Indianapolis 500 Victory Banquet highlights

The 500 Victory Banquet was a night of laughs, friendly digs and farewells to Jim Nabors. The annual night celebrated the 33 drivers who started their engines to compete for his or her face on a trophy. However, Monday night of race weekend is the time to kick back in glamour and get a check. Even last place finisher Graham Rahal raked in $341, 194 after his car had electrical problems. Rahal said of the disappointing issue: “It’s still a mystery but we’ll keep our heads down and stay hard at work.” Other highlights of the evening: The rivalry of James Hinchcliffe and Ed Carpenter provided some moments: As Canadian, James Hinchcliffe took the stage to Bieber music, it was suggested that “Ed Carpenter must have picked the music.”

Spellers get set to compete

The spellers of the nation will unite to compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee starting today in Washington, D.C. Maconaquah fifth grader Anastasia Spahr will put on her thinking cap and get to spelling for a national title. Spahr beat out competitors in 18 rounds of spelling in March to earn a trip to the nation’s capital. Spahr won the Central Indiana Regional Spelling Bee trophy by correctly spelling “melancholy” in the final round – which was obviously not descriptive of Spahr’s winning emotion. The national spelling bee continues through May 31.