Pacers and Racers: Indianapolis set for epic sports Sunday

Start your engines, Indianapolis sports fans.

The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend always is reserved for ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ in Indy.

But this year, the Brickyard will share the spotlight with the hardwood on a sensational sporting Sunday.

The Indianapolis 500 will be followed hours later by Game 3 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks.

Indy is going a bit hoops crazy after the Pacers won both games in New York to put the team just two wins away from making its second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.

Meanwhile, the grandstands are sold out at the Indy 500 for the first time since 2016 and close to 350,000 fans are expected at the race.

“Everybody knows the Indy 500 is on the same day, so we’ll have some rowdy fans, maybe a little intoxicated,” Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton told TNT following Friday’s Game 2 win, per the Indianapolis Star. “Who knows how it’ll get out there. You know, it’ll be a lot of fun, I think they call it ‘Pacers and Racers,’ you know it’ll be my first time experiencing it. It’ll be a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to it.”

It marks the fourth ‘Pacers and Racers’ Day in Indy history, with the NBA team losing on the past three occasions.

There will be Canadian content in both events.

Toronto’s Devlin DeFrancesco starts 16th on the Brickyard grid, while the Pacers’ roster includes Andrew Nembhard of Aurora, Ont., and Montreal’s Bennedict Mathurin.

What started as a sombre sports week in Indianapolis following the death of Colts owner Jim Irsay has turned into one of the most memorable stretches in recent memory.

Irsay’s daughter, Casey Foyt, will wave the green flag at the Indy 500.

As if all this isn’t enough, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever host the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty on Saturday.