Indianapolis 500 postponed
The Indianapolis 500 was postponed Thursday until August because of the coronavirus pandemic and won’t run on Memorial Day weekend for the first time since 1946.
The race will instead be held Aug. 23, three months later than its May 24 scheduled date.
“The month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is my favorite time of year, and like our fans, I am disappointed that we have had to reschedule the Indianapolis 500,” said Roger Penske, the motorsports titan who finalized his purchase of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this year.
“However, the health and safety of our event participants and spectators is our top priority, and we believe that postponing the event is the responsible decision with the conditions and restrictions we are facing,“he said. “We will continue to focus on ways we can enhance the customer experience in the months ahead, and I’m confident we will welcome fans with a transformed facility and a global spectacle when we run the world’s greatest race.”
The Indianapolis 500 began in 1911 but did not run in 1917, 1918 and from 1941-45 because of World Wars I and II. Tony Hulman bought the neglected speedway after the second war and the Indy 500 returned on Memorial Day weekend in 1946.
“Running the Indianapolis 500 in August is something I never experienced before, but all I can say is it will still be the Indy 500,” four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt, 85, said in a statement through A.J. Foyt Racing in Waller. “I never thought we’d see it like this, but all of the sports field has been affected — the Olympics, the Kentucky Derby, Le Mans, so we’re not the only ones affected by this — we’re just one of them.”
“I’m just glad that we will be able to race. IndyCar is trying to do the best they can for the fans and the competitors so I give them a lot of credit. It’s a shame Roger (Penske) has to go through this in his first year of owning Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but you couldn’t have a better man in charge.”
Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said the series chose the August date to get away from extended delays caused by the coronavirus shutdown. The series did not choose Labor Day weekend out of fear of disrupting fans’ traditional plans.
WNBA to hold ‘virtual’ draft
The WNBA plans to hold its draft as scheduled in April, using video conferencing in hopes of re-creating the moment so many athletes say they dream about: when a league commissioner hands them a jersey and their professional lives begin.
“We want to make sure that the players who are the draftees get their moment in the limelight,” the WNBA’s commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, said in a phone interview from her New Jersey home, where she has worked remotely for nearly two weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The draft is scheduled to be televised on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. Eastern time on April 17.
Illinois-Chicago hires Yaklich
Illinois-Chicago hired former Texas and Michigan assistant Luke Yaklich as men’s basketball coach.
The 43-year-old Yaklich spent two years on John Beilein’s staff at Michigan, overseeing the defense as the Wolverines reached the 2018 NCAA championship game. Yaklich became associate head coach under Shaka Smart at Texas last season.
Yaklich replaces Steve McClain, who was fired two weeks ago after leading UIC to a 76-93 record in five seasons. …
University of Texas football great Terry Tausch passed away Wednesday night at his home in Plano. Tausch was a four-year letterman (197881) for the Longhorns, earned All-America honors in 1980 and 1981, and was inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in 2001. He was 61 years old.
An offensive tackle, Tausch played seven seasons with the Vikings from 1982-88, starting 68 of 81 games in which he played. He played his final NFL season with the 49ers in 1989, helping the franchise win Super Bowl XXIV. …
Former Braves owner Bill Bartholomay, who moved the franchise from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966, has died. He was 91.
Braves Hall of Famer Hank Aaron said on his Twitter account Bartholomay “was the greatest owner I ever had the pleasure to play for. He understood the game of baseball more than so many others. I’ve known him for a long time and he’s helped me in more ways than you can imagine. I will surely miss my friend.”
Bartholomay headed the group that sold the Braves to Ted Turner in 1976 but retained a partial interest and remained as the team’s chairman until November 2003, when he assumed an emeritus role.