SPEEDWAY, Ind. — A sure sign of spring in Indianapolis, thousands of blue envelopes were mailed out from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Wednesday.
The envelopes hold tickets to this May's Indianapolis 500.
"It's a big deal for us here. I know it's a big deal for our fans," said IMS President Doug Boles.
Boles and the IMS staff got some help with the massive mailing this year from Arrow McLaren drivers Pato O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist, who signed some of the envelopes as an extra surprise for race fans.
"I can't wait. I'm ready for race day," O'Ward said. "I'm glad that I came to do this, because I had no idea what the whole process of it was. It's really cool that it's very...I don't know how to...I mean, it's not digital. Human hands."
In all, more than 25,000 envelopes were sent to 50 states and 35 countries, including the United States.
"It's insane. It yells tradition and Indy 500 is all about tradition, so I think this is really cool," said O'Ward, who was named Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year for his sixth-place finish in 2020.
"Getting that envelope is a big deal and it really is the start of the countdown," Boles said. "And I look forward to getting my blue envelope every year, as well. I'm a ticketholder, I've got eight tickets in there, too, so a lot of us here at the Speedway can't wait to get our tickets, as well."
Even though the tickets went out in the mail Wednesday, it may take a while to end up in your mailbox.
"It's going to take a couple weeks for all of these to filter through, so don't panic if you don't get it until sometime next week or the week after," Boles said.
As is tradition, the previous year's winner's photo is on the Indy 500 tickets. This year, it's Marcus Ericsson, who held off O'Ward to win last year's race. But the Mexican driver is gearing up to take another shot at history.
"We're going to have another opportunity in a couple months, so we're ready," O'Ward said.
The 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for Sunday, May 28, 2023.