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Doug Boles
IMS President Boles Turns Laps at Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational

Perhaps no one has taken more laps on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course than president Doug Boles. But many of those have come in Chevrolet passenger cars and trucks, examining the 2.439-mile course as it was refurbished two years ago and has been constantly maintained since.

On Thursday, he got to enjoy it as a racer, driving a Formula BMW at the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association’s Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational. More than 500 cars from a century of racing across the world are at IMS for the four-day event, and when Boles got an invitation to take a seat in one of them, he couldn’t resist.

“It’s really fun, in a great way,” Boles said after his 25-minute afternoon session. “It’s kind of cool; we spent so much time in the last year and a half building the racetrack and putting so many miles on the Tahoes, Corvettes and Camaros, so to see it from sitting on the track at that (racer’s) vantage point is pretty great.”

Boles is driving for car owner Alan Lewis, an Indianapolis businessman who helped advance racing seat technology and now has a stable of vintage rides that he takes to various SVRA events. The two connected last month at the Indianapolis 500 Victory Banquet, when Lewis offered Boles a seat in one of his cars and Boles responded not with a handshake, but a hug.

“Years ago when I first moved here and first started racing, I raced out at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Doug was racing,” Lewis said. “He went flying past me, so I always knew he was a racer, but I knew he didn’t get a chance to race much. Once you’re a racer, you’re always one.”

Shortly after the banquet, Lewis had a set of new Formula BMW tires delivered to the INDYCAR offices with Boles’ name on it, and the owner-driver relationship was sealed.

Boles drove on Thursday with a helmet worn in 2012 by his stepson, Conor Daly, and a 2007 Panasonic-branded firesuit from Panther Racing, in which Boles had an ownership stake.

In 2007, Panasonic sponsored Panther’s second car driven by Kosuke Matsuura, offering a nice piece of synergy today for Boles considering Panasonic’s spearheading of a comprehensive LED display solutions upgrade throughout IMS.

Tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday’s action at the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational are for sale on IMS.com and the Speedway box office.

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