David Letterman Has a Ball at the Indy 500

Former late night host and Indiana native David Letterman has been seen this weekend at the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 sporting a white, Santa Claus-esque beard and generally having a good time.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Letterman was interviewed live from the Indy Motor Speedway on the ESPN program SportsCenter, talking about Sunday’s big race and his team Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (or RLLR) that was set to compete. In his humorous and deadpan way, Letterman shared what he would do if the team lost.

“Personally, if — and you can count on this, I don’t know, put this away and run it later — if we don’t win the hundredth running, I have every intention of faking my own death,” joked Letterman, who thus received laughs from the crowd.

Letterman continued, “I know a fella who would remove my fingerprints. I have a post office box somewhere on the planet. And that’s all I can tell ya.”

Complex Media reported that the 69-year-old comedian then told ESPN anchor Matt Barie a discombobulated story about getting drunk with his team noting they, “got drunk as you can get without killing yourself from alcohol poisoning.”

“By the way, I’m drunk now,” said Letterman, who again received cheers from people watching the interview close by.

“Good. We wouldn’t expect anything less,” said Barrie.

“We certainly have no reason to doubt him,” said Pete Blackburn of Uproxx, who described the former late night host as “a lovable lug,” and “the definition of #RetirementGoals.”

He continued, “Letterman seemingly ran out of f***s to give a long time ago — well before he entered the retirement stage of his life.”

“Once a pop cultural icon has retired from their job, and they are out of the limelight, it’s easy for them to take the IDGAF approach out in public,” said Dana Scott, of Complex Media.

Rich Nye, of the NBC affiliate WTHR, spoke to David Letterman on Sunday about the significance of the race and even complimented Letterman about the infamous “retirement beard” that he’s had since stepping down from Late Night last year.

“The beard looks great,” said Nye.

“No, it doesn’t, but thank you. I appreciate that,” said Letterman.

“Do you mind if I sit on your lap and ask for a few things for Christmas?” joked Nye.

Letterman then jokingly told his companion to “take care” of Nye, and showed his support for racer Graham Rahal who was competing.

In a USA Today profile, David Letterman talked about his long term association with the Indy 500, and how his team had once won the race in 2004 with Buddy Rice. He mentioned how important it would be to win at the 100th running.

“Who remembers who won the 99th? Who will remember the 101st?” joked Letterman. “But the 100th, oh buddy. That would be so good.”

Letterman also talked about the first memory he had of the annual race, and how he used to listen to it on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway network before it was televised.

“My first memory of this was Memorial Day — I believe it was called Decoration Day in that time period — and my father was home and my mom and my sister, and it would be like a cookout,” said Letterman, who compared the excitement for the Indy 500 to New Yorkers listening to Brooklyn Dodger games on the radio.

He continued, “We would grill out and I can remember vividly in 1955 listening to the race.”

USA Today also reported that David Letterman will be making a return to television in October. In the National Geographic documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, Letterman will report from India on a segment about the country’s plans to expand solar power.

“I think the entire world is in some peril, but they’re very optimistic about their future,” said Letterman.

[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]