INDIANAPOLIS – Academy Award-winning actors Matt Damon and Christian Bale will serve as honorary starters for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
Damon and Bale will wave the green flag to start The Greatest Spectacle in Racing on May 26 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Damon and Bale are starring in the upcoming film “Ford v. Ferrari” from 20th Century Fox, the remarkable true story of visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and the British driver Ken Miles (Bale).
Together, the duo battled corporate interference, the laws of physics and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.
“The Indianapolis 500 is the largest single-day sporting event on Earth, so it’s fitting that global icons Matt Damon and Christian Bale will be in the flag stand on May 26 to send the field of 33 cars charging toward Turn 1,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. “Matt and Christian are used to performing in the brightest spotlight so we know they will enjoy this special role at the world’s greatest race.”
The motion picture, directed by James Mangold, is scheduled for release Nov. 15 by The Walt Disney Studios. The cast also includes Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Reno Girone and Ray McKinnon.