Lucky 13: Canadian Claman De Melo confident heading into first Indianapolis 500
Canadian Zachary Claman De Melo isn’t apprehensive about qualifying 13th for this weekend’s Indianapolis 500.
After all, 13 has been a meaningful number for the 20-year-old Montreal native, who’ll be making his Indy 500 debut Sunday. His late grandmother was released from a Nazi concentration camp on a Friday the 13th and the camp tattoo numbers on her arm all added up to 13. He also claims on his website 13 is his lucky number.
“I pick and choose my moments (about being superstitious),” Claman De Melo said via telephone Thursday. “For the qualifying draw I didn’t want to go first, so I wouldn’t let anyone draw for me because if I did I was definitely going to go first.
“And then I ended up picking myself first. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence I’m 13th but it does mean something to me and so hopefully it turns into something special.”