Indy 500: Will ‘Back Home Again in Indiana’ be sung in 2020?

One of the the Indy 500’s greatest traditions is set to live on in 2020 despite the fact that the race was not held in May as initially scheduled.

The year 2020 has brought to an end many traditions and prevented many annual events from taking place, and while the 104th running of the Indy 500 was not altogether canceled, it was postponed from its usual date of Memorial Day Sunday to Sunday, August 23.

Many traditions surrounding the event itself, which has never been held outside of the month of May, had to be canceled for this year, most notably the simple tradition that we almost always take for granted but have learned not to this year: fans being in the grandstands.

But one tradition that many Indy 500 fans hold dear is set to live on for another year.

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The pre-race ceremonies for the race typically include driver introductions, the Military March, the singing of “God Bless America”, the Military Address, the invocation and the Presentation of Colors.

Others include the sounding of “Taps”, the singing of “America The Beautiful”, the Veteran Salute, the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner”, the flyover, the singing of “Back Home Again in Indiana”, and the “Drivers Start Your Engines” command.  While not all of those ceremonies have been explicitly confirmed for this year, a number of them are expected to return to the Brickyard despite the delay of several months.

The singing of “Back Home Again in Indiana”, the song which has been sung prior to the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” dating back to 1946, is among those that are slated to return.

Jim Cornelison, the Indiana University alum who is known for singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Chicago Blackhawks NHL games, has performed the song every year since 2017 and has seemingly become the heir to the beloved Jim Nabors as the annual performer. Nabors performed the song in all but a few years from 1972 to 2014.

Cornelison confirmed on Twitter that he will sing it again this year.

Tune in to NBC at 1:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the 104th running of the Indy 500 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race is scheduled to get underway at 2:30 p.m. ET, and the singing of “Back Home Again in Indiana” is expected to begin at roughly 2:22 p.m. ET.