Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced that Dallas Mavericks Owner and star of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” Mark Cuban will serve as the honorary starter of the 98th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on Sunday, May 25.

Cuban will wave the green flag to start the field of 33 drivers in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” which begins at noon (ET) and will be televised live on ABC.

“Whether it’s winning an NBA Championship or the honor of waving the green flag to start the Indianapolis 500, there are certain sporting events that are monumental for any true sports fan,” said Cuban. “I am excited to come back to Indiana, not just to attend, but actually participate in this historic race.”

“Marc Cuban brings Indiana ties, a passion for sporting events, and a diverse following of fans around the globe to the flag stand at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” said J. Douglas Boles, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president. “His successes and personality are well known in the business and entertainment world and we look forward to watching him wave the green flag to start the 98th Indianapolis 500.”

Since the age of 12, Mark has been a natural businessman. Selling garbage bags door to door, the seed was planted early on for what would eventually become long-term success. After graduating from Indiana University – where he briefly owned the most popular bar in town – Mark moved to Dallas. After a dispute with an employer who wanted him to clean instead of closing an important sale, Mark created MicroSolutions, a computer consulting service. He went on to later sell MicroSolutions in 1990 to CompuServe.

In 1995, Mark and long-time friend Todd Wagner came up with an internet based solution to not being able to listen to Hoosiers Basketball games out in Texas. That solution was Broadcast.com – streaming audio over the internet. In just four short years, Broadcast.com (then Audionet) would be sold to Yahoo for $5.6 billion dollars.

Since his acquisition of the Dallas Mavericks in 2000, he has overseen the Mavs competing in the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history in 2006 – and becoming NBA World Champions in 2011. They are currently listed as one of Forbes’ most valuable franchises in sports. He shares his wealth of experience and business savvy in his first published book “How To Win At The Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It.” On top of his business adventures, the 55-year-old is also a “shark” investor on the popular ABC television series “Shark Tank,” which he joined in 2010.

SOURCE: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Information about 2014 Indianapolis 500 activity on Monday, May 19 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

DAY: Indianapolis 500 Practice

SCHEDULE (all times local):

• 10:00 a.m. Public Gates Open
• Noon Verizon IndyCar Series Practice Begins
• 5:00 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series Practice Concludes
• 6:00 p.m. Public Gates Close

TICKETS: $15, children 12 and under free.

PUBLIC GATES OPEN: 10:00 a.m. (local time). Pedestrian gates open are Gates 1B, 2, 4, 6, 6A, 7 South, 9A, 10, 10A, 12.

STANDS OPEN: B Stand (As needed GA – Sec. 22-25), E Stand (Open-GA), North Vista Wheelchair (As needed GA, Sec. 21), Northwest Vista (As needed GA, Sec. 1-4), Northwest Vista Deck (Open-GA), Paddock (As needed GA, Sec. 9-18), Paddock Pressbox (Open-GA), Paddock Penthouse (As needed GA, Sec. 9-30), Pit Road Terrace (Open-GA), South Terrace (Open-GA), Tower Terrace (As needed GA, Sec. 37-42), Tower Terrace Wheelchair (Open-GA), Wheelchair Accessible (Inside-Open GA), Backstretch Mounds (Open-GA), Backstretch Family Mounds (Open-GA), Turn 2 Mounds (Open-GA), Turn 3 Mounds (Open-GA), Gasoline Alley Roof (Open-GA)

MUSEUM HOURS: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for fans 6-15 years old, with children under 6 free. Gate admission to the Indianapolis 500 is not included in Museum admission and must be purchased separately.

Ed Carpenter will start from the pole of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race for the second year in a row. The 33-car field is the fastest in Indianapolis 500 history (229.382 mph), breaking the previous record of 228.648 mph set in 2002.

The owner/driver of the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet was the final qualifier May 18 and recorded a four-lap average of 231.067 mph to bump James Hinchcliffe from the top spot and claim the $100,000 Verizon P1 Award for the 98th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

Carpenter is the 11th driver to earn back-to-back poles for the Indianapolis 500 — the most recent Helio Castroneves in 2009-10. Carpenter’s four-lap average was the fastest since 2003, when Castroneves won the pole (231.725 mph) and was the race runner-up. Carpenter earned the Verizon P1 Award last May with a four-lap average speed of 228.762 mph.

“It’s awesome to do this two years in a row; I was surprised last year and didn’t expect to do it this year with such deep competition. It’s exciting, but after going through this last year and not winning the race I’ve been so much more determined,” said Carpenter, who led 37 laps but finished 10th. “Now it’s all about the race, and we want to close the deal.”

The Fast Nine Shootout closed two intriguing days of qualifications under a new format that set the field May 17 and determined starting positions May 18.

Juan Pablo Montoya recorded a four-lap average of 231.007 mph average in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske car to lead the qualifiers for positions 10-33. He’ll be on Row 4 with reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon (230.928 mph average) in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car and first-year competitor Kurt Busch (230.027) in the No. 26 Suretone car for Andretti Autosport.

Six of those 24 qualifiers registered four-lap averages above 230 mph, and all but four bettered their average speed from Round 1. Row 11 features the youngest – 19-year-old Sage Karam – and oldest – 46-year-old Buddy Lazier – alongside Sebastian Saavedra, who will be 24 on June 2.

The difference in time between Carpenter and Lazier (2.1509 seconds) is the closest field by time in the history of the Indianapolis 500. The previous closest was 2.5399 seconds in 2011. The difference in speed between Carpenter and Lazier (3.147 mph) is the second-closest field by speed in the history of the race. The closest was 3.130 mph in 1953.

Hinchcliffe, who eight days earlier suffered a concussion in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and was cleared to drive May 15, registered a fast lap of 231.618 mph on his first lap in the session and averaged 230.839 mph in the No. 27 United Fiber & Data car. Will Power (230.697 average) will start on the outside of Row 1 — his second front-row start.

Castroneves, seeking his fourth Indy 500 victory, recorded the fastest qualifying lap of the two days (231.671) in the Fast Nine Shootout in the No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske car. Simon Pagenaud (230.614) and Marco Andretti (230.544), who qualified third last year, will join Castroneves on Row 2.

Carlos Munoz, who started and finished second last year as a rookie, qualified on the inside of Row 3 (230.146) in the No. 34 Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM car. Josef Newgarden, in his third season with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, qualified eighth (229.893) and JR Hildebrand (228.726), the 2011 race runner-up as a rookie and the first qualifier in this session, qualified ninth.

SOURCE: INDYCAR