Sports Archives - Page 117 of 130 - Indianapolis Monthly

Inside Track: May's a Snap with Handy New App

Imagine if you will: It’s Friday, and you’ve just finished lunch. You step outside; the sun is shining, and a gentle breeze tousles your hair. You don’t want to go back to the office, so you decide to play hooky and while away the rest of the afternoon at the track. It’s a May tradition as true as Mother’s Day.

Mini-Marathon Do's & Don'ts

Since I ran the inaugural Indiana University Mini-Marathon on my 25th birthday in 2006, I have been slightly obsessed with half-marathons, and road races of all distances. I have now run three Indy Minis, as well as innumerable 5-milers and 5Ks, including the 2007 Indy Mini Day's 5K, that just three and a half months after I was in a fairly serious car wreck.

Like a Good Nabors

Sadly, Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced today that Indy 500 mainstay Jim Nabors will not be available to sing "(Back Home Again in) Indiana" before the race this year. The conflict: a scheduled surgery for heart-valve replacement.

Inside Track: Good Deal on Derby and 500 Tix

As you might have heard, another big May race, the Kentucky Derby, is coming up this Saturday. For the first time ever, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Churchill Downs have partnered to offer a special “Horsepower vs. Horsepower” (get it?) ticket promotion to race fans and revelers hearty enough to attempt trips to the Derby and the 500 in the same year.

JR Hildebrand skids to the finish line in a badly damaged car at the end of last year’s 500.

Turning the Corner: JR Hildebrand

JR Hildebrand spotted the starter’s white flag. “Bring it home, baby, bring it home,” chirped the rookie’s support staff over the radio from their perch in the pits. Four left turns away from winning the 2011 Indianapolis 500, Hildebrand buried the rush of excitement. No one, he told himself, cares who leads lap No. 199 at Indy. In the ether, though, the announcer’s voice on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network was already rising. Here he goes, the final lap! Across the line, JR Hildebrand will see the white flag.

Good Nabors

A: TV’s Gomer Pyle owes his pre-race role to an incident in 1972, when legendary Speedway boss Anton “Tony” Hulman asked him to participate in the opening ceremonies. But Tony didn’t approach him months in advance like regular folks would. Instead he walked up to Nabors (who was attending the ’72 race as a spectator) and asked him if he’d like to “sing the song.” Nabors, figuring it was “The Star-Spangled Banner,” said yes. It wasn’t until moments before his performance that he learned it was “Back Home Again in Indiana.” Ever the trouper, he wrote the lyrics on his hand and delivered a bang-up performance, earning a gig he’s honored for the better part of four decades. [Editor's Note: Nabors won't make it to the 2012 Indy 500 due to medical reasons.]

Q&A: IM Fancies the Plain White T's

To kick off the 500 Festival, Indy is throwing a party. The Rev Your Engines concert on Monument Circle tonight features headliners the Plain White T’s (9 p.m., Sat., free), the pop-rock crooners whose recent hits are by now as familiar and well-worn as, well, your favorite white T-shirt. Their heartstring-tugging ballads “Hey There Delilah,” “1, 2, 3, 4,” and “Rhythm of Love” have each gone platinum.

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