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INDIANAPOLIS - Though always a fan of the IndyCar Series, prior to Sunday's 89th running, 28-year-old Rob Cleveland had only attended one Indianapolis 500.
With a new job, the second time he witnessed in person the "Greatest Spectacle In Racing" the 1995 Warsaw Community High School graduate had the best seat in the house.
He stood where the likes of Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and the Unsers once stood.
And a drink of milk never tasted so sweet.
After using his sports administration degree from Ball State University to work in the professional basketball world with the Indiana Fever and the Indiana Pacers, Cleveland landed a job at Andretti-Green Racing.
Cleveland, who at WCHS was a football manager, worked with the boys basketball team and later became the school's sports information director, is a public relations specialist for IRL drivers Dan Wheldon and Bryan Herta.
Sunday, Wheldon garnered his first Indianapolis 500 victory and his fourth win in just five races this season, while Herta finished third.
And right there in the victory lane celebration was Cleveland, who grew up in Leesburg, and whose parents, Bob and Bobbi Cleveland, still live in Leesburg.
"It was a great day," Cleveland said of Sunday's race in a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon. "I got to drink the milk in victory lane.
"I've been to a bowl game with the Ball State football team, been involved with the NBA Finals with the Pacers, but professionally, I can't imagine anything better than drinking that milk in victory lane."
Working as a public relations specialist at Andretti-Green Racing, Cleveland is responsible for fielding media requests for Wheldon and Herta.
Sunday's victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was Wheldon's third consecutive win of the 17-race Indy Racing League schedule and the phones have been ringing off the hook with media requests.
Radio. Television. Newspaper. Media requests from Wheldon's native England.
Cleveland has been swamped with request after request for time with his driver, who is currently in New York City and who will later be on the "Late Show with David Letterman."
"I field media requests and all the sponsor requests and do a lot of scheduling," Cleveland said of his job responsibilities. "We put out a bunch of releases. We probably put out 200 or 300 releases each year for our four cars."
Dario Franchiti and Tony Kanaan also drive for Andretti-Green Racing, with Franchiti finishing sixth Sunday, while Kanaan qualified on the pole and finished eighth.
After graduating from WCHS, Cleveland attended Ball State University, where he worked with the football program and graduated with a sports administration degree.
He joined the Pacers and Fever in 2000, working 80-90 hours a week, he said. While working with the two professional basketball teams, Cleveland broke down game tape and later traveled and got into advanced scouting.
He met Tom Savage, who told him Andretti-Green had an opening in the public relations department.
The rest, as they say, is history.
And history is exactly what Cleveland was part of Sunday, as he celebrated not only Wheldon's first Indianapolis 500, but also team co-owner Michael Andretti's.
Andretti had been close to winning the famed 200-lap race as a driver but never made it to victory lane. Sunday he did as a car owner, and right there with him, sharing the traditional drink of milk was Cleveland.
"I still don't know how I got the job," Cleveland said. "But it's been a wonderful experience. Michael (Andretti) has been awesome. It's just been a wonderful, wonderful experience."
Having grown up in Indiana, and having already been an IndyCar fan, Cleveland said Sunday was a dream come true.
He said, however, it hasn't sunk in yet that they won the Indianapolis 500.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," said Cleveland. "I was talking to Buddy Rice's PR guy and I asked him when it sinks in and he showed me his ring and said, 'when you get one of these.'"
Profesionally, Cleveland said he owes a lot to former WCHS football coach and current Ball State assistant football coach Ted Huber.
"My wife and parents have been very supportive, and I can't thank them enough," said Cleveland. "But professionally, I owe a lot of where I am today to Coach Huber. Kids don't understand the opportunities coaches can give you. He got me opportunities at Ball State that led to the video job with the Pacers. Professionaly, I could never repay Coach Huber. He's never been anything but wonderful."
Cleveland, who said he lives "five minutes away from Indianapolis Raceway Park," lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Susan, and 8-month-old daughter, Madalyn.
Next on the schedule for the Indy Racing League is the June 11 Bombardier Learjet 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, where Kanaan drove to victory last year.
