IndyCar: The American Legion and Chip Ganassi Racing reveal Indianapolis 500 car

In an interesting turn of events, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb got behind the wheel today at the state capitol to drive 2013 Indianapolis 500 Winner Tony Kanaan to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The two joined forces to reveal Chip Ganassi Racing and The American Legion’s No. 1 Honda livery for the 106^th running of the Indianapolis 500.

“The Governor provided me some great tips on how to drive and win,” said Kanaan, who hopes to take home a second title at the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend. “In the past, I have driven with two ones on my car, but this year I am proud to have only one and encourage all Americans to “Be The One” to help The American Legion end veteran suicide.”

L to R: Chip Ganassi, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Kanaan and Gov. Eric Holcomb reveal the No. 1 Be the One Honda from The American Legion which will appear in the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day Weekend.

The eye-catching race car is covered with the words “Be the One,” which will serve as the tagline for the nationwide awareness campaign The American Legion will launch Memorial Day weekend.

“Creating awareness to help end veteran suicide is a cause we can all get behind,” said Chip Ganassi, owner of Chip Ganassi Racing. “When you have that kind of purpose driving you, you fight harder to win, and we want to win for our nation’s veterans.”

Among the goals of the “Be the One” campaign is ending the stigma around veteran suicide which is preventing military members and veterans from asking for help.

“Stigma is real,” said Dean Kessel, chief marketing officer for The American Legion. “We must remove the barriers that are preventing veterans from asking for help and we could not think of a better place to get the message out there than at the greatest race in all of motorsports.”

The American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans service organization, is also an official charity of INDYCAR. They hope to leverage this relationship and engage other important leaders like Governor Holcomb, a veteran of the United States Navy, to get the message out there and their goal across the finish line.

This is the second year that The American Legion and Chip Ganassi Racing have teamed up for the Indianapolis 500. This is Kanaan’s 21^st appearance in the race and he finished 10^th in last year’s 500.