Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO on Indy 500 security concerns after Manchester attack
Officials say the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be close to capacity for Sunday's 101st running of the Indianapolis 500. “The infield won’t be completely full, but it’s certainly going to be 300,000 or so," said Mark Miles, CEO of the speedway's parent company, Hulman. "It’s actually the biggest annual sporting event every year measured by attendance and this year will be no exception.”
Coming just days after the terrorist attack on an arena in Manchester, England, security will be a key concern--especially with Vice President Mike Pence planning to attend. “I think he’s been to something like 29 consecutive races so he’s an Indy car fan and a big supporter of this race," Miles told the FOX Business Network. "We’d be disappointed if he wasn’t here. I think he’ll probably keep a pretty low profile, he’s a race fan, he wants to watch the race.”
Alexander Rossi, who won last year's Indy 500, says the race remains thrilling because it's tough to know who's going to win. “This is a pretty unique race in the sense that it’s almost impossible to predict how it’s going to go and how you need to approach it from a strategy standpoint," he said.
While the race can't be predicted, Miles says he hopes security can--with years of studying stadium attacks, including the bombing of the arena in Manchester.
“I think the world changed a long time ago, before this guy [Alexander Rossi] was born," said Miles. "With the Munich Olympics. And since then the law enforcement community of organizers of big events have gotten better and better and better. There’s probably going to be a little more of what we always do and there’s great cooperation between federal officials, state and local officials, we expect a good day.”