INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The gates remained closed on a quiet Sunday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the largest sports venue in the world that is unable to allow spectators inside for the first time in 104 runnings of the Indianapolis 500.
Some diehards refused to be deterred by the pandemic that forced Roger Penske to stage his first 500 as owner of the iconic speedway in front of empty grandstands. They set up chairs in gravel parking lots across the street from the speedway and staked out spots along the fence on 16th Street, where gaps in the grandstands provide views of the track and an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the American classic.
Fans paid money to watch the Indy 500 even during the Depression, and the race was only canceled twice in history, by World War I and World War II. A regular Indy 500 can draw more than 300,000 revelers; Penske said there would be about 2,500 people on site when the race begins.
Marco Andretti starts on the pole as the third-generation driver is the first from motorsports’ most famous family to lead the Indy 500 field to green since grandfather Mario did it in 1987. Mario has the only Indy 500 victory among five different Andretti drivers, and that drought since 1969 is often referred to as “The Andretti Curse.”
Myth or not, Andretti will have a daunting task. He starts alongside five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, who opened this year with three consecutive victories. Andretti also has to contend with his own Andretti Autorsport teammates, including previous race winners Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi.
The Andretti camp led Honda’s dizzying display of speed by putting eight of its drivers in the starting front nine. The Chevrolet outlier is 19-year-old rookie Rinus Veekay, a Dutchman known to ride his bicycle to the track.
The stars of Chevrolet are wedged at the back of the field and it includes Penske’s fearsome foursome: Simon Pagenaud and Will Power, winners of the last two 500s, start 25th and 22nd. Reigning series champion Josef Newgarden starts 13th, while Helio Castroneves, a three-time winner making his 20th and perhaps final Indy 500 start for Penske, will try to break into the four-time winners club from 28th.
Fernando Alonso, in his third attempt to win motorsports’ Triple Crown, starts 26th as the Chevrolet drivers just failed to find the speed needed to earn prime starting positions.
The field has five rookies, and VeeKay and Alex Palou both find themselves starting in the first three rows. Two of the newcomers are teammates with Alonso: Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew have both shown that Arrow McLaren SP have fast cars this year, giving hope that Alonso might have a true chance to add Indianapolis to a resume that includes wins at Le Mans and Monaco.
Penske and the speedway staff have gone to great lengths to give the 500 the feel of a world-class event even without spectators. The Air Force Thunderbirds planned to fly over the speedway after both the national anthem and the singing of “Back Home Again in Indiana.” The traditional driver introductions were scheduled to proceed as usual.
The drivers also went to great lengths to recognize ticket holders heartbroken that generational streaks of attending the Indy 500 are being snapped Sunday. All 33 made individual surprise visits to local fans; they also recorded messages to select ticket holders from their actual seats.
Penske planned to give the command for drivers to start the engine. He’s the fourth owner in speedway history and completed the purchase from the family of the late Tony Hulman in January. The Hulman-George family owned Indy for 75 years and controlled the command since 1955.
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