Robert Wickens. [credit Andy Clary / Spacesuit Media]
IMS Museum Spring 2020 ‘Distinguished Speaker Series’ Features Carpenter, Daly, Wickens, Rutherford – Reserve Your Seats Now!
INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020 – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum’s Spring 2020 Distinguished Speaker Series will showcase some of the most popular and compelling personalities in INDYCAR racing.
Hometown heroes Ed Carpenter and Conor Daly, Canadian driving star and global inspiration Robert Wickens (along with IMS President J. Douglas Boles as guest emcee), and the legendary Johnny Rutherford will headline three Distinguished Speaker Series evening events at the IMS Museum on the following dates:
•Wednesday, March 4, “An Evening with Ed Carpenter and Conor Daly,” with IMS Historian Donald Davidson serving as emcee. •Wednesday, April 1, “An Evening with Robert Wickens,” with Boles as guest emcee.
•Wednesday, May 20, “An Evening with Johnny Rutherford,” with 2019 IMS Hall of Fame inductee and longtime motorsports broadcaster Bob Jenkins as emcee.
Each IMS Museum Distinguished Speaker Series event is a unique and unforgettable opportunity for guests to hear from the most compelling legends, competitors and influencers in motorsports, and enjoy a question-and-answer session and autograph opportunity.
Carpenter has called Indianapolis home since his youth and graduated from Butler University, but he’s earned his popularity among fans by capturing the Indianapolis 500 pole three times (2013, 2014, 2018), and he finished second to Will Power in 2018 and sixth in 2019.
Daly has made six “500” starts since 2013 and had his most successful month of May to date in 2019, posting his career-bests by starting 11th and finishing 10th. Like his father, former Formula One driver and Indy 500 veteran Derek Daly, Conor spent several years driving formula series in Europe, but he calls Noblesville, Indiana, home and resides in the area.
Wickens, a native of Guelph, Ontario, came to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2018 with years of racing experience, including German touring cars, GP3 and FIA Formula 2. He qualified 18th and finished ninth at the 2018 Indianapolis 500, earning race rookie honors, which he also earned for the series.
At the 14th race of the season at Pocono Raceway, however, Wickens was involved in a serious crash that left him with a bruised spine. He has become an incredible inspiration globally as he works toward the goal of walking under his own power and perhaps racing again.
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rutherford, born in Kansas but affectionately known as “Lone Star J.R.” for his longtime ties to Texas, won “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in 1974 and 1976 with McLaren, and in 1980 driving team owner Jim Hall’s Pennzoil Chaparral. Rutherford was a journeyman driver-turned star later in his Indianapolis 500 career, and he has remained one of INDYCAR racing’s greatest ambassadors after retirement.
Learn more about Rutherford’s journey – as well as that of Wickens, Daly and Carpenter – at these can’t-miss events!
Tickets are $60 per event for IMS Museum members and $75 for non-members. A special offer for IMS Museum members now through March 3: you will save an additional $30 by purchasing tickets for all three events for $150! Guests will enjoy hors d’oeuvres, and a cash bar will be available. The Museum thanks our series sponsors J-Cut Video and Main Event Sound & Lighting. Look for news on a new Distinguished Speaker Series sponsor very soon.
To maintain the exclusivity of each Distinguished Speaker Series event, seating is limited so purchase your tickets soon to hear from these incredible ambassadors of IMS and NTT INDYCAR SERIES racing!
For tickets, please contact Kelly Hartman at 317-492-6568 or [email protected]. IMS Museum memberships start at just $75 per year and offer numerous, year-round benefits. For information, contact Hartman or visit the Museum’s website at www.indyracingmuseum.org/join-and-give/membership/.
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About the IMS Museum: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is home to one of the world’s premier motorsports and automobile collections, with interpretive emphasis on the Indianapolis 500 and its role as an American icon of sporting tradition and innovation.
Located inside the famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, the Museum is open 363 days a year (closed Thanksgiving and Christmas). It is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization which relies on support from admissions, tours, sponsorships, annual memberships and planned-giving for its operations, educational programming, restoration and preservation efforts, and special exhibits and events.
For more information on the IMS Museum, please visit www.indyracingmuseum.org, contact the Museum at 317-492-6784, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
