The 2025 Indy 500 will, of course, include some of the biggest stars in racing — but it will also feature arguably the most well-known player in NFL history.
This year’s event will include a pre-race role for Tom Brady, the longtime Patriots and Buccaneers quarterback who’s now an NFL in-game analyst for Fox.
At the Indy 500, Brady will be sitting alongside a NASCAR legend, Jimmie Johnson, as they help ceremoniously open “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
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Here’s what to know about Brady’s role at the 2025 Indy 500.
Why is Tom Brady at the Indy 500?
IndyCar often has some kind of ceremony before its biggest races, one of which includes “The Fastest Seat in Sports” — a custom, two-seater Indy car that makes its way around the track before a race. Celebrities often sit in the car, which leads the field before the action gets going.
This year, Brady will be sitting in “The Fastest Seat in Sports.” It will mark the first time since 2019 that the ceremonial car will be driven before the Indianapolis 500.
Brady is set to sit as the passenger in the car as Johnson, a seven-time NASCAR champion who had a two-year stint in IndyCar, drives it before the 2025 Indy 500. Afterward, the two champions of their respective sports are both set to travel to North Carolina for the Coca-Cola 600; that race will mark Johnson’s 700th career NASCAR start.
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“I love the Indy 500. There is an energy and excitement around the 500 that is unlike anything I have experienced before,” Johnson said, per Fox Sports. “Certainly, pre-race ceremonies are the ultimate racing experience that I’ve had outside of the car. I’m thrilled to be a part of the program and to see the stands full one more time. I’m extremely honored to come back and do it and to be able to also share this experience with another seven-time champion.”
A couple of 7-time champions at the #Indy500. pic.twitter.com/UZMhCYWOH0
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 14, 2025
With Fox Sports in its first year as the broadcast partner for IndyCar, it will be putting perhaps it’s most well-known NFL analyst, Brady, in the spotlight of another of its owned properties for a few moments. And Brady isn’t the first former sports star, and current Fox Sports analyst, to participate in “The Fastest Seat in Sports” this year — at the IndyCar season opener, Alex Rodriguez hopped in the car for the ceremony in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Rodriguez, along with Derek Jeter, are also set to be at the 109th Indy 500, creating a trio of sports legends taking place in the ceremonies alongside Brady.
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