Indy 500: Marco Andretti announces new partnership for 2021

Marco Andretti discussed a new partnership in which he is involved through MTN DEW to give back to the community ahead of this year’s Indy 500.

Marco Andretti is set to make another run at the Borg-Warner Trophy at the end of this month in the 105th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — and for the first time, as a part-time IndyCar driver.

Andretti, who stepped away from his full-time driver role after the 2020 season, is set to be back behind the wheel of the #98 Honda for this year’s 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) oval in Speedway, Indiana with primary sponsorship from Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana.

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But before he makes his 16th Indy 500 start, he is taking part in an initiative with MTN DEW to give back to the community.

MTN DEW, the official sponsor of the Indy 500, is calling on racing fans to join Project Green Means Go to help raise money for Gleaners.

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Project Green Means Go is a massive, fan-inspired Indy 500 green flag installation at Celebration Plaza in White River State Park that is scheduled to take place during Memorial Day Weekend ahead of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

The flags will spotlight 500 fan-submitted messages of hope and support for the city of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis community to celebrate the city’s resilience and perseverance through a difficult 2020.

Andretti spoke to us about this initiative and how he is involved.

“Basically, you go to www.mtndewgreenmeansgo.com and you submit your name and a message of hope for the community,” Andretti told Beyond the Flag. “As we know, it’s been a tough year for everybody, not just Indianapolis. And every time you do that, it unlocks a $40 donation to the Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana and their No One Runs on Empty campaign; they’re my primary sponsor for the Indy 500. [They do] a bunch of amazing things for the community, and all the messages will be displayed on flags in downtown Indianapolis, which is a pretty cool deal.”

This partnership is a new one for the 34-year-old Nazareth, Pennsylvania native, and he is hoping to make the most of it.

“It’s new this year. It basically came up actually through my agency and sports management network,” he explained. “I jumped all over it. They want to do a lot of activation and obviously the no-brainer tie-in was with Gleaners and their donations that they’re able to do for them. Just all good things, and hopefully we can show up and be fast for Gleaners as well and get as much recognition for great causes.”

You can submit messages through the link Andretti provided above. They should be limited to 60 characters and may include your love for the city and what about it inspired you through the past year.

But this isn’t the only initiative in which Andretti is slated to be involved through the partnership this year.

“We filmed a thing at the speedway, which I think will debut here pretty soon,” he said. “We were at the speedway going around on a golf cart; a golf cart at 14 miles per hour is a little bit slower at Indy than I’m used to! But it was good fun; we had some funny moments. So they’ll be playing cool videos like that.”

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NBC is set to broadcast the 105th running of the Indy 500 live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 30.