INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Before coming to Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, Austin Pettijohn dressed appropriately — checkered flag shorts and an Indiana Pacers jersey.
For the 32-year-old from nearby Franklin, Indiana, it just meshed as it did with so many others in this colorful race-day crowd.
As more than a dozen planes carrying advertising banners flew above Indianapolis Motor Speedway while the sounds and smells of the track wafted through the infield, blue-and-gold jerseys and other Pacers regalia seemed every bit as popular as the driver T-shirts that typically dot Pagoda Plaza…