New IndyCar President and drivers make heartwarming visit to Children's Hospital on Valentine's Day

New IndyCar President Doug Boles and some of the series' young drivers spread Valentine's Day cheer at the Riley Hospital for Children on Friday. This heartwarming visit was a part of the racing series' being only "100 Days Out" to the 109th running of the Indy 500 on May 25.

The IndyCar drivers in attendance were Arrow Mclaren's Nolan Siegel, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie Louis Foster, PREMA's Callum Ilott, and veteran Jack Harvey of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Firestone Firehawk, the mascot of Firestone, which is the series' tire supplier was also there. The official Instagram account of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway posted a series of stories capturing the drivers' interaction with the children.

Ilott and Boles were seen making slime alongside the kids, while Harvey and Foster raced remote-controlled cars on an improvised oval circuit indoors. Boles shared a video message from his time there as part of the Indy 500 countdown. He said:

"Hey race fans, we are a 100 days from the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500. We're downtown at Riley's Children's Hospital with a bunch of kids here and families, with IndyCar drivers and a lot of our staff, just celebrating that. We're trying to take some of the joy that we have as we lead into the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 and passing it on to these kids. There are all kinds of great activities here at the Riley's kids zone. So we're making slime, we're coloring, we're doing race cars. It's been a lot of fun."

The IndyCar and IMS President emphasized how the children needed the smiles and the upliftment of spirit that the racing drivers brought. Nolan Siegel also shared a short message about having a "great time" interacting and playing with the children.

When 16 IndyCar and Indy Lights drivers surprised the children at Riley's Hospital

NTT IndyCar Series GMR Grand Prix - Source: Getty

After the first practice of the 2019 Indy 500, 16 IndyCar and Indy Lights (now Indy NXT) drivers made their way to the Riley Hospital for Children in their race suits. Some big names among them were Josef Newgarden, Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Pato O'Ward, and Simon Pagenaud.

The interactions with the children made some drivers emotional. Two-time champ Will Power, whose son Beau was only three back then, said via IndyCar:

"I love kids. I think when you have your own, you have a whole new appreciation and you just understand the love you have for your kid. So whenever you see kids now, your heart breaks for kids that have it tough."

"It just truly does because you know how badly it would hurt you to see your own child suffering in some way with the health issue or even the way they're treated at home. You just can't imagine when you were a little kid to be in this situation, so the absolute least we can do is come here and see these kids," he added.

Incidentally, the winner of that year's Indy 500 was one of those 16 drivers - Simon Pagenaud. Moreover, the driver who won the championship that year was also among them - Josef Newgarden.

Newgarden goes into 2025 as the defending Indy 500 winner and is shooting for an unprecedented third consecutive victory at the "Greatest Spectacle of Racing".