One of the biggest races in the world takes place on Sunday afternoon. The 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 is happening at the Indianapolis Motorspeedway, and one driver is looking to make big history. The race will start at noon ET and will air on NBC while streaming on Peacock.
Helio Castroneves is the reigning Indy 500 champion and is looking to be the first driver to win the race five times. Along with winning it last year, the 47-year-old driving legend finished first in 2001, 2002 and 2009. While it will be difficult to win the Indy 500 again, Castroneves is going for it all on Sunday.
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“I want it a lot. I want to do something nobody ever did,” Castroneves said, per Grand Prix 247. I’ve tied the record, now it would be phenomenal to do something nobody has ever done. Am I going to fight for it? Absolutely. Is it going to happen, we are going to see on Sunday. I dream about it. I think about it..”
Another driver that is looking to make history is Jimmie Johnson who is competing in the Indy 500 for the first time in his career. Johnson is a NASCAR legend, winning the Cup Series championship seven times while winning the Daytona 500 twice. He looks to be the third driver in racing history to win the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 and believes his chances of drinking milk at victory lane on Sunday are high.
“I haven’t felt really any pressure that I felt with the championships and other major moments,” Johnson told NBC Sports. “There’s not that pressure of ‘I’ve got to perform’ on top of this is a really awesome opportunity, and I want to enjoy it and all that. Who knows, race day might be different. So far it’s all been about how much fun I’m having and really savoring the opportunity I have here to run an Indy 500 and obviously be this competitive. So I’ve enjoyed this quite a bit. I think I’ve savored it far more than my real job and those real moments that I had shooting for those seven championships.” This is also the first year that Johnson is competing in the IndyCar Series full-time.
