Sports

Caitlin Clark Details How ‘Nervous' She Was to Deliver Command at Indy 500

By Madison Williams Sports Illustrated

Caitlin Clark is anything but a shy person. She comes off as a stone-cold competitor on the basketball court, and her confidence exudes off of her on and off the court.

However, when the Fever star stepped up to the podium during Sunday's Indianapolis 500 to fulfill her role as this year's grand marshal, you could tell Clark was battling some nerves. She still did a spectacular job at delivering four of the most famous words in all of racing: "Drivers, to your cars."

There seemed to be a little delay in Clark giving the command after she was announced on the broadcast, and she explained on Tuesday to media that the person who was supposed to give her the signal to speak didn't. So, she just spoke when she felt like it was time-handled like a true professional.

"Well, they had me standing there for a very long time, so I was like getting nervous," Clark said. "They told me that the guy was going to say ‘And here to give the command,' and then he never said that so I was awkwardly kind of waiting for a second. I was like ‘You know what, whatever. I'm just going to go for it. They can adjust.' And it turned out fine."

Clark being nervous was a feeling she isn't always used to, especially when talking to a crowd, but being at the biggest sporting event in the world can definitely change what's normal, even for one of the most famous athletes in the country.

"It turned out well, I was definitely a little nervous," Clark continued. "I'm usually not nervous when there's a microphone in my face, but when you get in front of 300,000 people and on live television, that's a lot. I didn't want to mess up my four words, so. But, it was still super cool."

Despite the nerves, Clark still had a blast experiencing "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing," which happened to be the first time she attended the Indy 500. She crossed it off her "Indianapolis bucket list" by being named the race's grand marshal.

Clark admitted that she wasn't a big fan of racing heading into Sunday's event, but she really enjoyed watching Sweden's Felix Rosenqvist win the title in the closest margin of victory in race history (0.0233 seconds) over David Malukas. She left the all-day event early, but watched the thrilling ending at home.

"[It was] really cool. Obviously a really cool finish too down the stretch," Clark said, via The Athletic's James Boyd. "I'm not huge into racing, I'm still learning about it. I left before the race was over, but I was watching at home on TV, and I was screaming at the TV. It's pretty fun and pretty cool."

Motorsports may have gained a new fan in Clark. What an awesome experience.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Caitlin Clark Details How ‘Nervous' She Was to Deliver Command at Indy 500.

Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 5:16 PM.

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