Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis. The event is traditionally held over Memorial Day weekend, usually the last weekend of May. It is contested as part of the IndyCar Series, the top level of American open-wheel car racing, a formula colloquially known as "Indy car racing". The track itself is nicknamed the "Brickyard", as the racing surface was first paved in brick in the fall of 1909. One yard of brick remains exposed at the start/finish line. The event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix, with which it has frequently shared a date.
The inaugural race was held in 1911 and was won by Ray Harroun. The event celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011, and the 100th running was held in 2016. The event was put on hiatus twice, from 1917 to 1918 due to World War I and from 1942 to 1945 due to World War II. In two different periods, the race was part of FIA World Championships; between 1925 and 1928, the World Manufacturers' Championship and between 1950 and 1960, the World Drivers' Championship.
Álex Palou, the winner in 2025, is the reigning champion. The most successful drivers are A. J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr., Rick Mears and Hélio Castroneves, each of whom has won the race four times. The active driver with the most victories is Castroneves. Rick Mears holds the record for most career pole positions with six. The most successful car owner is Roger Penske, owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Team Penske, which has 20 total wins and 19 poles. Penske also has five wins at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, held on the combined road course.
The event is steeped in tradition, in pre-race ceremonies, race procedure, and post-race celebrations. Among them are the 33-car starting grid lined up in rows of three, the annual singing of the chorus of "Back Home Again in Indiana", and the victory-lane bottle of milk. Qualifying requires the driver to complete four, rather than one, timed laps, and the time trials are conducted on a separate weekend. The official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, but the permanent seating capacity is roughly 235,000, and infield patrons raise typical race-day attendance to between 350,000 and 400,000.
History
Early years
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex was built in 1909 as a gravel-and-tar track and hosted a smattering of small events, including ones for motorcycles. The first long-distance event, in "fearful conditions", was the 100-lap Prest-O-Lite Trophy in 1909, won by Bob Burman in a Buick. The breakup of the track surface led to two fatal accidents in the first two long-distance events.The fact that these spectacles had attracted 15,000 paying customers persuaded principal owner Carl G. Fisher to spend $155,000 on repaving the track with 3.2 million bricks; he also added a tall concrete wall around the track's circumference. During the 1910 Decoration Day weekend, the first events on the newly paved circuit drew 60,000 spectators; Ray Harroun won the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy in a Marmon.
The crowds grew progressively smaller for the rest of the season, however, so the track owners chose to focus on a single race, and considered a 24-hour contest, in the fashion of Le Mans, or a event. They decided on, the estimated distance a race car could run before dark descended on the track, and a spectacular purse of $25,000, equivalent to of pure gold. The combination allowed the track to rapidly acquire a privileged status for automobile races.
The first "500" was held at the Speedway in 1911 on Decoration Day, May 30,, run to a maximum engine size formula. It saw a field of 40 starters, with Harroun piloting a Marmon Model 32-based Wasp racer—outfitted with his invention, the rear-view mirror. Harroun was declared the winner, although Ralph Mulford protested the official result. Eighty thousand spectators were in attendance, and an annual tradition had been established. Many considered Harroun to be a hazard during the race, as he was the only driver in the race driving without a riding mechanic, who checked the oil pressure and let the driver know when traffic was coming.
In 1912, the purse was raised to $50,000, the field was limited to 33, and a riding mechanic was made mandatory. This second event was won by Joe Dawson in a National, after Ralph DePalma's Mercedes broke. Although the first race was won by an American driver at the wheel of an American car, European makers such as the Italian Fiat or French Peugeot companies soon developed their vehicles to try to win the event, which they did from 1912 to 1919. The 1913 event saw a change to a maximum engine size.
After World War I, the native drivers and manufacturers regained their dominance of the race, and engineer Harry Miller set himself up as the most competitive of the post-war builders.
For musical entertainment before the start of the race, the Purdue All-American Marching Band has been the host band of the race since 1919. In 1946, American operatic tenor and car enthusiast James Melton started the tradition of singing "Back Home Again in Indiana" with the Purdue Band before the race when asked to do so on the spur of the moment by Speedway president Tony Hulman. This tradition has continued through the years, notably by actor and singer Jim Nabors from 1972 until 2014. Nabors announced in 2014, citing health-related reasons, that the 2014 Indy 500 would be the last at which he would sing the song. In 2015, the a cappella group Straight No Chaser sang the song before the race, and in the two races held after Nabors' retirement, the singing of the song was done on a rotating basis, with the Spring 2014 winner of The Voice Josh Kaufman performing in 2016. However, the Speedway has returned to a standard singer with Jim Cornelison doing it since 2017.
Miller and Offenhauser
Following the European trends, engine sizes were limited to during 1920–1922, for 1923–1925, and in 1926–1929. The 1920 race was won by Gaston Chevrolet in a Frontenac, prepared by his brothers, powered by the first eight-cylinder engine to win the 500. For 1923, riding mechanics were no longer required. A supercharged car, ID, first won the race in 1924. In 1925, Pete DePaolo was the first to win at an average over, with a speed of.In the early 1920s, Miller built his 3.0-liter engine, inspired by the Peugeot Grand Prix engine which had been serviced in his shop by Fred Offenhauser in 1914, installing it in Jimmy Murphy's Duesenberg and allowing him to win the 1922 edition of the race. Miller then created his own automobiles, which shared the 'Miller' designation, which, in turn, were powered by supercharged versions of his 2.0- and 1.5-liter engine single-seaters, winning four more races for the engine up to 1929. The engines powered another seven winners until 1938, then ran at first with stock-type motors before later being adjusted to the international 3.0-liter formula.
After purchasing the Speedway in 1927, Eddie Rickenbacker prohibited supercharging and increased the displacement limit to, while also re-introducing the riding mechanic.
In 1935, Miller's former employees, Fred Offenhauser and Leo Goossen, had already achieved their first win with the soon-to-become famous 4-cylinder Offenhauser or "Offy" engine. This motor was forever connected with the Brickyard's history with a to-date record total of 27 wins, in both naturally aspirated and supercharged form, and winning a likewise record-holding 18 consecutive years between 1947 and 1964.
European incursions and links to Formula One
Meanwhile, European manufacturers, gone from the Indianapolis 500 for nearly two decades, made a brief return just before World War II, with the competitive Maserati 8CTF allowing Wilbur Shaw to become the first driver to win consecutively at Indianapolis, in 1939 and 1940., these remain the only Indy 500 victories obtained by fully Italian cars. With the 500 having been a part of the World Drivers' Championship between 1950 and 1960, Ferrari made a discreet appearance at the 1952 event with Alberto Ascari, but European entries were few and far between during those days. Among the Formula One drivers who did drive at the speedway was one-time world champion Italian Giuseppe Farina, who failed to qualify for the 1956 and 1957 races, and five-time world champion Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio, who failed to qualify for the 1958 race.It was not until the Indianapolis 500 was removed from the World Championship calendar that European entries made their return. In 1963, technical innovator Colin Chapman brought his Team Lotus to Indianapolis for the first time, attracted by the large monetary prizes, far bigger than the usual at a European event. Racing a mid-engined car, Scotsman Jim Clark was second in his first attempt in 1963, dominated in 1964 until suffering suspension failure on lap 47, and completely dominated the race in 1965, a victory which also interrupted the success of the Offy, and giving the 4.2-liter Ford V8 its first success at the race. The following year, 1966, saw another British win, this time Graham Hill in a Lola-Ford.
The Offenhauser engine was also paired with a European maker, McLaren, obtaining three wins for the chassis, one with the Penske team in 1972 with driver Mark Donohue, and two for the McLaren works team in 1974 and 1976 with Johnny Rutherford. This was also the last time the Offy would win a race, its competitiveness steadily decreasing until its final appearance in 1983. American drivers continued to fill the majority of entries at the Brickyard in the following years, but European technology had taken over. Starting in 1978, most chassis and engines were European, with the only American-based chassis to win during the CART era being the Wildcat and Galmer in 1982 and 1992, respectively. Ford and Chevrolet engines were built in the UK by Cosworth and Ilmor, respectively.
As of 2025, the most recent active Formula One driver to have entered the 500 is Fernando Alonso, who drove in the 2017 race. Alonso was the first Formula One driver to enter the 500 while competing in F1 since Teo Fabi in 1984.