One NASCAR Fan is Wowed by Famous Win at Indy 500

Nathan Hersey is a huge NASCAR, but that did not deter him from going to the Indy 500, as one of 5 winners in 2006 K&N Engineering’s Indy or Bust Contest.

 
L to R: Joe Raffensburger, Nathan Hersey, and other K&N Winners
L to R: Joe Raffensburger, Nathan Hersey, and other K&N winners
“I was wowed by how fast the Indy cars are,” said the 28-year-old Pennsylvania resident. “I’d always been there for NASCAR, but there is no comparison to what I saw and heard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Now, I have a new appreciation for the Indy 500.”

Hersey won a 4-day, 3-night trip, roundtrip coach air transportation, hotel accommodations, garage access and grandstand seating at the Indy 500 from K&N Engineering.

“It was just an awesome trip from start to finish,” Hersey said. “I had the experience of a lifetime when I rode around the track in an Indy Lap Car with Al Unser Sr. I was on the passenger side of the rear seat, and we were going up to 120 mph. It felt like the car was going to spin out, it was very cool.”

Hersey brought his former co-worker Joe Raffensburger, from Wilson Service Center as his guest. “My wife is due to have twins in about 6 weeks and she could not go,” said Hersey. The K&N contest began on May 12, 2005 and ended December 31, 2005. Owners or managers of an Authorized K&N Service Center, (installer of K&N product) sent in photos of a sign attached to their repair facility that read, “K&N Installed Here.” Winners received a trip for 2 to the 2006 Indianapolis 500 and were selected in a random drawing at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California.

“Joe and I were sitting at the entrance to Pit Road on the front stretch,” said Hersey. “I was so excited I could not believe the finish.” In a last-second move Sam Hornish Jr. whipped around 19-year-old rookie Marco Andretti on the final straightaway and won the second closet Indy in history, by .0635 seconds.
L to R: Nathan Hersey, Joe Raffensburger, Joy Levens
L to R: Nathan Hersey, Joe Raffensburger, Joy Levens

“This was something I could never imagine, and would never be able to experience without K&N,” said Hersey. “I would not trade my experience at the Indy 500 for anything.”

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