Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The "Brickyard"
Aerial photograph of Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2016).
Location	Speedway, Indiana
Time zone	UTC−5 / −4 (DST)
Capacity	235,000 (permanent seats) – 400,000 grand total
Owner	Roger Penske
Operator	IMS, LLC (subsidiary of Penske Entertainment Group.)
Address	4790 West 16th Street
Broke ground	March 15, 1909; 115 years ago (March 15, 1909)
Opened	August 12, 1909; 115 years ago (August 12, 1909)
Construction Cost	$3 million ($73 million 2016 dollars)
Architect	Carl G. Fisher, James A. Allison, F. H. Wheeler, and Arthur Newby
Major Events	NTT IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500-Mile Race Grand Prix of Indianapolis NASCAR Cup Series Verizon 200 at the Brickyard NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150
Rectangular oval track
Surface	Asphalt and Brick
Circuit Length	2.500 mi (4.023 km)
Turns	4
Banking	Turns: 9.2° Straights: 0°
Lap Record	37.895, 237.498 mph 382.216 km/h ( Arie Luyendyk, Treadway Racing, 1996, IRL IndyCar Series)
Grand Prix road course (2000–2007)
Surface	Asphalt and Brick
Circuit Length	2.605 mi (4.192 km)
Turns	13
Lap Record	1:10.399, 133.546 mph 214.921 km/h ( Rubens Barrichello, Scuderia Ferrari, 2004 Formula One)
Grand Prix road course (2008–2013)
Surface	Asphalt and Brick
Circuit Length	2.534 mi (4.078 km)
Turns	13
Grand Prix road course (2014–)
Surface	Asphalt and Brick
Circuit Length	2.439 mi (3.925 km)
Turns	13
Motorcycle course
Surface	Asphalt and Brick
Circuit Length	2.621 mi (4.218 km)
Turns	16
Lap Record	1:31.619, 101.781 mph 163.800 km/h ( Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda, 2013 MotoGP)

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) is in Speedway, Indiana (an enclave suburb of Indianapolis) in the United States. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 race and formerly the home of the Brickyard 400 race.^[1]

It was built in 1909. It is the original Speedway, the first racing facility to use the word Speedway. IMS has permanent seating for more than 257,000 people. The infield raises capacity to approximately 400,000. It is the largest and highest-capacity sporting facility in the world.^[2]

The Speedway is considered relatively flat by American standards but high-banked by Europeans. It is a two and a half mile, nearly rectangular oval. Each of the four turns are 1/4 mile. Two 5/8 mile long straight connect turns 2 to 3 and turns 4 to 1. Two 1/8 mile short straights, termed short chutes, connect turns 1 to 2 and turns 3 to 4.

A modern infield road course was constructed between 1998 and 2000. It used part of the oval and the infield to create a 2.605-mile (4.192 km) track. In 2008, the road course was changed to add another infield section. This is used for motorcycle racing, and is a 2.621-mile (4.218 km) course.

On the grounds of the Speedway is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, which opened in 1956. It is also the home of the Brickyard Crossing Golf Resort, which originally opened as the Speedway Golf Course in 1929.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

In addition to the Indianapolis 500, the Speedway also hosted NASCAR's Brickyard 400 from 1994 to 2020. The Speedway also hosted the United States Grand Prix for Formula One from 2000 to 2007. In 2008, the Speedway added the Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix.

After winning his fifth United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2006, Formula One driver Michael Schumacher holds the record for most victories with the Forumula One version of the road course. A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves each won the Indianapolis 500 four times on the traditional oval. Jeff Gordon has also won four times on the oval in the Brickyard 400. Johnny Aitken holds the record for total wins at the track, with 15 victories (all on the oval), during the 1909, 1910 and 1916 seasons.^[3]

1. ↑ Charleton, James H. (October 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form: Indianapolis Motor Speedway" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2010-10-03. and Accompanying two photos from 1985 Archived 2014-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
2. ↑ "World Stadiums - Stadium List :: 100 000+ Stadiums". worldstadiums.com. World Stadiums. Archived from the original on 2006-10-23. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
3. ↑ Scott, D. Bruce; INDY: Racing Before the 500; Indiana Reflections; 2005 Archived 2007-11-09 at the Wayback Machine ISBN 0-9766149-0-1.