5 Things You Need To Know About The “Greatest Spectacle In Racing”
What milk, Danica Patrick and fighter jets have to do with the Indy 500.
Start your summer by cruising with the windows down, wind blowing through your hair and a smile on your face. That’s how Indy fans prefer their Memorial Day too.
What a coincidence,
The Last Night’s Game Team
1. The iconic Indianapolis 500 is always a big celebrity draw. For the third time in her career, Kelly Clarkson will sing the national anthem and Christian Bale and Matt Damon will wave the green start flag. The two actors are using this huge honor to promote their upcoming film based on the 1966 24-hour Le Mans endurance race. (Different kind of car racing, but it’s still racing). DRIVERS, START YOUR ENGINES
2. Because life’s too short to have a boring race car. The car for Indiana native Conor Daly, who you might recognize from “Amazing Race,” will be painted to look like an Air Force fighter jet. COPS CAN’T CATCH HIM
3. He starts your mornings off right, so he seemed the logical choice to start the race. Al Roker from “The Today Show” had been pegged to drive the pace car but a last-minute conflict changed his plans. Stepping in is a guy who knows a little about racing, retired NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt will take a break from his broadcasting gig to spin around the track. (NASCAR is different than IndyCar. For more, click here). HERE’S WHAT’S GOING ON IN YOUR NECK OF THE WOODS
4. Joining Earnhardt in the broadcast booth is the first woman to ever lead a lap at the Indy 500, Danica Patrick. Patrick retired from her career in racing last year and has driven both in IndyCar and NASCAR. Another gal to keep an eye on is Pippa Mann, the only female driver in the race. ON THE FAST TRACK
5. Move over Gatorade, milk is the drink of the winners at International Motor Speedway. The tradition that involves the winner swigging milk began in 1936 with Louis Meyer, whose go to drink after a win was a refreshing glass of milk. The act was spotted by an overjoyed milk executive and the rest is history. MILK…IT QUENCHES YOUR THIRST, SAID NO ONE EVER
Wednesday wisdom
Everyone will be buzzing about how J.J. Watt helped a student get a better grade, why Ellen loves baseball and Boston's sports streak. READ
You Complete Me
It’s Friday. Go talk sports, impress people and save the world.
It’s Friday. Go talk sports, impress people and save the world.
That's all folks,
The Last Night’s Game Team
PS – In case you haven’t already given up on your new year’s resolutions, here’s a Tailgate Treat that’s resolution friendly.
NFL (National Football League)
When there's no place like home. We’re in week two of the NFL playoffs with games on Saturday and Sunday. The temperature isn’t the only thing that’s dropping in Minnesota this weekend. The Minnesota Vikings are hoping to break the streak of no team ever playing a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Dropping the New Orleans Saints this weekend is their first step toward that goal. PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
NBA (National Basketball Association)
When you act like you don’t have a favorite child but you really do. It’s all-star voting time in the NBA and Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors) and LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) have taken the lead as the top vote getters for their conference. Don’t like them at the top? You can still cast your ballot. Voting ends on January 18th. VOTE
Overtime
Indy car drivers Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly are on this season of The Amazing Race. If that’s not impressive enough, they had to dress like French fries as part of one of the challenges. Would you like fries with that? PIC
Sideline stat
The NFL playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Tennessee Titans features the largest age gap in NFL playoff history between the starting quarterbacks. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is 40 and his Titans counterpart Marcus Mariota is 24.
Coaches’ corner
The newest team in the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights, have been impressive on the ice and now their legal team is joining the ranks. The Army filed opposition to the team’s trademark application saying that the name and colors are too close to their Golden Knights parachute team. The team’s response was classic with one line stating, “we are not aware of a single complaint from anyone attending our games that they were expecting to see the parachute team and not a professional hockey game.” FULL STATEMENT