Indianapolis 500 fans double up with split loyalties to Pacers, race day traditions

INDIANAPOLIS — Before coming to Sunday's Indianapolis 500, Austin Pettijohn dressed appropriately — checkered flag shorts and an Indiana Pacers jersey.

For the 32-year-old from nearby Franklin, Indiana, it just meshed as it did with so many others in this colorful race-day crowd.

As more than a dozen planes carrying advertising banners flew above Indianapolis Motor Speedway while the sounds and smells of the track wafted through the infield, blue-and-gold jerseys and other Pacers regalia seemed every bit as popular as the driver T-shirts that typically dot Pagoda Plaza.

''It's so ingrained in this town, this state since 1909, 1911,'' Pettijohn said rattling off the dates the 2.5-mile oval Brickyard was completed and the first IndyCar race was held here. ''I was born into the month of May and racing, and it holds a very near and dear place in my heart with me and my family. Basketball, too. It's just an emotional, special time.''

Sports fans in Indiana understand because race day is a kind of pilgrimage that binds the generations together. Many families spend dozens of years sitting or standing in the same spot and dress for the occasion in racing garb, a vastly scaled down version of the colorful hats and fancy dresses and suits found at the Kentucky Derby each May.

Those who can't attend often listen to the radio broadcast because the network telecast usually is blacked out and re-aired in full on race night allowing fans who were part of the estimated 350,000 inside the track to go home and watch it all over again.

It's a tradition so revered that when fans weren't allowed to attend in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, speedway president Doug Boles gave viewers and listeners a special dispensation to keep their streaks of consecutive races intact.

This time is different.

The 109th Indianapolis 500 marked only the fourth time the Pacers and racers competed on the same day in Indy, and it was the first time both aired live in Central Indiana.

Race organizers announced earlier this week they were lifting the blackout because the grandstand was sold out for the first time since 2016. The fact some viewers may be more prone to see if the Pacers could take a 3-0 lead over the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals instead of a tape-delayed race may have played a part, too.

Regardless, the fans in this Midwestern town were thrilled with the decision since most couldn't do their version of the Memorial Day weekend double.

Not only was the cost of two tickets to the race and to the Pacers game nearly $4,000 on the secondary market entering, but staying to watch the victory lane celebration combined with traffic leaving the track made it almost impossible to make downtown in time for the opening tip.

''The good news is (the Pacers game) is at 8 p.m. so the 500 will be done by then, and you don't have to worry about going home and watching the race,'' said Indy resident Nick Bustamante, who was decked out in a jersey of two-time NBA All-Star Tyrese Haliburton. ''I'll watch it here and then I'll watch the game at home.''

Haliburton might be the best-known Pacers player after making two game-winning shots during this playoff run and a buzzer-beater to force overtime in Game 1 against the Knicks on Wednesday. The jerseys of Pacers forwards Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin, who attended college at the University of Dayton, also found their way to the track as did those of Reggie Miller and Caitlin Clark — both with the WNBA's Indiana Fever and Iowa.

The Fever lost 90-88 on Saturday to defending league champ New York when Clark had the ball stripped on the game's final possession.

By Sunday, that loss seemed a distant memory on one of the city's biggest weekends. After all, this is May — Indianapolis style.

''It's just a great time of year,'' Pettijohn said. ''It's just great when you can kind of intermingle the two in the same month. It's such a fun team this year with the Pacers. And it's just such a fast-paced team. So it's very fitting with the theme of Pacers and racers.''

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing