IndyCar fans left divided on Donald Trump's potential visit to the Indy 500 this season

Donald Trump is likely to attend the 2025 Indianapolis 500 event, and his potential appearance has divided opinions among IndyCar fans. The U.S. President was recently handed an open invitation to the racing spectacle by Roger Penske.

The 88-year-old, who serves as the chairperson of the Penske Entertainment Corporation—the body that runs the IndyCar racing series—handed President Trump an invite to the 2025 edition of the Indy 500 race during his and Team Penske’s recent visit to the White House.

Trump, who recently attended the NASCAR Daytona 500, appeared pleased with the invite, as seen in the video shared to X (formerly Twitter) by Fox59 anchor Max Lewis.

This gesture by the Penske chairman has since sparked mixed reactions among fans, prompting IndyCar expert Tony Donohue to raise the question on X about how fans feel on this development.

“How do you feel about the current president attending this year’s #Indy500?”

Reactions to the invitation ranged from enthusiastic support to strong disapproval among fans.

One fan, who wasn’t too pleased with the president attending the race, commented:

“I will skip the race and not even sell the tickets. Catch me at work or home. Is nothing sacred!?”

Another fan, who wasn’t having it, wrote under the post:

“No. Please, for the love of God, keep all politics out of motorsports. I’d say that whoever was in office.”

One user wrote about the potential issues due to heavy security:

"I'll think about staying home, not about politics, but the headaches of security... I don't need to spend two hours getting in and 4 hours getting out. The photos from Daytona were awful."

A few fans, though, were indeed pleased with the development, and they also shared their excitement in the comments.

One excited fan simply wrote:

“LOVE IT👊🏽”

Another ecstatic fan also commented:

“It would be the most exciting race ever.”

Indeed, the upcoming Indy 500 race is expected to be truly exciting, and the stacked field of entrants for the race, if it’s anything to go by, could see it become one of the most thrilling IndyCar races in recent years. The 2025 Indy 500 is set to be held between May 23 and 25.

Kyle Larson speaks on IndyCar cockpit ahead of Indy 500 race

Kyle Larson during the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Kyle Larson recently highlighted the unique nature of the IndyCar cockpit. The 32-year-old is set to race again in the open-wheel racing series at the upcoming Indy 500 event.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion detailed how enclosed the cockpit of the IndyCar appears and how it is largely distinct from that in stock car racing. Speaking on the Dirty Mo Media podcast with Dale Earnhardt Jr., the Hendrick Motorsports driver stated:

“I mean, obviously the cockpit’s way narrower. I mean, you're just—you're sitting in there, and I didn’t really feel like you're laying down as much as I thought you would feel, but your legs and all that are, like, together."

"Not that that's uncomfortable or anything—it’s just different. Somebody's buckling you in because you can't really—like, you can't move your arms and stuff the way you need to, so somebody’s buckling you in every time,” he added (36:22 onward).

The California-born driver is one of the returning entrants into the 2025 Indy 500 event. Larson previously took part in the 2024 edition of the race with Arrow McLaren, where he could only muster an 18th-place finish after qualifying fifth for the racing spectacle.