STL All Sports

The most famous automobile race in the United States is the annual International 500-mile classic at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is run on a two-and-a-half-mile rectangular course, built originally in 1909 as a proving ground for the rapidly growing automotive industry.

Carl G. Fisher, James A. Allison, Arthur C. Newby, and Frank H. Wheeler-the Speedway's four founders-all had benefited materially from their early association with the industry, and they operated the track successfully until the summer of 1927.

Edward V. Rickenbacker, former race driver and World War I flying ace, purchased the facilities at that time and guided the event through the economic "depression" of the 1930s before selling the track in 1945 to Indiana sportsman and businessman Anton Hulman, Jr.
The facilities were modernized and enlarged steadily under Mr. Hulman's guidance, and the race now attracts almost 300,000 spectators who watch the world's outstanding drivers compete in championship cars for prize money of more than $1,000,000 annually. The management never has revealed exact attendance figures, but more than 230,000 reserved seats are available and many fans watch the event from the unreserved infield area.

The original course was built of crushed stone and tar, but it disintegrated rapidly during the first series of races beginning August 19, 1909; and it was resurfaced with paving brick (3,200,000 of them) in time for another speed program three months later. Three week-ends of racing also were presented during 1910, with events ranging in distance from five to 300 miles, before the management adopted the policy of one race per year over the 500-mile distance.

Ray Harroun won that inaugural "500" on May 30, 1911, in a six-cylinder Marmon Wasp at an average speed of 74.59 miles an hour; and since then it has been run annually on Memorial Day (or the Saturday or Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend) except during the years of World War I and World War II. Portions of the track were resurfaced with asphalt in 1937 and the course was made into an all-asphalt surface after the 1961 event, except for a traditional 36-inch strip of brick at the start-finish line.
The present race record of 3:04:05.54 (162.962 mph) was set by Mark Donohue in 1972, and his share of the $1,011,845.94 purse amounted to $218,767.90.

Although the race now is regarded primarily as one of the world's great sports spectacles, it also has been an important factor in the development of such passenger car features as high compression engines, hydraulic shock absorbers and four-wheel brakes, torsion bars, tires, and lubricants.