THE REPORTER
Hoosier Olympian Lilly King will ride in the Fastest Seat in Sports at the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 13, leading the full field of drivers to the green flag of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES road course race.
King is a breaststroke swimming specialist, who has been one of Team USA’s most consistent performers since 2016.
She won the women’s Olympic 100-meter breaststroke title at the Rio 2016 Olympics before teaming up with Kathleen Baker, Dana Vollmer and Simone Manuel to deliver the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay gold medal.
A year later, King landed the 100-meter breaststroke world title in a world record time of 1:04:13.
At the 2019 World Championships, she defended that crown, added the 50-meter world title and helped Team USA break the 4×100-meter medley relay world record.
King demonstrated her versatility at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, winning the 100-meter breaststroke bronze before moving up a distance to claim the 200-meter breaststroke silver medal. She went on to land the 200-meter world title in 2022.
To date, the Evansville swimmer has won five long-course world titles across the 50-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events.
“Lilly knows speed, but there’s nothing like the action-packed and exhilarating NTT INDYCAR SERIES experience at IMS,” said Alex Damron, Penske Entertainment Corp. vice president of corporate communications. “We’re honored to give her one of the best seats in town and a first-hand look at what it’s like to tackle the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course at IMS.”
INDYCAR’s Fastest Seat in Sports is a high-speed, high-octane, super-charged thrill ride in a custom INDYCAR SERIES car with a special back passenger seat. At almost every race on the schedule, the car advances the field of drivers to the start/finish line to signify the beginning of the race, with a special passenger in the guest seat. Previous participants in the Fastest Seat in Sports include Lady Gaga, NBA champions Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard, Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, actors Simu Liu and Channing Tatum, and many others.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES represents the ultimate challenge in racing, with drivers competing at speeds of 200+ mph across a demanding set of ovals and road and street courses. The full schedule can be viewed here.