IndyCar: Actor Miles Teller To Serve as Indy 500 Honorary Starter

Miles Teller, star of blockbuster action movies and character-driven independent films, will serve as honorary starter for the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, waving the green flag Sunday, May 29 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Teller stars as Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, son of the beloved “Goose,” in Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” with Tom Cruise, the sequel to “Top Gun.” The film will be released nationwide May 27. He also can be seen in the making of “The Godfather” series, “The Offer,” for Paramount+.

“Miles is no stranger to action-packed roles, and waving the green flag for the 33 drivers racing for history will provide him with a similar adrenaline-fueled experience,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. “We’re happy to welcome him to ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ for a day he’ll never forget.”

This summer, Teller will also appear in the science-fiction thriller “Spiderhead,” an adaptation of a George Saunders short story that first was published in The New Yorker and was later included in the author’s book “Tenth of December.”

In 2014, Teller starred opposite JK Simmons in the Sony Pictures Classics critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated drama, “Whiplash.” The hit film received the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance and the Deauville Film Festival, and landed Teller a Best Actor nomination at the 2014 Gotham Awards.

Teller began reaching critical success after starring in the James Ponsoldt film, “The Spectacular Now,” for which he won the Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. He made his feature film debut in 2010 in “Rabbit Hole,” after being picked for the role by co-star Nicole Kidman.

Live coverage of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge starts at 11 a.m. (ET) Sunday, May 29 on NBC, Telemundo Deportes on Universo and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Visit ims.com to purchase tickets for the 106th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and for more information on the complete Month of May schedule at IMS.