Sunshine, celebrities and celebration of Indy 500 history make for special Centennial

INDIANAPOLIS – The rain and cool temperatures that have bedeviled the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this month gave way to sunshine and warm temperatures Sunday.
 
Stealth bombers flew overhead. Movie stars, TV personalities and singers paraded down a red carpet. Kelly Clarkson and Seal serenaded the more than 300,000 fans with the Star-Spangled Banner. And, of course, Jim Nabors crooned “Back Home Again in Indiana” to an adoring throng.
 
It was a near perfect showcase for the 100th anniversary of auto racing’s most spectacular and historic scene, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 
The anticipation of the Centennial of the race, along with several compelling driver storylines this month, led to a substantial boost in ticket sales that produced gridlocked traffic jams for those trying to make the noon-time start of this historic race. Some fans reported taking up to four hours to travel the last mile to the Speedway.
 
Even the stars on the red carpet were in awe of the scene and its mass of humanity, taking pictures themselves of a 2012 Dallara Aerokit concept car and mingling with fans and the media.
 
The red carpet rolled out as names such as Patrick Dempsey, Kathy Ireland, William Fichtner, Jillian Michaels, and Kelly Pickler were in attendance for the 100th Anniversary of the race.
 
For some, it was their first time witnessing “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Chris Harrison, television host of The Bachelor, said being at the 500 changed his whole perspective on racing.
 
“It’s my first Indy 500, and it has exceeded all my expectations,” Harrison said. “It was life-changing [riding with Mario Andretti].  It transcends everything anyone has ever told me about it. Just to think that I was going maybe 200, and those guys will go up to 240 with other guys around. It’s crazy. I have a whole new respect for what they do.”
 
For athletes in other sports who may be skeptical of the athletic prowess of IndyCar drivers, pro football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice can vouch for them. Rice said Mario Andretti made sure to demonstrate to him the athleticism it takes to be an IndyCar driver.
 
“Mario took me around 200 [mph],” Rice said.  “He wanted to prove that they’re athletes – we’re going to take this athlete in the car and we’re going to take him around the track – doing about 200.  So, in the straightaway, I’m okay. So coming into the curve, I’m saying to myself, ‘He’s going to slow down.’  He didn’t slow down.”
 
Fellow Hall of Famer and former Indianapolis Colt Marshall Faulk also was in the crowd at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday’s race.  Faulk agreed thoroughly with Rice about the drivers’ athleticism.
 
“I respect the drivers,” Faulk said. “You think about what they go through and the skill and endurance it takes to win this race; it’s awesome.”
 
Actor Chris McDonald from Happy Gilmore and Requiem for a Dream, didn’t dance around about how he felt riding along with Mario Andretti.  Although Rice and Faulk were complimentary of the drivers and their teams, they probably don’t share the same sentiment as McDonald.
 
“You’re going with Mario Andretti and you’re going 200 miles an hour, and you’re looking at the wall and you think, now I’m dying here,” McDonald said. “I’m going to die.  It’s a nice way to die. But these guys do it for three hours. It’s the most amazing feet of athleticism I can imagine. These are the best athletes on the planet.”
 
Model and television host Kathy Ireland drew some of the loudest cheers of the afternoon as she exited the star-packed greyhound to talk to fans and media. Like a lot of the celebrities, this was her first year coming to the race.  She even offered up a prediction, a bold move for a first timer.
 
“This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be here and experience this live,” Ireland said.
 
As television ratings have dwindled in recent years,IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway hope that the Centennial edition of the race will bring some of the fans back.
 
Actor William Fichtner said it best.
 
“The one-hundredth running? No better place to be, right?,” he said. “I think this is the place to be.  This is my fourth time to be here.  It is so good to be here.”

Rob Hughes is a reporter for the Indy 500 Student News Bureau, a part of the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center.