Indy 500

The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) 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 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 typically shares a date.

The official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, but the permanent seating capacity is upwards of 250,000, and infield patrons raise the race-day attendance to approximately 300,000.

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.

Marcus Ericsson is the current 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 Hélio 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 18 total wins and 18 poles. Penske also has five wins at the IndyCar Grand Prix, held on the combined road course.

The event is steeped in tradition, in pre-race ceremonies, post-race celebrations, and race procedure. The most noteworthy and most popular traditions are the 33-car field lining up three-wide for the start, the annual singing of the chorus of "Back Home Again in Indiana," and the victory lane bottle of milk. Also unique is that qualifying requires the driver to complete four, rather than one, timed laps. Qualifying has a separate weekend.

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 (a and , which was shortened to after two severe wrecks).

That these spectacles had attracted 15,000 paying customers (and crowds of up to 40,000) persuaded principal owner Carl G. Fisher to spend $155,000Kettlewell, p.1013. on repaving the track with 3.2 million bricks; he also added a 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, (as it was known from its inception in 1868 to 1967, when federal law made "Memorial Day" the official name), 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 (with relief from Cyrus Patschke)Kettlewell, p.1014. 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 (where it remains), and a riding mechanic was made mandatory. This second event was won by Joe Dawson in a National, after Ralph de Palma'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. His technical developments allowed him to be indirectly connected to a history of success that would last into the mid-1970s.

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 (and before he became the regular singer), 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 starting in 2017, with Jim Cornelison doing it for three races as of the 2019 race.

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.Kettlewell, p.1015. 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 (183 in³) 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 (122 and 91 in³) engine single-seaters, winning four more races for the engine up to 1929 (two of them, 1926 and 1928, in Miller chassis). The engines powered another seven winners until 1938 (two of them, 1930 and 1932, in Miller chassis), 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

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