Listening to the sounds of the cars buzzing around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time, an 11-year-old Gerald Walker got his first taste of auto racing back in 1947 when he attended his first Indy 500 race, and he quickly fell in love.
Seventy-three years later, that love hasn’t stopped.
As much as Walker, 84, loves open-wheel racing, the Indianapolis 500 is always second to none. The next 500 race he attended was in 1956, and he hasn’t missed a race ever since.
Walker has been a credentialed photographer at the 500 since 1979, shooting pictures for Area Auto Racing News, a magazine based in New Jersey.
With Walker not being able to receive credentials to today’s 500 race due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his streak of attending 64 straight races will come to an end.
“It is a race that everyone always looks forward (to being at) every year,” Walker said.
For more on this story, see Sunday’s Republic.
