This publicity photo strikes me as one of the most bizzare I've seen in a while. In light of the Giro d'Italia, it's maybe something that could have been composed by filmmaker Frederico Fellini.
To publicize Lance Armstrong driving the pace car Sunday for the Indianapolis 500, Armstrong posed next to the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 he'll drive. Behind him, 33 Indy race car drivers dressed in their jumpsuits stood astride their Trek bicycles.
This is just one of many photos of the recent pre-race event posted online at the Indianapolis 500 website.
The Trek bicycles carry the logos of the Indianapolis Speedway (the racing tire with wings) and the 90th Indianapolis 500. The Treks will be sold at auction, with the proceeds going to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, reports IndyCar.com.
On Sunday, Armstrong will again be leading the Indy car racers, but this time they'll be lined up behind him travelling at 100 mph. In a Q&A after Saturday's practice, Armstrong said former winner Johnny Rutherford warned him about driving the pace car.
“Just try to keep the group together on the last lap because, of course I didn’t know this, but I guess they try to play games with one another, move forward and backward and try to get an advantage somehow. He was telling me that, ‘As you’re going 100 mph, just keep looking in your rearview mirror and don’t let those guys drift back on you, you’ve got to drift back with them.’ I’m like, ‘All right, I’ll be so nervous I can’t do that.’ But it’s good; it’s intense.”
Asked about driving in front of 400,000 fans, Armstrong said:
“Even as freaked out as I was today, it’s going to be a whole another level. Coming out of the last turn at 120 mph, that was tougher than I thought. And not really knowing where the wall is, they’re like, ‘Get up closer to the wall.’ I’m like: ‘No, I’m not getting closer to the wall. No, I’m going to stay away from the wall!’ It will be a whole another feeling, and when you put that many people in the place it narrows up real quick.”
The Indy 500 starts at 1 p.m. (ET) on Sunday.
Thanks to Maxine…
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