A lot about “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Paper Towns” author John Green is public knowledge. That Green writes books for young adults and he and his brother, Hank, known as the VlogBrothers, make humorous, educational videos and are leaders of the charitable campaign “Project for Awesome” are a few of those things.
Green’s life is so public that he has 3.7 million Twitter followers and so influential that last year he was No. 79 on Forbes’ list of "The World’s Most Powerful Celebrities."
But among the lesser-known facts about Green is that he is an avid Verizon IndyCar Series fan and participates in a five-member INDYCAR fantasy league in his hometown of Indianapolis.
“He’s been in it eight years now and he loves it,” said Shaun Souers, who founded the league 15 years ago.
That was clear recently when Green and other league members gathered for their annual pre-season draft, when each member picks four drivers for his fantasy team. In the past, their draft has been held in a local bar. But, through an invitation from Indianapolis Motor Speedway and INDYCAR, Green and his friends traveled to the iconic IMS Pagoda to make their picks.
Verizon IndyCar Series driver and team owner Ed Carpenter was on hand as a consultant, as were drivers Sage Karam, Pippa Mann and Conor Daly.
“This is definitely the fanciest one,” Green said. “This is the first time we’ve been at the track (for the draft). It was awesome to be in the Pagoda. I love this building. Some of my favorite memories are of watching the Indy 500 here, so it was really special. I know it means a lot to my friends, as well.”
In the end, Green ended up with a team of three Chip Ganassi Racing Teams drivers, including Karam, Indianapolis 500 winner and three-time series champion Scott Dixon and Charlie Kimball. Green also picked James Hinchcliffe, who drives for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
When Green chose Karam, he did so at Karam’s request from a stool a few feet away. Seconds afterward, they shared a quick hug.
“The biggest moment of the night for me was trying to pick who I was going to have as my third driver and Sage very passionately announcing that I should choose him and he was going to finish top 10 in the IndyCar season this year,” said Green. “When an actual human tells you to draft him, you’ve got to do it."
Carpenter had fun watching the process and adding his opinions. He said the choices were tough because, unlike a fantasy football league when there are hundreds of players to pick from, INDYCAR has about two dozen drivers to divide between league members. And how the new aero kits will affect competition was a twist to consider.
“It was fun to watch passionate IndyCar fans,” Carpenter said. “They clearly follow the sport year around and follow what’s going on with all of the drivers and empty seats, so that’s fun as a competitor to see people that are really passionate about it.”
Having the drivers in the room was a good addition to a great draft, according to Souers.
“You don’t normally get to sit next to the guy that’s being drafted, which was pretty fun,” he said. “And obviously to be able to see the Speedway out the window while you were drafting, I mean, this is pretty awesome.”
It is also just the beginning of a long season for the league members as they prepare for the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 29.
“We still have to make our side bets, which we haven’t done,” said Souers.
What’s on the line this year?
“Pride and money,” Souers said.
The picks
Tom Edwards: Will Power, Carlos Munoz, Josef Newgarden, James Jakes
Chris Waters: Simon Pagenaud, Marco Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais, Graham Rahal
John Green: Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe, Sage Karam, Charlie Kimball
Shaun Souers: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Justin Wilson, Jack Hawksworth
Kevin Schoville: Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Takuma Sato, Luca Fillipi
