Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis Motor Speedway remembers the 1963 Indy 500 champion
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday honored a racing legend who died Tuesday.
The 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner, Parnelli Jones died at the age of 90. Jones’ son said his dad had been battling Parkinson’s disease.
On Thursday, IMS remembered Jones by putting his 1963 Indy 500-winning car on the track alongside the Borg-Warner Trophy. The scoring pylon also had images of Jones.
“We’ve got the car that he actually won in 1963 with,” IMS President Doug Boles said. “It’s the car he sat on the pole and broke that track record at 150 mph. And obviously, the Borg-Warner Trophy because his face is on there.”
Jones is the driver who in 1962 broke the 150 mph speed barrier at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
He started on pole for the Indy 500 in both 1962 and 1963.
Boles said the pylon will be lit up to honor Jones through sunset on Friday “as a way to pay respect to Parnelli.”
He added that the pylon will rotate between images of Jones and and the traditional “Racing Capital of the World” slogan.
“What we want to do is pay respect for these guys,” Boles said. “And when we have the car, can light the pylon, you can bring the Borg (trophy) out, it’s just our way of saying ‘Thank you’ to these people who really created a lot of the race fans, especially Indy 500 fans, we have today.”
Jones competed in seven Indy 500s as a driver.
“The racing world has lost a great competitor and a true champion,” IMS owner Roger Penske said in a statement released Tuesday. “Parnelli Jones was one of the most accomplished racers in history, and his determination and will to win made him one of the toughest competitors I have ever seen. From racing against him on track to competing against him as a fellow team owner, I always respected Parnelli’s passion and commitment to the sport he loved. I was proud to call Parnelli a good friend for many years, and our thoughts are with his family as we remember one of the true legends of motorsports.”
Indianapolis Motor Speedway remembers the 1963 Indy 500 champion
(Original Caption) Victory Smile. Indianapolis, Indiana: A garlanded Parnelli Jones is mighty happy after winning the 500 mile classic. Jones turned back a determined bid of Lotus-Ford entries with a record breaking speed, averaging 143.137 mph, and fast pit stops, one only 22 seconds long.
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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man and a woman died Sunday night when their motorcycle collided with a small SUV, police say.
The names and ages of the two who died were not immediately available, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Capt. Don Weilhammer said from the crash scene.
IMPD was called to the collision just after 9:20 p.m. Sunday in the 7500 block of North Keystone Avenue. That’s just south of the White River bridge.
Investigators think the SUV was southbound and had a green light as it turned east toward 75th Street. That’s when the northbound motorcycle hit the SUV near its rear passenger door.
A witness at a nearby Walmart told IMPD that the motorcycle had passed the shopping area, which is south of the intersection, at a high rate of speed.
The driver and passenger of the motorcycle died at the crash scene.
A man and a woman were in the SUV. The man in the SUV received minor injuries, and the woman was unhurt. They remained at the scene. The IMPD captain said no one in the SUV was intoxicated. Their names were not immediately shared publicly.
No one witnessed the crash, the captain said. IMPD’s Kevin Winks was seeking anyone with information or video footage to contact the officer at 317-327-6549.
INDIANAPOLIS — The man helping lead one of Indianapolis’ biggest race weekend traditions still had to pay 10 bucks to park.
As downtown filled Saturday morning for the 70th annual Lucas Oil 500 Festival Parade ahead of the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500, Pascal Siakam pulled up to a parking lot expecting a little Grand Marshal treatment.
Instead, the four-time NBA All-Star found himself in a friendly standoff with a vendor charging $10 for parking.
In a video posted to his social media accounts, the Pacers forward laughed as he rolled into the lot.
“I ain’t trying to pay for real,” Siakam joked from the car. “I ain’t even got 10 bucks.”
When Siakam rolled down his window to face the vendor he asked half-jokingly, “The Grand Marshal don’t get to park for free?”
The woman wasn’t buying it.
“You’re not the Grand Marshal,” she told him. “Caitlin Clark is.”
Siakam, alongside teammate Andrew Nembhard, served as co-Grand Marshal for this year’s parade. Clark, of course, was named Grand Marshal for Sunday’s race festivities — not the parade itself.
Even after Siakam explained the mix-up, the vendor still wasn’t convinced. The video shows her eventually looking it up herself before realizing the 6-foot-8 Pacers star was telling the truth the entire time.
Still, no special treatment
After all the back-and-forth, Siakam paid the $10 anyway.
The exchange quickly became a humorously relatable race weekend moment — even basketball royalty isn’t safe from negotiating for parking in downtown Indianapolis.
Saturday’s parade wound through downtown as one of the city’s signature traditions leading into race day, featuring marching bands, floats, giant balloons, celebrities and all 33 IndyCar drivers competing in Sunday’s Indy 500.
Jessica Garcete is an IndyStar sports reporter. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to theYouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
Indianapolis, IN
Ahead of the Indianapolis 500, DCR Restyles Romain Grosjean’s No. 18 to Honor the Late Kyle Busch
While there will be no No. 8 or No. 18 run at Charlotte Motor Speedway this Memorial Day weekend, over in Indianapolis, Kyle Busch’s most iconic No. 18 will have the chance to run the Indianapolis 500 that he never got following his unexpected passing on Thursday at the age of 41 from severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis, per a statement shared from the family to The Athletic.
Joe Gibbs Racing has not used the No. 18 since Busch left the organization after the completion of the 2022 season, and as announced yesterday, Richard Childress Racing will halt the use of the No. 8 in honor of Busch until his son Brexton is ready to go “NASCAR racing.”
Plans came together the day before the running of the 110th Indianapolis 500 for Romain Grosjean to run Busch’s stylized No. 18 after a suggestion from Fox Sports broadcaster Townsend Bell, per Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal. Fox Sports and JGR worked together to get the tribute approved and on the car.
Busch ran the No. 18 for 15 years, including both successful Championship campaigns in 2015 and 2019.
Right in between these two championships, Kyle Busch had the chance to race The Double in 2017, securing approval from Chevrolet, Toyota, and his main sponsor of the era, Mars Inc., with his iconic M&Ms scheme. Ultimately, Joe Gibbs shot it down. Earlier this year, on an episode of his former teammate Denny Hamlin’s podcast Actions Detrimental, he shared that if a deal were to come together again, he would take the opportunity with the assumed support of Richard Childress.
Victoria Beaver is a nomadic sports writer who spends her time hopping between race tracks and hippie farms. She’s covered every corner of motorsports that will let her in from 410 Sprints to NASCAR to Supercross. Her daily driver is a 2010 Subaru that she refused to do the smallest amount of preventative maintenance on. Instead, she spends her free time and money building a 42-foot Skoolie to one day travel the country full time.
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