INDIANAPOLIS – Vice president Pence can expect a hostile reception when he arrives back in his home state for the Indy 500 this weekend, according to one of his fiercest critics.

Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers 1999, said Pence’s tough week could continue on race day in the wake of revelations that the Carrier manufacturing plant just a few miles from Indianapolis Motor Speedway would be shifting 632 jobs to Monterrey, Mexico.

“(Pence being there) is a slap in the face to the people at Carrier and a slap in the face to the taxpayers of Indiana,” Jones told USA TODAY Sports, in a telephone interview on Thursday morning.

Pence will appear at the 101st edition of the race (Sunday, Noon ET, ABC), the vice president confirmed in a tweet Thursday. A keen motorsport fan who has previously attended the race 30 times, Pence has been the subject of rumors that he could drive the pace car to start the race.

Going to the #Indy500 has been a Pence tradition for decades. Karen & I look forward to being at @IMS for the 101st running this Sunday. pic.twitter.com/Ao2c0lGjrO — Vice President Pence (@VP) May 25, 2017

“I would imagine that there are going to be a lot more boos than cheers,” Jones said. “Pence was going to have a hell of a struggle getting reelected as governor if he hadn’t become vice president.”

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Pence has already suffered recent embarrassment in Indiana, with a group of students walking out on the commencement address he gave at Notre Dame last Sunday.

“I won’t be walking out,” Tom Stewart, an IndyCar fan who traveled from near Chicago to camp out at the track. “But I’ll let Pence hear what I think of him.”

Local fan “Cap” Newell said Pence’s presence was “inappropriate in the light of what’s going on at Carrier.”

Jones was subject to one of President Trump’s now infamous Twitter diatribes in December. The union official said Trump had “lied” when he claimed negotiations with Carrier chiefs would keep more than 1,000 jobs that had been bound for Mexico in Indianapolis.

Trump and Pence visited Indiana at the time, with Carrier receiving $7 million in state government grants and tax breaks in exchange for retaining a certain number of jobs.

“These companies aren’t going to be leaving any more,” Trump said. “They’re not going to be taking people’s hearts out.”

A Carrier spokesperson told USA TODAY Sports via email on Thursday that its plans have not changed and that despite the positions that will shift to Mexico over the remaining months of this year, more than 1,000 jobs have been retained in Indiana.

Jones, who retires after 31 years in charge of the union this weekend, received menacing phone messages from unknown callers in the wake of Trump’s attack. He will be in the stands on Sunday and said it would be a “sad moment” when Pence’s arrival is announced.