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Cue the Justin Timberlake meme, because once the clock strikes midnight Wednesday night, we’ve hit a mystical fifth season that only passes through Indiana.
It brings rain – often times in the form of torrential downpours – as well as steamy 90-degree temps. Smells of burning rubber, tenderloins in the fryer and ethanol mix with the road of engines, the screams of 350,000 people and the faint but ever-present base of EDM music. Black-and-white checkered patterns is the unofficial outfit of choice – bandana, t-shirt, shorts, socks, hat, shoes…you name it.
Eleven months out of the year, I say I’m the motorsports reporter for IndyStar, but from May 1-31, my beat is the Indianapolis 500 – the world’s largest single-day sporting event in the world long dubbed the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, hosted at the Racing Capital of the World. It’s a beat that grows from trying to capture a sport to covering both the cars on-track as well as the way in which a city reverberates around a sporting event with more than 100 years of history that has withstood two world wars, four ownership groups and started with the first rear-view mirror and now this year will feature hybrid technology for the first time.
Hybrid, crashes, what's next?: 5 takeaways from Indianapolis 500 open test week
And this year, we’ve got Kyle Larson’s second attempt at ‘The Double’, Josef Newgarden’s quest to go back-to-back-to-back, Helio Castroneves’ drive for five and efforts from IndyCar’s world-famous star Pato O’Ward, its two-time defending champ Alex Palou and possibly a Formula 1-bound Colton Herta to hoist the Borg-Warner Trophy for the very first time. It’s Fox’s first 500 broadcast, likely the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s first grandstand sellout in nine years and a sporting event so captivating, it may for the first time attract a race-day visit from a sitting U.S. president.
For a sport that has felt as it’s been waiting to launch for several years now, this May’s Indy 500 sits in a position where it could serve as that proverbial match.
So let’s talk about it. I’m Nathan Brown, IndyStar’s motorsports reporter who’s been on the ground traveling with and covering the IndyCar series since the fall of 2019 – just weeks before Roger Penske took control of a sport his Team Penske dynasty had dominated at times for half a century. I’m hosting a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything’ at 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 1 to answer your questions about the state of IndyCar and the leadup to the 2025 Indy 500.
Don't have Indy 500 tickets yet?: Better hurry as sellout nears, IMS president Doug Boles says
I’ve attended a dozen 500s, both as a fan first in the early 2000s growing up in central Indiana with 500-obsessed parents and then a reporter when my wife and I moved to Indianapolis nearly six years ago. And during my time in the media center, I’m hard pressed to say I’ve had what you’d consider to be a ‘normal’ 500 experience, from the fan-less August edition in 2020, to Helio’s history in 2021, the return of full fan attendance in 2022, the never-before-seen late-race red flag in 2023 and Josef’s last-lap magic in 2024 that followed a four-hour rain delay and a checkered flag falling at the beginnings of dusk.
In some ways, that’s why I love this sport – and more specifically, this month and this race – is the 500’s unpredictability, its drama, the emotions it all elicits and the culture that envelopes everything ‘Indy 500’ each May. The successes of the Colts, Pacers and Fever can ebb and flow as Super Bowls and Final Fours come and go, but there’s only one Indy 500, and I’m looking forward to diving into your questions about it from each and every angle on Thursday at 1 p.m.
In the meantime, sign up to get the IndyStar’s motorsports newsletter delivered straight to your inbox every week so you don’t miss out on any of our award-winning Indy 500 coverage this month. And if you don’t already, please consider subscribing to IndyStar for just $1 for your first month.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Motorsports reporter Nathan Brown on Reddit AMA, Indy 500 questions
Continue reading...
It brings rain – often times in the form of torrential downpours – as well as steamy 90-degree temps. Smells of burning rubber, tenderloins in the fryer and ethanol mix with the road of engines, the screams of 350,000 people and the faint but ever-present base of EDM music. Black-and-white checkered patterns is the unofficial outfit of choice – bandana, t-shirt, shorts, socks, hat, shoes…you name it.
Eleven months out of the year, I say I’m the motorsports reporter for IndyStar, but from May 1-31, my beat is the Indianapolis 500 – the world’s largest single-day sporting event in the world long dubbed the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, hosted at the Racing Capital of the World. It’s a beat that grows from trying to capture a sport to covering both the cars on-track as well as the way in which a city reverberates around a sporting event with more than 100 years of history that has withstood two world wars, four ownership groups and started with the first rear-view mirror and now this year will feature hybrid technology for the first time.
Hybrid, crashes, what's next?: 5 takeaways from Indianapolis 500 open test week
And this year, we’ve got Kyle Larson’s second attempt at ‘The Double’, Josef Newgarden’s quest to go back-to-back-to-back, Helio Castroneves’ drive for five and efforts from IndyCar’s world-famous star Pato O’Ward, its two-time defending champ Alex Palou and possibly a Formula 1-bound Colton Herta to hoist the Borg-Warner Trophy for the very first time. It’s Fox’s first 500 broadcast, likely the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s first grandstand sellout in nine years and a sporting event so captivating, it may for the first time attract a race-day visit from a sitting U.S. president.
For a sport that has felt as it’s been waiting to launch for several years now, this May’s Indy 500 sits in a position where it could serve as that proverbial match.
So let’s talk about it. I’m Nathan Brown, IndyStar’s motorsports reporter who’s been on the ground traveling with and covering the IndyCar series since the fall of 2019 – just weeks before Roger Penske took control of a sport his Team Penske dynasty had dominated at times for half a century. I’m hosting a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything’ at 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 1 to answer your questions about the state of IndyCar and the leadup to the 2025 Indy 500.
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Don't have Indy 500 tickets yet?: Better hurry as sellout nears, IMS president Doug Boles says
I’ve attended a dozen 500s, both as a fan first in the early 2000s growing up in central Indiana with 500-obsessed parents and then a reporter when my wife and I moved to Indianapolis nearly six years ago. And during my time in the media center, I’m hard pressed to say I’ve had what you’d consider to be a ‘normal’ 500 experience, from the fan-less August edition in 2020, to Helio’s history in 2021, the return of full fan attendance in 2022, the never-before-seen late-race red flag in 2023 and Josef’s last-lap magic in 2024 that followed a four-hour rain delay and a checkered flag falling at the beginnings of dusk.
In some ways, that’s why I love this sport – and more specifically, this month and this race – is the 500’s unpredictability, its drama, the emotions it all elicits and the culture that envelopes everything ‘Indy 500’ each May. The successes of the Colts, Pacers and Fever can ebb and flow as Super Bowls and Final Fours come and go, but there’s only one Indy 500, and I’m looking forward to diving into your questions about it from each and every angle on Thursday at 1 p.m.
In the meantime, sign up to get the IndyStar’s motorsports newsletter delivered straight to your inbox every week so you don’t miss out on any of our award-winning Indy 500 coverage this month. And if you don’t already, please consider subscribing to IndyStar for just $1 for your first month.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Motorsports reporter Nathan Brown on Reddit AMA, Indy 500 questions
Continue reading...
