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‘Gomer Pyle’s’ ties to Tahoe, Indianapolis 500


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By Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Jim Nabors is back home again in Indiana, this time to say farewell.

The actor whose bumbling Gomer Pyle character endeared Nabors to an entire generation, and whose rich baritone has provided the soundtrack for the Indianapolis 500 for more than four decades, will perform “Back Home Again in Indiana” on Sunday for the last time.

“I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t want to stay too long at the fair,” the 83-year-old Nabors said with a hearty chuckle. “Everyone has been so incredible to me so many years. The first time I was here was 1972, so I guess most people have grown up with me.”

Indeed, millions of race fans have come to know Nabors not for his character on “The Andy Griffith Show” and its spinoff, “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C,” but for his Memorial Day weekend tradition.

Jim Nabors, who will sign "(Back Home Again in) Indiana" for his final time at tomorrow's Indianapolis 500 IndyCar auto race, tries on a ring the was presented to him during the drivers meeting at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 24, 2014. The 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 is Sunday. Nabors has sung the song for 37 years during pre-race festivities. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Jim Nabors will sign “(Back Home Again in) Indiana” for his final time at the Indianapolis 500 . Photo/Darron Cummings

“To many Indianapolis 500 fans the pre-race pageantry is as important as the race itself,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway president J. Douglas Boles said this week, “especially as the lead-up reaches its highest point with Jim Nabors singing ‘Back Home Again in Indiana’ and Mari Hulman-George giving the command to start engines.”

People tend to forget Nabors was actually born in Alabama. He moved to California when he started out in show business, and was performing in Lake Tahoe one day for an audience that included Bill Harrah. The casino magnate happened to be a car aficionado, and he invited Nabors to attend the Indy 500 for the first time.

Nabors was supposed to be there as a fan, but Tony Hulman had also seen Nabors perform in Lake Tahoe, and the speedway’s owner asked if he would sing along with the Purdue marching band prior to the race. With that, Nabors picks up the story:

“So to the conductor of the Purdue band, I said, ‘What key do you do this in?’ And he looked at me funny and said, ‘We only have one key.’ I said, ‘No, the “Star-Spangled Banner” has two keys.’ And he said, ‘You’re not singing that!’ And I said, ‘Well, what the hell am I singing?’ It was only five minutes to race time, too, and there’s 500,000 people here,” Nabors said.

“He says, ‘It’s the traditional song that opens the race, “Back Home Again in Indiana.'” I kind of looked at him and go, ‘I’m from Alabama!’ And he started laughing and asked if I knew it. And I said, ‘Well, I know the melody but I don’t know all the lyrics.’ So I’m writing them on my hand. The first time I ever sang it, I wrote it on my hand.”

He knows every nuance by heart these days. While missing the race a handful of times over the years because of illness and other conflicts, Nabors’ rendition of the Hoosier State’s unofficial anthem is as much a part of race day as the milk swilled by the winner in Victory Lane.

In truth, his health is a big reason that Nabors is stepping away.

“I had a liver transplant, then I had a pacemaker put in, then I had a new knee put it, then I had a heart valve put in,” he said. “I’m almost brand new. I have a lot of new parts.”

There is always emotion when Nabors grabs the microphone on race day, and there will no doubt be tears flowing when he does it for the final time. But when asked who he would like to see take over, Nabors gazed out at a throng of fans gathered in the infield.

“I think y’all should do it. You know the words,” he said. “I know y’all can sing better than they can at the Kentucky Derby, and they all sing. So why can’t you sing?”

With that, a fan called out for Nabors to sing a few lines.

He did, and the crowd took over: “When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash,” they sang in unison, as Nabors leaned back and smiled, “then I long for my Indiana home.”

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  1. copper says - Posted: May 24, 2014

    Jim Nabors has been a great tradition at a place that thrives on tradition, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Let’s hope for a safe race in the morning.

    I know there are South Lake Tahoe connections to the Indy 500, but the only one I can think of offhand tonight is Davy Jones, a local who lost to Buddy Lazier by less than a second in 1996. I’m sure there are others, but they don’t leap to mind at this moment.

    However, South Lake Tahoe racers Roy Testa and Boomer Schultz, although never driving at Indy, certainly represented the town well when they were racing.