No one knows exactly what more than a century of tradition will look like after it’s been pushed back three months.
Mike Leonard is eager to find out.
Leonard, the former Franklin College football coach, has attended most Indianapolis 500s since going to the 1973 race as an 11-year-old growing up in Speedway. He plans to be in his customary seat in the Turn 4 bleachers when the 104th running commences on Aug. 23.
The 500 has been a staple of Memorial Day weekend since the inaugural race in 1911. The latest showcase has been moved as a precautionary measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“My vision is that everything is the same except that it’s in August instead of in May. It will be interesting with college football starting around that time,” Leonard said. “I think people will enjoy the change. To me, at least, it doesn’t matter because of all the people, the excitement in the air and the sounds of the engines.
“I sure hope by then that we can sit together. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
Leonard thinks back to one of the quotes made famous in “The Shawshank Redemption” — "Get busy living …"
The IndyCar schedule opens June 6 with what will be a condensed version of the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Practices and qualifications have been packed into the morning and afternoon with the race held at night.
No fans will be in attendance. Moreover, the event is now 200 laps compared to the customary 248.
Subsequent IndyCar events will take place June 21 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and June 27 at the Indy Richmond 300 in Richmond, Virginia. Elkhart Lake plans to have fans, though it remains to be seen how many will be allowed in.
A decision has yet to be made about whether Richmond will allow full attendance, partial attendance or run with the stands empty.
The Indianapolis 500 is the eighth of 14 events on the IndyCar schedule.
For years, Center Grove football coach Eric Moore, a diehard race fan, has arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway around 5:30 a.m. the day of the race. He snaps photos of the sun rising before tending to duties as a volunteer worker on the track.
Only this year, the race has been rescheduled for the same weekend that the high school football season opens.
“I’ll miss the smells and sounds of the Speedway. There is nothing like the sounds of the crowd when the field of 33 enters Turn 1,” said Moore, who attended his first 500 as a high school junior in 1978. “It’s such an epic event to be part of, and you hate to miss it. It will be great for everyone to finally get to see the Indy 500, but it just won’t be the same.
“As (May 24) approaches, I know at my house with the amount of time spent at the Speedway in the past, it will be a very depressing and empty Sunday.”
Former Greenwood boys basketball coach Bruce Hensley attended his first 500 in 1963 at age 7. He’s been to every one since, this August’s spectacle being No. 58.
Now retired from coaching and teaching, Hensley, 64, son-in-law to three-time Indianapolis 500 qualifier Eldon Rasmussen, remains as passionate about the event as ever.
“Being in August, you worry about how hot it’s going to be,” Hensley said. “They always say the track gets a little slicker, and I know the hot weather also affects the engines a little bit.”
By late August, there is the chance the COVID-19 situation has stabilized to the point where social distancing isn’t being enforced as stringently. Maybe 50,000 fans are allowed in and told to spread out as best they can. Or 100,000 spectators. Or 200,000.
Ideally, fans would be shoulder to shoulder while soaking up the pageantry and excitement.
“I can’t imagine having the Indianapolis 500 without 400,000 people because that’s what makes it so special,” said Whiteland athletic director Ken Sears, who attended his first race as a high school sophomore in 1976. “To me, it’s about driving there, sitting there, watching all of the people and the flyovers and things like that.
“I’m thinking it may be a little different, but that there will be fans in the stands.”
