Live from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 27th,was the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500. The world’s most popular race is 500 miles of intense speed and fast-paced action. 33 drivers battled throughout 200 laps around the revered 2.5-mile IMS track, with the 37-year-old Aussie: Will Power the winner (see interview in one of our other TV news segments), racing for Roger Penske (see interview in this featured video news segment) – the Founder & CEO of Team Penske – one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports, celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2016. This year’s Indy 500 race makes 17 Indy 500 victories for Team Penske!
Below photo of the 2018 Indy 500 start with Ed Carpenter leading into turn 1 – ahead of Will Power in Car #12. Will Power is on the extreme left of photo- right on Ed’s tail!
Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Competing in a variety of disciplines, cars owned and prepared by Team Penske have produced 491 major race wins, 558 pole positions and 32 championships. In its 52-year history, the team has also earned 16 Indianapolis 500 victories, two Daytona 500 Championships, a Formula 1 win and overall victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59857987/usa_today_10852443.0.jpg)
Will Power led the final 34 laps Saturday and pulled away for his second straight Indy Car Grand Prix win, giving Team Penske its 200th series win. Power defeated Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing by 2.2443 seconds. Robert Wickens finished third, 8.1621 seconds back. He drives for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. It’s the fourth straight year the pole winner has won, but it sure wasn’t as easy as the other three. In the Below Photos you can see how excited Will Power is right after his victory : 
Our reporter for Entertainment & Sports Today TV: Richard Marcella, is a racing expert, with over 25 years of covering NASCAR, and The Indy 500, and will bring you all the action from right down on the track at The Indy 500 – up close and personal. See this featured news story for video on everything you read in this article ! Richard personally has raced cars over 40 years ago, in car #508- which is now in a car museum in Southern California!
The other big tradition is the kissing of the bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, at the start-finish line, where the drivers, crew chief, owners, family, and the entire crew kneel and kiss the “Yard of Bricks” in honor of the track’s history. This was started by Dale Jarrett and crew chief Todd Parrott, after winning the Brickyard 400 in 1996. On December 14, 1909, workers placed the last of the 3.2 million 10-pound bricks that pave the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana (a town surrounded by the city of Indianapolis). Since then, most of that brick has been buried under asphalt, but one yard remains exposed at the start-finish line, which is the spot where this tradition of the kissing of the bricks has been held since 1996, as in the photo below from 1996, and below that from 2018: 
This year, 36 year old Danica Patrick’s final Indianapolis 500 ended when she lost control of her car and thumped the Turn 2 wall on lap 68- less than halfway into the race. In 2005 Patrick became the first woman to lead a lap at the Indianapolis 500, and she could have become the first woman to win the race had she not been forced to conserve fuel to finish the race, but she still got a 4th place finish at her very first Indy 500 race ! It was an historic sports moment — front-page news.
Her best finish at the Indy 500 was a 3rd place in 2009. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman in an Indy Car Series race. 
In the end roll credits of this video segment you will see 3 BIG INDY 500 Fans who sing “Back Home Again in Indiana” just like the late Jim Nabors did from 1972 to 2014 ! See if who can recognize the man on the left – doesn’t he look like somebody very famous ? Let us know ! Shazam!
This Indy 500 news story, is by sports & racing reporter, and TV Show Host Richard Marcella who as been covering every Indy 500 Championship for over 25 years ! Richard has worked as a TV show host, news reporter, and camera & film tech person, for over 20 years for Entertainment & Sports Today ! For the complete story go to: entertainmentandsportstoday.com, on Facebook & Instagram: @entertainmentandsportstoday , and Youtube.com/entertainmenttodaytv #WillPower @12willpower wins the #Indy500 #indianapolis500 for #TeamPenske @team_penske @DanicaPatrick #DanicaPatrick crashes in her last race! #BackHomeAgainInIndiana #Shazam! #JimNabors
