As deafening race cars zoomed by on pit road, an unfazed Adam Vinatieri seemed right at home at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the iconic venue where legends are made.

“Living in Indy, you have to be a race fan,” the ageless Indianapolis Colts kicker said. “That’s part of living here, right?”

The NFL’s all-time leader in field goals and scoring, among other honors, already qualifies as legendary in his world. But this day was about “Mr. Clutch” being “Mr. Coach” as co-owner of a Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship race team with former NTT IndyCar Series driver Dr. Jack Miller.

Miller Vinatieri Motorsports was formed in late 2018 by the suburban Indianapolis neighbors who have known each other since Vinatieri joined the Colts a dozen years earlier. The team’s drivers in the first rung of the Road to Indy development ladder sanctioned by INDYCAR are Miller’s son, Jack William Miller, and Eduardo Barrichello, the son of retired Formula One and NTT IndyCar Series driver Rubens Barrichello.

“I told little Jack, ‘When you’re running Indy, I want to be right there in the pits with you doing your thing,” Vinatieri said, and he was last month when USF2000 conducted twin races during the INDYCAR Grand Prix weekend on the IMS road course.

Dr. Jack Miller, the "Racing Dentist” who competed in the Indy 500 from 1997 through 1999 and made 22 career NTT IndyCar Series starts, handles the team’s technical side. Vinatieri, who at 46 just signed a one-year deal to return to the Colts for his 24th NFL season, provides sponsorship and competitive insight.

“Back in the day when my son was a bit younger and doing some go-karting with these guys, I went out and ripped around the track a little bit,” Vinatieri said. “It’s much more difficult than everybody thinks. It’s amazing when you’re flying down the tracks.”

Vinatieri was honored to be asked to serve as honorary starter for one of the USF2000 races at IMS, waving the green flag from the starter's stand hovering above the yard of bricks start/finish line. Someday, he’d love to take an Indy car for a test spin on the high-speed, 2.5-mile IMS oval.

“Absolutely. I definitely would love to get out in one of them,” Vinatieri said. “I’ll probably have to wait one more year or two more years until I’m done kicking.”

The ageless wonder hasn’t shown any indication that Father Time is catching up with that trusty right foot. He made 23 of 27 field goals with a long of 54 yards last season.

Miller, 57, returns each May to IMS for veteran driver autograph signings and the Indy 500. This year’s visit as a team co-owner and father of an aspiring driver was admittedly different.

“I love this place,” he said. “I’ve been coming every year for the 500. I’m a little bit more nervous now because my son is racing.

“Having Adam be part of it with his mental coaching has been great. The pressure on him is I think more than the pressure on these drivers out here, making sure he kicks the ball with the world’s eyes on it.”

Vinatieri, who has made two last-second, game-winning field goals in Super Bowls, disagreed.

“Both of our jobs are precision-based and about not making errors,” he said, “but one of these guy’s errors means they hit a wall real hard and real fast. I don’t know, I guess if I make a mistake, somebody else is throwing me against the wall. It’s a little different.”

The season has been a learning experience thus far for the young drivers and their team owners. The 17-year-old Barrichello finished a season-best fifth in the second race of the INDYCAR GP weekend and sits 17th in the season standings after five races. The younger Miller, who turns 16 on June 25, hasn’t placed better than 17th in the fields that exceed 20 cars each race and is 20th in points heading to the doubleheader weekend at Wisconsin’s Road America from June 21-23.

The steps are slow for the fledgling outfit, but the ultimate goal is there: Miller, the father, wants to see his son win the Indy 500 someday. Vinatieri would like to be there, too.

“Every red-blooded American loves race cars and going a million miles per hour and all of that stuff,” Vinatieri said. “I’m obviously still in the learning process of all the different classifications and where we’re at with the team, but it’s a lot of fun.

“I’m excited for them. I don’t want to get in the way and do anything that takes away from their experience, but I’m pretty excited to be here. I was going to say that maybe I’m more excited than they are, but I doubt that. I am excited to be more of a part of it than just a spectator.”