Josef Newgarden, IMS President Doug Boles surprise fans in Nashville with Indy 500 tickets

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Indy 500 fans in the Music City got a special surprise when back-to-back Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden and INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles made some house calls with those coveted blue envelopes. 

The day started with the ticket for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 being unveiled at the Indianapolis International Airport.

Newgarden is pictured twice on the ticket, both photos taken after his Indy 500 wins in 2023 and 2024, as he celebrates with fists clenched in a strikingly similar pose. 

The ticket also pays homage to the back-to-back Indy 500 winners to come before Newgarden.

Following the unveiling, Boles and Newgarden passed through TSA and headed for gate B24. Thursday marked the first direct Southwest flight from Indianapolis to Nashville, Newgarden’s hometown. FOX59 and CBS4 reporter Eric Graves was the only reporter to join the INDYCAR crew as they spread the Indy 500 message to Tennessee. 

The passengers of the nearly sold out flight showed up to their gate and found Boles and Newgarden running the show, both making announcements over the intercom.

Newgarden scanned dozens of passengers on board and made sure each got an autograph trading card with Newgarden on one side and a Southwest boarding pass on the other. 

In fact, Newgarden was the last to board the packed but quick flight. Less than an hour after takeoff, we touched down in the Music City. 

From the airport, Newgarden, Boles and crew headed into the city to deliver the very first tickets to the 109th running of the Indy 500. 

”These are the very first people getting their tickets,” Boles said on the way to the first home. “So the normal folks like me and my parents and everyone else we’ll get our blue envelopes sometime after next week.”

The first stop was at Jack’s house, he walked out to his front lawn to find Newgarden and Boles getting out of an entourage of IMS vehicles. 

Jack is a longtime Indy 500 fan, whose tickets have been passed down generations. 

”My family has gone since the late 60s,” Jack said. “They were there for Andretti when he won in 69.”

Jack had some family and close friends on hand to meet Newgarden, all of them hoping to see Newgarden make history with a third Indy 500 win in a row. 

”On your third [Indy 500 win] can you pass on the last lap too?” asked Jack. 

Newgarden and crew dropped off some IMS swag, signed some autographs and moved on to the next stop. 

Just a few minutes drive through Nashville, the group of INDYCAR enthusiasts found the next Indy 500 house. 

Sisters Sarah Rau and Katherine Liles, along with their mother Carolyn Rau, have been going to the 500 for years. It’s tradition started by their father William. Sarah said it was his favorite thing in the world, especially when they all went together. 

”He went with his dad and then he went with mom when they were dating and then he took all of us when we were growing up,” Sarah said.

Newgarden hand delivered the blue envelope with Sarah’s Indianapolis 500 tickets tucked inside, something new for the champ.

”I have never gotten to do this,” Newgarden said. “Doug always gets to do this, so this is special for me. This is the first one.”

As Sarah opened her blue envelope, she said the moment was just like Christmas, and something her dad would have loved to be here for. 

”He was in the hospital and got sick suddenly and made me promise I would still go to the race,” Sarah said. “So, the day I was on my way to the race he passed away. I was actually at the track the day he passed.”

The Rau and Lilles family are happy to carry on the tradition that started with their father. 

”That’s part of what makes it special is those emotional connections and the memories,” Boles said. “Something that people just bond around.”

Newgarden gave the family their very own bottle of milk, but had some good advice.

”This is obviously just like the traditional milk bottle the winner will drink, but it will be shelf stable so do not drink this,” Newgarden said.

The final stop of the whirlwind day brought Newgarden, Boles and company to Big Machine Distillery and Tavern in Nashville for a party with more than 150 local Indy 500 fans.

Newgarden and Boles spoke to the crowd, a majority of them cheering their hometown hero on.

The Borg Warner Trophy was also in attendance, as Newgarden sets his sights on putting his bust on the trophy for a third year in a row. 

”We’ll see how it goes,” Newgarden said. “But I promise you, I am going to be trying very, very hard to win this race.”

For those looking forward to getting their own blue envelope filled with Indy 500 tickets, Boles said those will start going out in mid-March.