INDIANAPOLIS - Vice President Mike Pence, the former Gov. of Indiana, will be “back home again” this weekend for the Indianapolis 500.
The slight difference, of course, is that his main residence is now in Washington, D.C. since the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January.
Pence is a longtime fan and visitor of the race, so while he confirmed he’ll attend on Thursday, it will not be in any official capacity.
“The Vice President is a Hoosier, grew up here, and tweeted some photos. He will be here as a fan. There will be no official role for him at the Indianapolis 500,” said Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles on Thursday.
Going to the #Indy500 has been a Pence tradition for decades. Karen & I look forward to being at @IMS for the 101st running this Sunday. pic.twitter.com/Ao2c0lGjrO
— Vice President Mike Pence Archived (@VP45) May 25, 2017
Rumors percolated on Wednesday he’d be in attendance. On Wednesday, Boles said IMS was in the process of preparing for Pence’s arrival from security and operational protocols.
“We have heard, as have all of you, that there is a possibility the Vice President of United States,” Boles said Wednesday. “We are not in position yet to confirm or deny yet; however I can tell you we are preparing for it. As soon as we know, we hope to know by end of the day tomorrow, we’ll have another one of these briefings.”
Indeed they have on Thursday. The only major change announced was that there will be no pedestrian traffic at Gate 4.
“The Turn 2 suites, just South of those suites is what we call Gate 4. Gate 4 will be closed to pedestrian traffic beginning tomorrow,” Boles said.
