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INDIANAPOLIS – The first Indianapolis 500 for Dale Earnhardt Jr. will create indelible and lively memories for a racing player who will benefit from an unusually new perspective over a long career.
Earnhardt will lead the green flag bunch in a Corvette car, jump into the NBC channel show to listen to high-level commentary and possibly in the snake pit to watch 30,000 sing to the sound of a song SHS.
But what will he remember most about the 103rd edition of the Indianapolis 500?
The emotion and energy that will traverse the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before all of this begins.
"The big advantage of events such as the Kentucky Derby or the Indy 500 is just energy and it's not a tangible thing," Earnhardt recently told NBCSports.com. "It's a feeling you have when the event is about to happen. When you walk with the horses to the door or push the cars in the pit lane. And there is a lot of emotion in it and an incredible and incredible feeling that you can not describe. It will probably be the coolest part.
"I'm absolutely sure that the feeling of being on this grid before the start of the race will be different from anything I've ever experienced in a NASCAR race, let alone at a Super Bowl or Olympic Games. winter. All these things that I have experienced at NBC over the last few months, I think this will be the highlight. "
The 103rd Indianapolis 500, Sunday 11am on NBC: how to watch
Do not pretend that the Indianapolis 500 has been better validated as a flagship motor racing event than the support of a retired pilot whose last name is synonymous with NASCAR.
But it also confirms that a new era of once unimaginable relaxation is underway between the two largest American racing series, offering the promise of a new collaboration between two long-time rivals.
The olive branches grow everywhere.
The NASCAR Cup champion seven times goes to IMS to watch cars spinning at a speed of about 40 mph faster than he'd ever seen on the road. 2.5 mile oval … the defending champion of the Indianapolis 500 makes an appearance on the popular podcast of Earnhardt … The leaders of the series take a look at the competition and discuss with the competition while sharing a race weekend stage on the same circuit is more intense.
IndyCar and NASCAR seem finally to be allied as less and less indispensable allies in a motorsport landscape subject to constant surveillance by sponsors who seek better returns and discriminate fans eager for entertainment.
"From the perspective of motorsport, it's good for all of us," said IndyCar president, Jay Frye, whose experience as a NASCAR team leader made him a "big friend" for many of his stock-car counterparts such as Mike Helton, Steve Phelps and Steve O Donnell. "It's an industry. It's something that I think the more we can do collectively to improve the industry from a global point of view, that's great.
"We are talking about doing more on the road with our biggest events. I think the more we can do together, the better. "
This includes growing support for a dual IndyCar-NASCAR program, which was recently launched on the Dale Jr. download podcast by NASCAR President Phelps, who traveled to Indy Friday to attend the day. carbon with O'Donnell.
It's a welcome thaw in what was once one of the biggest cold wars in the competition.
"I think we need to get away, and I think more and more people are seeing in motor sport today that I do not think we can be against each other," he said. said Chip Ganassi, who has teams at IndyCar, NASCAR. and IMSA. "We should not be part of a circular firing squad. I do not know what's the point. "
The reaction to Earnhardt's appointment as race car driver was a series of enthusiastically welcoming posts on social media, including Brickyard's reigning champion, Will Power (Another recent guest of Dale Jr. Download) and Scott Dixon, five-time series champion, did not understand why he had been consulted before the final approval of a pilot's appointment the most popular NASCAR, 15 times, to drive an IndyCar race car. (Earnhardt was a last minute substitute choice).
"I think some people were a little worried, maybe just like it was this NASCAR guy and all that," Dixon told NBCSports.com with a chuckle. "And it was," That's great, man! ". And to participate in his first Indy 500, to be part of the show and drive the pace car. It will be his vision of this show for the first time in the show. It's enormous.
"I think it's a great idea all around."
Power, who invited Earnhardt to sit in the cockpit of his Dallara-Chevrolet during a Thursday walk in Gasoline Alley: "I think everyone in the paddock is happy that Dale is here, not just to comment, but also to drive the car. I was happy to hear that. He is an excellent ambassador for motorsport. "
Noting the "genuine" enthusiasm of his peers about "legendary name and great personality" with Earnhardt, Josef Newgarden of Team Penske said: "It looks like this whole competition is about who's leading the ranking – "We are better! You are not great! Our series is more competitive. "- just seems to disappear.
"It's been like this for 20 or 30 years, and it's not necessary," said Newgarden, champion of the 2017 series. "We are two different types of motorsport, but in the end we are all motorsport. They are just as difficult and totally different in many ways. We are runners. We all love each other. And just to see the respect now that we both care, I think we should work together.
"We should all respect each other because they are both high-performance motor sports. These are all very talented drivers and teams that occupy both areas. We should have drivers who want to run in an IndyCar series car and guys who want to run on the IndyCar side.
"For this ego and the competition between the two to be discarded, I think it benefits everyone."
Earnhardt, whom Mario Andretti, who hosted Thursday at Indy's home, also included a two-seater race, felt even safer if his choice of driver was approved by the biggest names in IndyCar.
"I'm glad these guys are so excited to see me here," he said. "We certainly wanted to make sure that the pilots were acceptable before accepting them and that they agreed with that. And they all seem to be on board. The guys at IndyCar have a unique perspective on everything that can help their sport, they all seem to be on the same page. They are especially united to do everything that helps to attract more looks. "
United is not like the relationship between IndyCar and NASCAR would have been described in the last quarter century since the production cars started running at the Brickyard 400.
Jeff Gordon won the first race in 1994 after living in the nearby city of Pittsboro while he was racing toward stars, but there was still some Indiana-like animosity in having NASCAR on the track traditionally dedicated to open sport. Wheeled cars for most of its existence since its opening in 1909.
Tony Stewart, triple winner of the Cup and elected Wednesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, admitted that he was one of those Hoosier natives who had initially laundered the idea of storing wagons to Indy.
NBC's NBC analyst, Dale Jarrett, recalled a colder reception, in part because NASCAR was on the rise while "IndyCar – which was dividing into rival sets from 1996 to 2008 and that was hurting his popularity – was suffering.
"At NASCAR, we had such a build-up in the early 90s and 2000s that I think even the Accelerator and IndyCar races were set aside and were not used to that," he said. Jarrett. "And you will not feel like thinking about everything you do, and I think they may have felt that a little bit."
As NASCAR tackled the challenges of audience reduction over the past few decades, it has created a middle ground between two series that have had to strive to enhance their relevance to attract fans.
"Now that things have stabilized and NASCAR has been a bit humiliated over the past decade, it has changed everybody's perception," said Earnhardt Jr. "But as a pilot, I always been interested and curious for IndyCar, but also for other forms of motor sport. You want to go see and watch and walk and check. You want to be welcomed in this world.
"Even at the height of the rivalry, no matter what happened, if Mario Andretti or anyone else would have walked in the middle of the garage, we'd all have been like," Hey, holy cow. Welcome! Amazing to have you here! 'You know he's a racing car driver. He is curious about the race. He wants to know what are the stock cars and what it is. I think the rivalry was probably more motivated by the fans than anything else. "
Indeed, more and more IndyCar and NASCAR pilots have forged closer relationships, some based on sponsorships and links with manufacturers, but others have been formed by genuine fellowship.
Jimmie Johnson, seven-time champion of the Cup, has become a friend of the five-time champion of IndyCar, Scott Dixon, and it's easy to spot the similarities between two discrete superstars whose accomplishments are often misunderstood.
"I talk to Jimmie a lot, and there's a lot more cross-talk between NASCAR and IndyCar," Dixon said. "It's hard work right now and everyone knows it. No one has the captive audience. It's changing. Everyone is trying to keep up with the changes.
"If we can do it as a band rather than" Oh no, we have a larger audience and we do not want you to take ours "and all that kind of jazz, it's good to see that the ego has somehow left and everyone is trying to get along on the same page to help each other out, basically, man, we're all motorsport enthusiasts. "
Last Thursday, Johnson embarked for an early flight to Indianapolis in order to spend a few hours watching the drive of the 500km Indy.
"I wanted to see this crowded place and feel the energy I've often heard of," said Johnson, who writes regularly with other IndyCar pilots such as Newgarden.
"He's just a runner who keeps an eye on everything that's going on," said Newgarden of Johnson. "To get the point of view of him on someone who has been in the sport and who has done so many things, who has been so smart and smart about it, it's cool to have that path of communication. Jimmie cares about what's going on outside the NASCAR bubble. He has so many friends in the paddock of IndyCar. He knows everyone. He pricks us and he wants privileged information about the event to know more, which is fantastic. "
While there was a time about five decades ago, A.J. Foyt and Andretti, both winners of the Indy 500 and Daytona 500, regularly change their discipline. The race is becoming smaller as the drivers of today are more and more limited by the team's commitments.
There are rare exceptions, such as Kurt Busch using the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 the same day in 2014, but crosses have not generally been achievable.
In addition to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway, the best IndyCar and NASCAR series races on separate sites have also helped limit driver interaction.
"I think we have moved too far apart," said Newgarden. "Two bubbles were created and the bubbles did not cross. It's been too long since we see, and now that we're seeing this bridge being created again, everyone is very capable of getting along and enjoying themselves. I think the guys at IndyCar are very open to that.
"Perhaps we are more open-minded because we have been pushed further down. Stock Car had a bigger rise than IndyCar. We may be more open-minded because of the situation we were in about 10 years ago, but it's not a shock to anyone. We are all getting closer. These bubbles are starting to disappear and we are putting everyone in the same ecosystem, which is great. "
Jarrett, three-time winner of the Brickyard 400, spent last weekend at IMS to attend the practice and qualify for the Indy 500 for the first time. Simon Pagenaud, the gatekeeper of the 500-mile Indianapolis podium, was one of those who stopped the 1999 NASCAR champion, who considered "a bit of a shock" to be recognized.
"Everyone was very nice," said Jarrett. "I know very few IndyCar riders, but a couple I had never met or talked about, or anything, really stopped me from walking in the pit lane. It was so cool to see and be part of their world. Many people stopped and talked about NASCAR and the success I had there. Racing fans are really racing fans. "
Many drivers believe that the IndyCar-NASCAR weekend double-head potentials are the best way to expose the race to fans of both series.
Power and Graham Rahal are among the IndyCar stars who think they can run Saturday night on the Charlotte Roval, followed by a race Sunday.
"We all have to help each other grow," said Rahal at the latest NASCAR show on the NBC Podcast. "Do these common events that only some tracks can do is huge. We need to. We must build our sports together. To do it independently, yes, we could gain ground here and there, but in the end we will never do enough. "
As NBC Sports Group broadcasts the entire IndyCar season and the last 20 races of the NASCAR Cup season, the tracks on its network seem to be ideal venues for the smoothest crossover opportunities. (It worked for the Avengers!)
At a motor sport summit in December, NBC Sports executives gathered leaders from their various properties (NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA and Supercross) to discuss the possibility of a collaboration. increased.
Frye, president of IndyCar, would be a "big supporter" of an IndyCar-NASCAR double-head weekend.
"It could be an extravagant weekend in American motorsport," he said. "We said we would run on a Saturday night and the Cup remains in its usual place on Sunday. There are a lot of crossovers with the manufacturers and between the teams. We talked about the friendships we have with them.
"I think that would change the situation in a good way. It's not something you do every week. If you have done it once or twice a year. You must do it a first time. See how it goes. There would be some tracks that we would go that would suit. At the end of the day, why not try it? It's good for NBC, good for IndyCar and good for NASCAR. "
However, it may still be difficult to avoid "star" status and other means that could result in a series being considered inferior.
"What has been the reserve of both sides working together is the comparison between the two," said Newgarden. "And that's what we have to make sure that does not happen. This is not a competition whose car is faster. Or which car is harder.
"These are different forms of racing. (A stock car) weighs twice as much. The power levels are different. It's a different art. We are not here to compare the fastest car. That's not what it's all about, so I think that's where one part of the reserve wants to double it, but I'd love to see it. If anyone wants to win in this situation, it's the fans. "
Given this possible outcome, it is perhaps fitting that the latest example of NASCAR-IndyCar harmony will be symbolically driven by Earnhardt, who dominates more fans than the 33 combined drivers who will follow him into the Brickyard at 12:45. AND Sunday on NBC.
It will be a show even for a runner who has seen almost everything.
"When you look in the rearview mirror and you do not see stock cars," said Earnhardt. "But you see these wild and exotic open-wheeled cars, Indy.
"It'll make me lose my mind."
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