20 Indy 500 facts you might not know

The greatest spectacle in racing

The Indy 500 is known as ‘The greatest spectacle in racing’ and it has earned the name during a history dating back to 1911.

Run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana, US, many of the biggest names in motorsport have competed there.

The 2.5-mile oval track is one of the fastest and most challenging, creating its own traditions and heroes. Ahead of the 2023 running on 28 May, here’s a guide to the history of this most famous race, in 20 images.

1. Indy 500 founder

Carl Fisher created the Indianapolis Motor Speedway because he realised there was an appetite for motor racing as cars became more commonplace.

He’d already made a fortune with his Prest-O-Lite acetylene lights for cars and his flair for promotion made him the ideal person to build a track.

The Indianapolis circuit opened in 1909, though early races were dogged by dust from the crushed stone surfaces.

To counter this, Fisher resurfaced the track in 1911 with 3.2 million bricks, which earned it the nickname ‘The Brickyard’.

2. Second purpose-built track

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway became only the second purpose-built motor racing circuit in the world when it opened in 1909, two years after Brooklands in the UK hosted its first race. This made it the heart of motor racing in the US – and it remains so to this day.

The 2.5-mile track was built as an oval and the first 500 race was run in 1911. It has also been used as part of the FIA Formula One World Championship in two different periods, from 1925 to 1928 and again between 1950 and 1960.

3. First winner – Ray Harroun

Ray Harroun was already an experienced racing driver by the time he won the first Indy 500. He’d been involved in setting Land Speed Records, as well as developing the Marmon Wasp, which earned him the nickname ‘Little Professor’ for his ingenious design work.

His crafty approach to racing was evident in the first Indy 500, where Harroun used a rear-view mirror rather than a ride-on mechanic in the car. This was controversial but the result stood and he won with an average speed of 76.60mph.

4. AJ Foyt

AJ Foyt is one of a handful of drivers to have won the Indy 500 four times, but his legendary status at the circuit is based on far more than just victories.

As well as the most consecutive starts, with 35 in total, Foyt has led the race more times than anyone else and covered the most competition laps.

5. Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick is one on a long list of women to race at the Indy 500 that goes back to Janet Guthrie in 1977.

Others to have raced there include Desiré Wilson, Lyn St James and, most recently, Katherine Legge.

Although Patrick has not started as many Indy 500 races as St James or Sarah Fisher, the Wisconsin-born driver won Rookie of the Year in the 2005 Indy race.

She has also finished higher than any other women, with a podium for third place in 2009.

6. Jim Clark

One of the reasons Jim Clark is rightfully considered one of the greatest racing drivers of all time is his performances at the Indy 500.

On his first outing there in 1963, he qualified fifth and finished second, which caused some controversy because winner Parnelli Jones’ car was leaking oil but was not black flagged. Ever the gentleman driver, Clark refused to complain.

When Clark came back to the Indy 500 in 1965, he did so with the Lotus 38 and the pairing dominated the race. He led 190 of the 200 laps and finished 2 mins, 5 secs ahead of Jones in second.

7. Youngest winner – Troy Ruttman

Troy Ruttman was just 22 years old when he lifted the coveted Borg Warner Trophy for winning the Indy 500 in 1952.

Despite this amazing feat, Ruttman never regained this type of form at Indianapolis even through he entered the race seven times altogether.

However, Ruttman enjoyed success in other series, including the UA Automobile Club Championship Car series and NASCAR.

8. Maserati 8CTF

Maserati was by no means the first European manufacturer to tackle the Indy 500 as Peugeot, Delage and Mercedes had all been there before.

However, the Maserati 8CTF broke a 16-year dominance by US constructors when it won in 1939 with the experienced Wilbur Shaw at the wheel.

To prove this wasn’t a one-off, Maserati returned with the 8CTF in 1940 and won again with Shaw taking up driving duties once more.

9. The Borg Warner Trophy

The Borg Warner Trophy has become one of many traditions associated with the Indy 500. Made from sterling silver, it weighs 110lb (50kg) and stands at 65 inches (165cm) tall, making it almost as big as many of the drivers.

It was commissioned in 1935 at a cost of $10,000 and has been presented to the Indy 500 winner ever since.

Every year, the race winner’s face is created in silver and added to the trophy, which also has the faces of all the victors going right back to Ray Harroun.

10. Al Unser

Al Unser is part of a family dynasty with close links to the Indy 500, but it’s the senior Unser that inspires the most awe thanks to his four wins in the race.

He very nearly didn’t get a chance to add that fourth title when he was dropped from the Penske team early in 1987. Undeterred, Unser tried his luck with other teams but none could offer a competitive car.

Then, Penske came back with a third car for Unser and he qualified 20th on the grid. Showing his superb skill, he went on to win the race, adding to his victories in 1971, ’71 and ’78.

11. Kurtis

Kurtis is a manufacturer that made its name at the Indy 500, building 120 cars that raced there during the 1950s.

Company boss Frank Kurtis set up Kurtis Kraft to make these cars, as well as more than 500 midget race cars, and all used potent front-mounted V8 engines.

The company’s dedication to the Indy 500 won it five races in this period and its designs won many admirers for the way the driver was offset to the side to help lower the centre of gravity.

12. Rookie winners

The Rookie of the Year is almost as coveted a title as outright winner at the Indy 500. It’s an exalted list of names that includes drivers such as Danica Patrick, Nigel Mansell, Rick Mears and Mark Donohoe. Others on the list are Parnelli Jones and Mario Andretti.

Jim Clark was made Rookie of the Year in 1963, but his Lotus teammate Graham Hill was beaten to it in 1966 by Jackie Stewart, who earned the title for leading most of the race only to retire 10 laps from the end with a broken oil pump.

13. Parnelli Jones

Rufus Jones used the name Parnelli in the hope his family would not notice his motorsport activities as a young man. However, success meant he came to the attention of many as he progressed through the ranks and entered his first Indy 500 in 1961. Such was Jones’ ability, he lifted the Rookie of the Year title.

Two years later, Jones was in even better form and claimed his one and only win at Indianapolis, which doesn’t do justice to his ability.

He was the first to lap the track at more than 150mph in 1962, and in 1967 he should have won in the STP-Paxton Turbocar, but a bearing broke in its turbine engine with only three laps left to run.

14. Drink of milk

Rather than spraying champagne, the winner of the Indy 500 is usually seen glugging from a bottle of milk. This tradition goes back to three-time winner Louis Meyer, who often drank cold milk to keep cool on hot days.

He was photographed having a swig of milk after winning the 1936 race and the Milk Foundation seized on the opportunity.

Drinking milk become a permanent fixture for the winner of the Indy 500 from 1956.

15. Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti has been successful in every form of motorsport he’s entered, including the Indy 500. He won his only 500 in 1969, which was one of 29 appearances in the race.

Even with this many Indy 500 entries, Andretti only went the full race distance on five occasions, which led to pundits coming up with the ‘Andretti Curse’ that went on to plague his sons Michael and Jeff, as well as his nephew John and grandson Marco.

16. 33 cars in a race

The unusual 33-car starting grid at the Indy 500 is a tradition rooted in simple arithmetic.

While there were 40 cars on the grid for the first race in 1911, the American Automobile Association then brought in a formula that circuits could only run one car for every 400-feet of track. With a 2.5-mile lap, this worked out to 33 cars for Indianapolis.

Carl Fisher, the founder of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, ran with only 30 starters between 1912 and 1914. There have been exceptions, such as 40 cars on the grid between 1930 and 1932, but 33 is the Indy 500 standard.

17. Lotus 38

The combination of Lotus and Jim Clark was hard to beat at the best of times, but when they turned up at the 1965 Indy 500 they were unstoppable.

The Lotus 38 bucked the Indy norm of front-engined cars and showed most a clean pair of wheels thanks to its superior handling, while the 4.2-litre Ford V8 engine put the British car on a par with its US rivals for power at about 500bhp.

The 38 driven by Clark at the Indy 500 was unusual with its asymmetric suspension with one side using longer wishbones than the other to compensate for the left-only turns and banked oval track. However, it was the car’s mid-engined layout that proved most controversial and it became the first of this design to win the Indy 500.

18. Fastest lap

Lap speeds have increased almost every year at the Indy 500. Lee Wallard was the first to break through the 130mph barrier in 1951, followed three years later by Jack McGrath exceeding 140mph.

The first past 150mph was Parnelli Jones in 1963 and he again raised the bar past 160mph in 1967. Mark Donohoe took the fastest lap record beyond 170mph in 1971 and he then took it past 180mph the following year.

The speed hovered around the 190mph figure until 1982 when Rick Mears became the first to lap at more than 200mph, while Eddie Cheever recorded 236.103mph in 1996. No driver has gone faster than that since and 2021’s top lap speed was 227.345mph by Santino Ferrucci (pictured).

19. Miller Special

Harry Miller was an irrepressible race-car manufacturer and not afraid to experiment. His Golden Submarine car was an early enclosed and streamlined machine, though it failed to complete its only Indy 500 outing.

However, success was not far off for Miller and his cars went on to win in 1923 and 1926, and then every year from 1928 to 1934.

The engines designed by Miller were crucial to this racing success and both the four- and eight-cylinder motors proved very effective at the Indy 500.

20. 500 miles

The 500-mile distance for the Indy event was arrived at when founder Carl Fisher and his partners decided spectators wanted a race they could watch between mid-morning and late afternoon.

It also handily made up 200 laps of the 2.5-mile oval track.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has four corners and four straights, and it’s used the same layout since it was opened in 1909.