Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500, one of the oldest and most prestigious automobile races in the world, with the largest purse in automobile racing. The race is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana, traditionally on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in May. The race was first held in 1911 and is now attended by more than 350,000 spectators. The Indianapolis 500 involves 33 drivers, each with a support crew, who spend three weeks in practice and qualifying runs to race 200 laps, or 500 mi (805 km), around the 2.5-mi (4-km) oval-shaped racecourse.

The Speedway opened in 1909 as a track constructed of crushed stone and tar. It was designed as an outdoor laboratory and competition facility for what was then a burgeoning automobile production industry in Indianapolis. After initial competition damaged the unstable track surface, the entire track was paved with 3.2 million bricks in late 1909, and the nickname “Brickyard” was adopted.

After three race dates in 1910 were attended by successively diminishing crowds, organizers focused their efforts on one major event for 1911. The previous format of racing various types of vehicles over shorter distances was replaced by a single, daylong event. The first Indianapolis 500—at that time called the International 500 Mile Sweepstakes—was run on May 30, 1911. Ray Harroun won the inaugural race in a Marmon Wasp racecar with an average speed of 74.602 mph (120 km/h), finishing in 6 hours 42 minutes 8 seconds and claiming the champion's $10,000 share of the $25,000 purse. Since 1911 the Indianapolis 500 has been run annually except during 1917 and 1918 and from 1942 to 1945, when the United States was actively involved in World War I and World War II, respectively.

The present racing facility has more than 250,000 permanent seats, and thousands of spectators can also be accommodated in the Speedway's 224-acre (90.7-hectare) infield, the area enclosed by the racetrack. Conversion of the track surface from brick to asphalt took place gradually, beginning in the 1930s and continuing through 1961, but the original bricks remain largely intact under the asphalt, and the track's original shape and configuration have been maintained. The track is resurfaced approximately every 10 years, except for the “Yard of Bricks,” a 36-in (91.44-cm) strip of the original brick that remains at the starting line.

Besides the Indianapolis 500, the Speedway also hosts the Brickyard 400, a National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) competition. Grand Prix races have also been held at the Speedway since 2000, when a new 4.2-km (2.6-mi) road course opened for that purpose. With the addition of the second course, the Speedway became the only facility in the world to host all three of the major types of automobile racing. The 559-acre (226-hectare) Speedway property also includes the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum and Brickyard Crossing, an 18-hole golf course with four holes in the track's infield.

Throughout its history, the Speedway has served as a testing ground for many major automotive breakthroughs. In the inaugural race, Harroun’s car was fitted with the first rearview mirror. In more recent years, pioneer developments at the Speedway include computer-engine and fuel-management systems, fuel-injection systems, turbocharged engines, disk brakes, better tires, and improved suspension systems.

The type of car raced at the Indianapolis 500, known as an Indy car, is open-wheeled and has an open cockpit, a six-speed manual transmission, a normally aspirated 3.0-liter racing engine placed behind the driver, rear-wheel drive, and aerodynamic devices that help the car hold the track. The cars use methanol fuel (see Fuels, Synthetic) and typically travel about 75 mi (120.7 km) between pit stops, when they refuel and usually have their tires changed. Current Indy cars produce a maximum of 650 horsepower and weigh at least 1,550 lb (703 kg).

There have been three four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500 (all American drivers): A. J. Foyt (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977), Al Unser (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987), and Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991). The fastest Indianapolis 500 occurred in 1990, when Dutch driver Arie Luyendyk completed the race at an average speed of 185.981 mph (299 km/h) in a time of 2 hours 41 minutes 18.404 seconds. Luyendyk also set the track's all-time single-lap qualifying record of 237.498 mph (382.216 km/h) in 1996. The closest finish came in 1992, when American Al Unser, Jr., beat Canadian Scott Goodyear by .043 of a second. Although the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was originally designed for vehicles traveling 100 mph (161 km/h) at the fastest, peak speeds of more than 220 mph (354 km/h) in the corners and 240 mph (386 km/h) in the straightaways are now routine.

The famed race lost some prestige in 1996 when Indy officials broke from the established Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) circuit to form a separate, oval-track racing circuit, the Indy Racing League (IRL). The IRL instituted different rules, including smaller engines and a racing point system, which made it difficult for CART owners and drivers to participate in the Indianapolis 500. After several years of fielding less-experienced drivers, the race gradually began to attract some of the top CART teams and drivers back to Indianapolis.