'It's worth it': Speedway residents prepare yards for weekend Indy 500 parking guests

With a weed whacker in hand on a hot and sunny Monday afternoon, Alan Burke trimmed the edges of his lawn on the corner of 22nd Street and Fisher Avenue.

In a matter of days, his corner property less than a mile from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be filled with cars and at least one 44-footer RV. Burke is ready and has been preparing since January "both mentally and physically," he said. The front of his home is decorated in red Solo cup lights and Indy 500 flags dating back to the 98th running.

“It’s a party,” he said of the people who drive the 60-or-so cars that park on his grass. Burke bought his Speedway house in 2010 and began allowing cars to park in his lawn for the Indy 500 the following year. “After 12 years, it’s a big family.”

But it’s not just Burke’s home or his neighbor Cathi Nunn two houses down on Fisher Avenue or Sandy Rosner’s property just steps away from the track on the far east end of 24th Street. There are signs everywhere along Speedway roads advertising parking and camping space during the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

It’s a tradition that has lasted decades for many of the Speedway property owners and continues with new residents when a previous owner dies or moves away from the area. Homeowners like Burke and Nunn take reservations in advance of the 500 and rely on their year-after-year regulars to let them know if space is needed again.

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It’s an energizing time for the area with houses adorned in checkered flag decorations and banners and wreaths welcoming race fans. But it’s also a cash flow for Speedway residents that can charge for cars and motorhomes on a weekend where about 300,000 people flock to the track.

Burke said he charges about $35 a car on his property, which comes out to more than $2,000 total. Nunn keeps prices for her guests at $20 a space: “These are my people,” she explained.

Rosner, who has lived in her home on 24th Street just east of Meyers Avenue since 1993, did not tell IndyStar what she charges or makes over race weekend, but smiled as she looked at her backyard, which would fill up with cars soon.

“It’s worth it,” Rosner said of her earnings.

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Nunn has parked cars on her property for about 19 years and has her “regulars,” including a man who brings a limo from the Chicago area. Everyone is respectful of her home and leaves at the end of race day without issues, she said.

“They’re all really good people,” Nunn said.

But Nunn will get some new faces now and then. Earlier this month, a man knocked on her door asking if she had space for 15 cars and 2 tents. She couldn’t fit all of them, so she enlisted her neighbors next door.

“I sent them six cars,” she said.

The roar of the cars on the track fills the air on 24th Street on a Monday practice day. On her front porch adorned with a flag banner Rosner made herself, she said the tradition and friendships the race brings to the neighborhood makes this May weekend special.

And she is certain whoever buys her house in the future will also open their lawn to guests.

“The next people that take over this house are very lucky,” she said.

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Speedway residents and their yards prepare for 2024 Indy 500 parking