Life insurance key for racers, but they don’t like to think about it

At least half the drivers in the Indianapolis 500 field share more than steely nerves and a love of speed. They have the same agent for insurance, including some policies they'd rather not contemplate.

Like life insurance.

"To a T, they all want to make sure that, if something happens, they're properly insured," said Darren Hickey, who specializes in professional motorsports at Gregory & Appel Insurance of Indianapolis. "But they don't want to think about it. They can't. They can't be going 200 mph and thinking about getting hurt."

"Or worse," he said.

James Hinchcliffe would know that better than most, having survived a nearfatal crash in 2015 during practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"It's one of those mental things, right?" Hinchcliffe said. "A guy who's in our profession doesn't want to think that could happen and doesn't want to think he needs that. It's almost like jinxing it. It's a difficult mind-set to get over, but you have to get over it."

Life insurance for IndyCar drivers is a flat surcharge on top of a policy whose price is otherwise determined by factors that apply to everyone-age, health, whether the person smokes.

For a $1 million term policy, Hickey said, the surcharge is about $8,000 annually for an IndyCar driver. For a NASCAR driver, it's about $4,000.

If that seems low, Hickey said, it's because of advancements in safety for cars and racetracks.