Start Your Engines!
If you’re from Indiana, you already know that the Indianapolis 500 is a big deal. It’s not called “the greatest spectacle in racing” for nothing! In a normal year, the race happens the Sunday before Memorial Day, capping off a month of activities in Indianapolis and at the Speedway. But we all know 2020 is anything but a normal year.
This year, the race is being run without fans on Sunday, August 23rd. Although our Indianapolis-based Levsters won’t be able to show up in person, we’ve still found a way to be present at one of Indy’s biggest events. For the first time ever, Lev is sponsoring an Indycar driver.
That’s right! Lev is co-sponsoring veteran racer JR Hildebrand, along with Salesforce and a handful of others. JR has a long history with the Indy 500. He ran his first race at the Brickyard in 2011, and this year will be his 10th entry and his third as a member of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
Not only is JR an expert racer, he also has a passion for technology and innovation. In 2014, he founded the JR Hildebrand Education Initiative, which creates new ways to inspire students in STEM subject areas through the lens of motorsports. He also serves as an adjunct lecturer at Stanford University with the School of Engineering and works with their Revs Program focusing on autonomous vehicle research.
As the driver of the Salesforce-sponsored car, he takes being a Trailblazer seriously. This is what being a Trailblazer means in his own words:
“For me, it's being able to understand and block out that fear of failure, or fear of being different. I've made some unlikely or unorthodox decisions at a lot of junctions. I chose to quit playing baseball after being really good at it for a long time, to pursue racing and then bailed on going to MIT to do the same. And as a professional, even in my spare time as a professional driver, I've ended up with a much more diverse array of other things that I focus on outside of the track.”
Lev is thrilled to be partnering with such an accomplished racer, and we can’t wait to see our logo on his car. We hope you’ll join us in cheering on JR in the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500!
You can learn more about JR and follow him on social media at: