The 105th running of the Indy 500 is here and will take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Thirty-three drivers are looking to win the biggest event of the IndyCar series, and 135,000 fans will be in attendance, making it the largest sporting event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indianapolis 500 will start on Sunday at 12:45 p.m. ET on NBC. The “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” can also be streamed on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app and Peacock.
The TV announcers for the Indy 500 will be Leigh Diffey (play-by-play), Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy (analysts). The pit reporters will be Marty Snider, Keli Stavast and Kevin Lee, while the studio coverage will feature Mike Trico, NASCAR legend and IndyCar rookie Jimmy Johnson and former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick, who will also drive the pace car. There will also be additional coverage from Rutledge Wood, Jac Collinsworth and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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1 Day Away.
That’s the tweet.#ThisIsMay | #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/HGZ5Ab2mJG
— Indianapolis Motor Speedway (@IMS) May 29, 2021
The honorary starter for the Indy 500 will be This is Us star Milo Ventimiglia. He will wave the green flag to get the IndyCar Series race started. “Milo’s passion for racing and speed make him the perfect choice for this exciting Race Day honor,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said in a press release. “We can’t wait to welcome him to the Racing Capital of the World and know he’ll enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience atop the flag stand on Indy 500 Race Day.”
The favorite to win the Indianapolis 500 is Scott Dixon who became the fastest qualifier for the race this week. Dixon won the Indy 500 in 2008 and a six-time IndyCar Series Champion. When speaking to The Athletic this week, Dixon talked about how racing has always been a part of his life.
“All of my early memories are of being at racetracks, watching my dad race, then watching my cousins race at a local go-kart track and then having a go at the end of the day,” Dixon said. “And then just hammering on my parents for two weeks to get a go-kart and then racing every weekend after that. It’s never really been anything else. At school, I loved math and graphics and design, but it was just a matter of getting through that and waiting for the weekends to come around (so he could race).”
