From Indycar: Ultimate fan auction to rally INDYCAR community during Month of May

Ultimate fan auction to rally INDYCAR community during Month of May

INDIANAPOLIS (May 6, 2020) – The “One Drive To Get Back On Track” auction was announced by INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today to support non-profit organizations on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.

The special virtual auction featuring rare and exciting ultimate INDYCAR fan experiences will take place from Friday, May 22 to Sunday, May 24 and will support the American Red Cross, All Clear Foundation and Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana. Those dates were the originally scheduled Race Weekend for the 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, postponed until Aug. 23 due to the global health crisis.

Throughout the Month of May, INDYCAR’s athletes will take over the NTT INDYCAR SERIES social media accounts to give fans exclusive, behind-the-scenes content and access. At the end of each takeover day, drivers will announce a special “One Drive To Get Back On Track” auction package sponsored by their team. The first driver takeover is scheduled for Thursday, May 7 and will feature Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey. INDYCAR’s event promoters and partners also will join in the fun, providing experience packages for the auction.

“There’s no question this is going to be a different Month of May than we’re all used to,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said. “However, I can’t think of a more appropriate way for our motorsports community to come together this month, and most especially over the originally scheduled Indy 500 Race Weekend, than to join forces in support of the heroes on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. I’m excited to see the auction packages our drivers, teams, venues and partners contribute and look forward to an engaging month of content leading up to the virtual auction.”

Alongside today’s announcement, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced the first auction prize available to fans. The “Epic Racing Capital of the World Experience” includes the opportunity to wave the green flag on an Indy 500 practice day, take a track lap in a Speedway event car with IMS President J. Douglas Boles and dinner for four with the Borg-Warner Trophy and a former Indy 500 winner.

Unlike additional auction items, which will be available through the bidding process beginning on May 22, this prize will be awarded through a fan sweepstakes. Details on how fans can enter the sweepstakes will be announced in the near future by Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The “One Drive To Get Back On Track” auction will be housed on indycar.com/backontrack in association with Legends, the official fan retail partner of INDYCAR and IMS.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.

The Indiana Region serves 87 counties statewide through its six-chapter areas: Central, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest and Greater Indianapolis (Regional Headquarters). For more information on the Indiana Region: www.redcross.org/indiana. Follow the Indiana Region on Twitter at @INRedCross, on Instagram at @indianaredcross or www.facebook.com/INRedCross.

About the All Clear Foundation:

All Clear Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(C)3 supporting first responders by creating, convening, amplifying and funding innovative programs to improve their life expectancy and well-being – as well as the well-being of their families. The foundation has built a growing list of more than 700 first responder resources and also recently launched ResponderRel8, a peer-to-peer chat app that enables first responders to connect, celebrate and commiserate with first responder peers anonymously.

About Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana:

Founded in 1980, Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana serves nearly 600 food pantries, soup kitchens, schools and community partners in its 21-county service area. Gleaners has distributed more than 520 million pounds of food to hungry Hoosiers over the past 40 years through a variety of programs, including BackSacks: Weekend Food For Kids, school-based and mobile pantries, senior shopping days and other initiatives. In 2017, Gleaners became one of seven regional produce processing centers for the Feeding America network of food banks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gleaners has served four times the families served prior to the health crisis. Learn more at gleaners.org.

The Greatest 33 Non-Winners: Final Grid- A Reader Request Post

Editor’s Note: This is the first reader request; originally published May 9, 2017

What a fun project this turned out to be! It was fascinating seeing how much those who submitted grids both agreed and disagreed. Some drivers got just one mention, while others appeared on every ballot.  There was near unanimous placement for some drivers, and some drivers were near the front on some grids and near the back on others. The driver nearly everyone agreed should be on the pole is Michael Andretti (pictured above, from 1992).

I  noticed the rankings were along age lines. Older fans close to my age seemed to have near identical grids,  and younger fans as a group submitted similar lineups.  Many drivers from long ago in general fared better on the lists from the older group. I was surprised how well the current drivers stacked up against the racers of the past. Another interesting detail is that all 50 driver finalists had at least one mention. I didn’t expect that.

To rank the drivers, I assigned points to the drivers corresponding to their spot on each person’s grid. A driver on pole got 1 point, the last driver got 33. If a driver was listed on pole on five grids, his total was 5. The lowest total won the pole. If a driver did not appear on someone’s grid, he/she was given 34 points. To my shock, there were only two ties. I resolved placement by averaged each driver’s highest and lowest rank of all the grades, with the lowest average getting the higher spot. One of the ties was for 32nd and 33rd. It was just like qualifying for the 1963 500.

The front row- Michael Andretti, Rex Mays, and Ted Horn, is strong. These drivers were in the top 10 on everyone’s grid. Andretti led 431 laps, the most by any non-winning driver. he started on the front row three times and had 5 top 5 finishes.  Rex Mays, in the middle of the front row is the only other driver to lead more than 200 laps and not win. Mays was on the pole four times. Ted Horn, on the outside of the front row, finished in the top five 9 times in 10 starts.

So here they are, the Greatest 33 Non-Winners of the Indianapolis 500:

Row 1

Michael Andretti

Rex Mays

Ted Horn

Row 2

Harry Hartz

Marco Andretti

Lloyd Ruby

Row 3

Gary Bettenhausen

Ralph Hepburn

Roberto Guerrero

Row 4

Scott Goodyear

Carlos Munoz

Robby Gordon

Row 5

Eddie Sachs

Tony Stewart

Jack McGrath

Row 6

Wally Dallenbach

Tomas Sheckter

Will Power

Row 7

Danica Patrick

Tony Bettenhausen

Joe Leonard

Row 8

Jimmy Snyder

Ed Carpenter

Danny Ongais

Row 9

Pancho Carter

Mel Kenyon

Kevin Cogan

Row 10

Vitor Meira

Russ Snowberger

Paul Russo

Row 11

Tom Alley

Johnny Thomson

George Snider

it’s kind of fitting that Snider is last on the grid. his trademark was jumping into a car on Bump Day and getting into the field starting near the back. Thanks to everyone who submitted a grid. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts and reasoning as to how yo put your grids together.

I will be back tomorrow with some 500 news and a report on my visit to the A. J. Foyt exhibit at the Speedway Museum. The cars were great to see, but the memorabilia was even more amazing to me. Thursday I will have my Indianapolis Grand Prix preview with my normally inaccurate winner’s prediction.