“Lots of fun things to come.”

The phrase — or versions of it — loomed over Andretti Global’s pivotal groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday morning like a billion dollar-sized elephant in the room. Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers, one of the many local and state government dignitaries on-hand at the 90 acres of of dirt, gravel, grass and trees in a corner of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport, actually dropped a gaffe in his speech before shovels touched dirt.

In listing off the racing series that Michael Andretti’s eponymous motorsports giant competes in at the moment, Chambers mentioned “NASCAR” — which Andretti has attempted a trio of times to carve out a spot in, most recently in 2012, but has yet to crack into.