INDIANAPOLIS — Is it May yet? That’s what our calendars would have us believe. Tuesday, May 12, they read — the first scheduled day of practice for an Indianapolis 500-Mile Race that should be right around the corner.
But look around. Does it feel like May yet in Indianapolis?
Few cars and even fewer storefronts are flying checkered flags from their doors and windows. There was no IndyCar Grand Prix. The JW Marriott isn’t welcoming airplanes-full of travelers with a humongous 500 decal spelling out what month it is; and the street signs downtown still say Capitol Avenue and Maryland Street rather than Kanaan Road and Carpenter Way.
It sure doesn’t look like the Month of May in Indianapolis.
Doesn’t sound like it either.
Tuesday was the morning Hoosiers were supposed to arrive at work to the distant hum of Indy cars whooshing around the iconic oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Thousands of others would have called in sick and flocked to the viewing mounds to catch their first glimpse of 33-plus cars on track while those stuck in their offices miles away would tweet about hearing the roar of Simon Pagenaud’s engine ripping around Turn 1. They could practically smell the exhaust through their windows.
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But of course, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many offices are as empty and quiet as the track was Tuesday morning at the racing capital of the world. There were no spectators gawking at cars from IMS’s meticulously manicured hills, and the clamoring on pit lane usually abuzz with pre-500 anticipation was eerily absent.
That’s because for the first time since before most Hoosiers were born —1945 — there will be no Indianapolis 500 in May. It’s been postponed until August.
So on a Tuesday morning that should have seen a speedway teeming with enthusiasm and excitement for the 104th running of the world’s biggest race, there was in its stead a a strange cocktail of longing and hope, personified by IMS President Doug Boles.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing (there are no cars are on track) because May is such a special month,” Boles said through the safety of a mask while standing on an all-too-still IMS backstretch. “But I also think there is an awful lot of optimism to be found here.”
While it might be easy to soak in the vast quietness of the 1,000-acre estate, think about what should have been and let it discourage you, Boles said, it would be a mistake to believe hope isn’t on the horizon.
Beneath the frustrating calm of the day, there is an undercurrent of optimism around the track.
It springs from a revamped Victory Lane that now includes a podium that rises above the ground; and it overflows from an expanded Georgetown Road, which will allow for wider and safer passage for fans onto IMS’ hallowed grounds.
The speedway will soon provide an update on all the upgrades that have continued to take place during this pandemic — yes, that includes the urinal troughs — but they all mean the same thing: Race Day is coming. The Indianapolis 500 is coming. It has not been canceled. Just postponed a few months.
Will it be different? Yes. Will it be weird? Absolutely, said Tony Kanaan.
“But what’s not weird nowadays?” The 2013 champion and 18-time participant said. “Everything is an adjustment. When it comes to August, we’re not going to care if it’s May or August, whatever. It’s the Indy 500. For two weeks, we’ll be flat out. It’ll be qualifying day, bump day, race day, and I don’t think anyone will remember what day it says on the calendar.”
Time is mostly irrelevant now anyway, Kanaan joked.
“I’ve been lost inside my own house since March.”
More seriously, the race may indeed look different. There’s no way to know if the Greatest Spectacle in Racing will boast its usual abundance of beloved pomp and circumstance. There’s no way to know if 300,000 fans will be allowed to pack into the grandstands and Snake Pit, though Boles admits that when he dreams about the 500 to come, that’s how he pictures it.
He knows that it's a dream that might need adjusting. The world, as dictated by our response to the novel coronavirus, changes daily. No one knows what it will look like three months from now. At this point, all IMS can do is try to plan for all possible contingencies.
They’ll lean heavily on what they learn from the July 4 NASCAR/IndyCar doubleheader, and they’ll start to plan accordingly. All IMS can promise, Boles said, is that it will do everything within its power to make August in Indianapolis feel like the Month of May we didn’t get to enjoy.
“There may be some subtle differences in August,” Boles said, “but at the end of the day when there are 33 drivers strapping in to race cars to race 500 miles so they can drink a bottle of milk on the yard of bricks, I think it’s going to feel like the 500 we expect.”
For now, all IMS can be is a beacon of hope. It has embraced that duty to the community not only by continuing its renovation projects but by sprawling Gov. Eric Holcomb's slogan to reopen Indiana across its main entrance. It's a message that hits close to home for IMS and its fans: #BackOnTrack.
What it means is that if Hoosiers continue to be vigilant in taking precautions to protect themselves and those around them, the reward will not only be the re-opening of the economy but the return of the city's birthright.
Who cares if that's in in August?
Ultimately, May in Indianapolis isn't about days in a month, Kanaan said. The Month of May is about the camaraderie of celebrating one of the world's grandest traditions.
So forget what the calendar is telling you. Is it May yet? Nope. But it’s on the way.
Follow IndyStar Sports reporter Jim Ayello on Twitter: @jimayello.
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