So what was your review on her walkout? Yeah, I'd definitely give her a ten. A ten? A freaking ten. Hello, everyone.

Yes, we're here.

Okay, I'm not really sure what's happening right now. We just met some guys and got on their cart. Okay, we're in the pit box now.

This is Elio's pit box. Yes, Right here.

I feel like I should not be able to hold this. It's so heavy.

That is the race gun.

Wow.

So that's probably about $40,000 that you're.

Holding in your hand.

That's all.

No worries about it.

I'm just kidding. Shouldn't have done that.

It's gone.

Yeah, but you did one mistake.

Oh, he's going that way.

He's coming from this way.

Darn it.

He's leaving that way.

Rookie mistake. Okay, I meant this way.

Ready?

Oh, my gosh.

That is so loud. You're gonna let me do this?

Have you ever fired a gun?

Before, yes. Actually, this is nothing like that. Okay.

Not even close.

How long have you been doing this?

20 years plus.

Wow. Now I've been doing it for about 20 seconds.

Yeah. Just try to give that a pull with actual pressure.

Hold this trigger. Just checking.

There's a lot of pressure for it.

Okay. Ready? Yep.

You all right?

You okay?

I knew it was going to be that loud.

Oh, my gosh. I felt that in my whole body.

Yeah, right. It's pretty cool.

All right.

Wow. Pull it tight.

So I'm just going to squeeze as hard as I can.

No.

My goal is to not scream as high pitch as Kara.

You could tell if it's going to be a good or a bad stop just because you know where everybody is by sound, even though you're standing over a car that's just sitting there going loud as it can. As for me being the feeler, I'm standing in the middle, and I could pinpoint if somebody has an issue.

We have just gained a whole new appreciation for how much trust the pit crew has to have in the driver, because the driver's coming into the pit at around 60 miles an hour, and the crew is literally kneeling down right here. So the driver has to be perfect. Otherwise, smushed against the wall. Before today, I thought racing was, like, all about the individual, but we're really starting to see just how much of a team sport this is. All right, here's proof. The $40,000 gun is intact. As we're leaving. Done.

There it is.

Wow.

Okay, so this is the Borgwarner trophy. I'm going to try not to knock it over because it's one of the most expensive trophies in sports. And it goes to the winner of the Indy 500. And each winner gets their face carved in it. It's worth over $3 million.

So this is Elio's face, the guy whose RV we just toured. He's won three times, so his face is on here three times. I feel like they added a few more wrinkles in this third one. I don't know if he'd appreciate that.

I actually love that we're new to the sport because we're getting to see everything for the first time and just, like, gaining this immense appreciation for it all in the first day.

So the nickname for the speedway is the Brickyard, and that's because it was originally built from brick. And this strip that I'm standing on right now is the last of it left. These are the original bricks from 1915.

Going on to the track.

No way. I cannot Believe I am standing here right now. This is the start and the finish lap. This day just keeps getting crazier. So the tradition is when you win the Indy 500, you kneel in front of the yard of bricks and then you kiss them as to pay homage to the tradition and history that this track has. This one's for Elio.

Does it count if you're wearing a mask?

Nice.

Probably the grossest thing we'll do all day. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have a mask. Tan line at the end of today. From my nose up, it's gonna be sunburnt. And then from here down, it's just gonna.

What are you doing on race day? For people who don't really follow racing.

We'Re in here the whole day. Our goal is to understand the position of the car and get the car to be to win. Basically, that's number one goal. We're trying to weigh all the probabilities of what's going on on the track to get the best position we can so we can win the race.

That's a lot to think about.

So that was Neil. He's the strategist, which is basically the guy calling all the shots for one of the teams that's going to be racing on Sunday. And him and his family watch our video he was showing us around his booth. Still won't get used to so many people watching our videos.

Oh, I'm so excited. A 60 and an 06. I love it. Now you're official. I do feel so official.

Oh, good for the forehead.

Even diving speed equals speed.

Here they come around the first turn. Spread back a little bit. Won't too much.

Good morning. It is Friday, which they call Carb Day, so we felt like it was only appropriate to start the day with donuts.

Oh, here we go.

Thank you.

This is the place to be.

That one, that one, that one. That's the one I want.

No joke. I bet over a hundred people told us that we had to go to Long's Donuts while we were in Indianapolis. And this is a very popular place to be this morning.

That is so much sugar.

Mmm. This cheese Danish is, no joke, as big as my head.

Mmm. Wow. If you go to Long's, get the cheese danish.

Loading up for carb day, baby. I feel like I've made a big deal about how much I love donuts on this channel. So everyone always gives us the best donut recommendations in every city that we go to, which is fantastic, but also very unhealthy. So I Feel like you need to know that I also love salads.

He's acting like he's mad about this.

But I'm not mad about it. I'm just trying to be more responsible.

So, unfortunately, carb day doesn't actually have anything to do with food. It's the final day that the drivers have to practice before the big race on Sunday. But it's not even 11 o' clock yet, and it looks like most of the people around here are walking around with beers in their hands. So maybe it does have something to do with carbs.

It's too dangerous for the drivers when the track is wet, so waiting for it to stop. Ratings.

All right, the rain delay is over. The driver should be getting started any minute now. And this just keeps getting better. I thought we were only going to have access to the pits on media day, but we're here when everything's happening. It's finally starting.

Here they go.

Wow.

I smell it. I felt it. I heard it. It hit all the senses. All at.

What's happening right now is the drivers are pretty much doing, like, practice laps and then pulling into the pit. And the guys are tweaking the car, making adjustments.

Being this close with the car. Being this close with the. Being this close with the cars moving as fast as they are, they just look like blurs. I couldn't even read the numbers on top of the cars if I tried. They're traveling at about one football field a second over 200 miles an hour. We just learned this is 45 worth of tires, and they last about 40 laps. This race is 200, so you can do the math.

So up until this point, it's been all about the drivers and just getting the car right. And now this is the first hot lap, which means the pit crew is going full speed.

We are watching this from the pit.

This is so crazy. I have so much more appreciation for what just happened since I got to shoot that gun yesterday. Like, my adrenaline was going so much. I can't imagine how they feel.

It all happened so fast.

Practice got cut short. It's raining. It's freezing. We're calling it a day.

It's so cold and wet. In the next video we are going to share with you two of the craziest days of our lives. We had the opportunity to ride in an IndyCar with Mario and Ready, aka the greatest race car driver of all time.

Pleasure to meet you. Yeah. You got the rider, Maya.

I know. And we were in Elio Castronova's pit with the crew when he won the Indy 500. I seriously don't know how we got this lucky.

State number 32 still in states. Not the most flattering pictures we've ever taken. Nate's is pretty bad, though.

I think they'll only recognize you. I've had a go like this.

Oh, gosh. Lost my credentials.

Sorry I let go. It was spinning.

We've got CBS Sports, a Eyewitness News 13, and Kara and Nate covering the Indy 500.

No autographs, please. Please.

Pretty good angle.

Thanks.