SHEHEEN: The Speedway & A Unique Graduation

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — May is always a special time of the year. Of course, May means the Indy 500, and it also means high-school graduation.

This year, it appeared a combination of those two would create a challenge for my family. Then, Doug Boles, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and my wife, Kimberly, stepped up to make it a May I will never forget.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — May is always a special time of the year. Of course, May means the Indy 500, and it also means high-school graduation.

This year, it appeared a combination of those two would create a challenge for my family. Then, Doug Boles, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and my wife, Kimberly, stepped up to make it a May I will never forget.

I had promised my son, Lucas, that when he was old enough to do Indy the right way, we would go to the Indianapolis 500. That meant turning 18 years old in order to gain access to the garage area and the media center.

I called Boles and explained the situation and he arranged for Lucas to have the proper credentials to guarantee an incredible experience.

Lucas was thrilled when I told him what I had planned, but we quickly discovered his high-school graduation ceremony was the same weekend as the 500.

Uh, oh!

Kimberly, the saint that she is, provided Lucas with the opportunity to decide if he’d rather walk with his class or attend the Indy 500. Proving he was raised right, Lucas chose the Indianapolis 500. We were on our way.

When I mentioned all of this to Boles, he had the idea that we hold Lucas’ graduation at the speedway. Kimberly got Lucas’ diploma from Lake Norman High School in advance and unbeknownst to Lucas, I carried it to Indy.

On Saturday before the 500, Boles and IMS staff member Lisa Barnette walked us to pit lane and we stopped at the famed yard of bricks where we were joined by many-time Indy 500 starter Lyn St. James.

When I handed Boles the diploma, Lucas realized something was up.

Boles delivered one of the best graduation speeches I’ve ever heard, explaining how special families are to the legacy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and how every winner has crossed the yard of bricks since 1911. He instructed Lucas to walk across the yard of bricks, where he received his diploma from Boles and St. James.

Boles told Lucas he was only the second high-school graduate in the 100-plus-year history of the speedway to receive his diploma there by crossing the bricks. I was a bit teary eyed.

What an incredible moment for Lucas! I will never forget it and the incredible friendship and hospitality of Doug Boles, Lisa Barnette, Suzi Elliott and the rest of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway staff, along with Lyn St. James, all went way beyond anything I ever expected.

Unfortunately, not every graduate will be able to receive a diploma in the manner Lucas did. Though, I wouldn’t be surprised if Boles and his team develop a new promotion based off of graduation in the future. I know I would consider getting another degree if it meant I could step across the yard of bricks to get my diploma.

■ The 108th Indianapolis 500 was arguably one of the greatest 500s ever contested. Every lap was thrilling. Each restart had your heart in your throat as the drivers consistently raced three- and four-wide into turns one and three. The last lap was truly one for the ages with Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden swapping the lead until Newgarden made one of the bravest moves in Indianapolis 500 history to secure his second Borg-Warner Trophy.

It was an amazing day, even with a four-hour rain delay. The speedway did an impressive job of handling the weather situation. I can only imagine the stress levels of having to plan and coordinate the safety of more than 300,000 people with severe weather closing rapidly. It all went very smoothly and everyone enjoyed all 200 laps.

■ Ran into Eric Warren at Indy. He’s the executive director of Global Motorsports Competition for General Motors. I asked if he was enjoying working as the “Mad Scientist” on the Cadillac F-1 program. He said he will have a prototype engine completed and ready for testing by the end of this year and ready to race by 2026.

Now, if Formula 1 will just do the right thing and welcome Andretti Global and Cadillac into the series.

■ Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, was also making the rounds at Indy, smiling after another successful event in April.

However, Jim and his team are already aggressively planning for a mega celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 200 MPH Beach Party on April 11-13, 2025.

He told me they plan on celebrating all of the divisions that have raced through the streets of Long Beach, not just the headlining NTT IndyCar Series. Expect F-1, F5000, IMSA cars and much more. It should be an excellent weekend in Southern California.

■ I really like the new idea of the Indy 500 winner’s jacket. It’s another unique addition that makes winning the world’s biggest race that much more special. The blue jacket is similar to the famed green jacket given to the winner of The Masters, one of golf’s biggest events.

The jackets will remain at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and race winners have to check them out to wear them and return them at the end of race week. The jackets have “Air Tags” sewn into them, so speedway officials know where they are at all times.

■ Lots of talk these days about future NASCAR Cup Series schedules and where the premier stock car championship will be racing. The newest location I’m hearing mentioned with some seriousness is the Middle East. I haven’t heard one particular venue talked about. However, one can guess with some confidence that it would probably be one of the permanent facilities built for Formula 1. These would include Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia or Qatar.