Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith rides road course with Arrow McLaren

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) — One Indiana Pacers player got to take the ride of a lifetime Saturday.

Forward Aaron Nesmith spent the morning with Pato O’Ward and Arrow McLaren, learning all about IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

This was Nesmith’s first trip to the track. He was blown away by the layout and how many fans fit in the stands. IMS is expecting over 300,000 people on race day for the 107th running of the Indy 500 at the end of the month.

The highlight of the day for Nesmith was the ride around the road course in a two-seater IndyCar. O’Ward didn’t drive, but he did give him a little bit of advice before strapping into the seat.

“Just flow, bro,” O’Ward laughed. “I told him to just enjoy it. I told him at least he fits. It’s a great place to do it at. Long straightaways, heavy braking, he’ll get a good idea of what the Gs feel like. Hopefully he comes back for the 500. I told him he can’t miss that.”

Nesmith says he hates roller coasters, but going 180 miles-per-hour around the road course? He would definitely do that again.

“As soon as I got to the car, and they strapped me in, and they put me in real tight, it got real real quick,” Nesmith said. “As soon as we took off, my head lifted off, I felt like I was flying. Head was flying back and forth when we hit the turns. It was a lot of fun.”