Indy 500 100th Running

“It is a team very hungry for victories,” Aleshin says. “It feels good to be back, and these guys mean a lot to me.”

Pine is the latest addition to a 2016 roster of Indy 500 celebrities that so far includes Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, and homegrown Voice champ Josh Kaufman.

“It’s very nerve-wracking for me when Graham is racing,” says Bobby Rahal, “especially on ovals because of the speed.”

“It was like, I don’t know, when you do a flip into a swimming pool,” says Castroneves. “I closed my eyes, because I didn’t want to see what was coming. ”

“He was just a humble guy, super friendly, easy to talk to,” Bourdais recalls. “Then we walked into the lobby of the Hilton, and three or four ladies absolutely lost it.”

Ladies and gentleman, start your arguments.

“We’re starting all over again,” says Castroneves. “Just because we won three times, it won’t be easy, and it won’t be the same as the times before. Every year, it changes.”

“The Indy 500 is one of the true iconic motorsport events, and to get to drive with a legend like Mario in this 100th race is indescribable,” Urban said in a statement.

Sugarmann—whose work “engages the automotive industry as a manufacturer of human identity” and has been shown nationally and internationally—interviewed, photographed, and filmed each participant. The result is an oral and visual history of the Indianapolis 500, exhibited at Big Car’s new cultural center, the Tube Factory.

“I’m honored to sing the national anthem at the Indianapolis 500 and be invited to celebrate the milestone of the 100th Running,” Rucker said in a statement.

The graphic will cover 74,538 square feet and include images of the Borg-Warner Trophy, an Indy car, the 100th Running logo, and the words, “Epic Race. Epic Place.”

“What we’ve had to do is look through the lens of, is something really a tradition?” says Boles. “Is it really core, central to our DNA? Or is it something that has just happened over time, and if you changed it, it doesn’t really change the importance of the race?”