"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.

"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. 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." (Wikipedia)

"The Indianapolis 500 is set to be the largest sporting event in the world since the start of the pandemic, with 135,000 spectators permitted to attend "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" next month," the CBS News reports.

"The speedway is the largest sporting facility in the world, with more than 250,000 grandstand seats and the ability to host close to 400,000 on race day throughout the entire property."

"This Memorial Day weekend will bring the 99th running of the Indy 500, the most attended single day sporting event on earth. It is widely expected that next year’s Centennial will shatter all previous marks, but every year the race is a Bucket List event, and if you plan to try for the 100th, there is no better way to make sure you get everything right than with a trial run. After all, the pro drivers all take plenty of practice laps at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway," the Forbes reports.

"General Admission infield seating is always available even on race day, so there is always a way to attend in person. The Speedway is enormous, hard to believe if you haven’t been. Just the infield within the oval spans more than 250-acres, and the city loves to point out that Churchill Downs, Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, and Vatican City can all fit inside it.

"Indianapolis routinely hosts some of the highest profile sporting events in the nation, including the Super Bowl, the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Final Four (both every four years) and a huge annual NASCAR race, and it is a great city for visiting spectators. It has a new and efficient airport, the downtown is concise, close to sports facilities, full of good hotels and restaurants, and the city handles crowds for these events very smoothly."

"It’s the sport which makes your blood flow at 200 miles per hour, Heart pound faster than the Pistons of an Engine, Adrenaline detonates every single minute you see those ‘Hungry Beasts of Speed’ tearing those tracks with fiery hot wheels at 300kmph.

"The Track is a 2.5 mile [4.0 kms] oval circuit with 4 distinct turns of identical dimensions. The cool and legendary speedsters with the nerves of steel race through the track at 200 miles per hour," The Hoard Planet reports.

"The Crazy purring sound of hot Engines, The hum of acceleration. The vibrations you feel when they get closer to you. The Cheering of the crowd. The Excitement running in your body. All these Extravaganzas of speed. It’s just totally spectacular to be there."

"Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, the largest single-day sporting event in the world, is now a certified responsible event by the Council for Responsible Sport (Council)," the official website says.

"This is an important milestone for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as we work toward our goal of becoming carbon negative,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. “As the world’s largest single-day sporting event, we know we have an opportunity to be a leader in encouraging other major events to strive toward sustainability and positive social impact. We are grateful that the Council for Responsible Sport has helped provide us with a road map to accomplish this important task and mission, which aligns with the goals and values of IMS and Penske Entertainment.”

"At 112-years-old, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the oldest continually operating racetrack in the United States and is known as the Racing Capital of the World. IMS is the world’s largest sports seating facility and hosts the largest single-day sporting event in the world, the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, also known as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The Speedway also hosts the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series annually and has played host to many of the greatest champions, pioneers and innovators in auto racing, motorcycle and aviation competition history."

"It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Indiana Sports Corp revolutionized the industry, essentially writing the playbook on how cities can create a booming athletic community. And after years of being Indiana-No-Place, they transformed Indianapolis into the Amateur Sports Capital of the World. Founded in 1979, Indiana Sports Corp was America’s first sports commission ever. ISC recognized the value in Indianapolis’ downtown area, venues, and community. For the past 40 years, they’ve used our strengths to fill our stands and bring the biggest sporting events in history to our streets," the Indy Influence says. 

"The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the oldest continually operating racetrack as well as the world’s largest sports seating facility featuring IndyCar, NASCAR, USAC, and MotoAmerica. It hosts the largest single-day sports event, the Indy 500. “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” is an event like no other, with celebrations all month long like the mini-marathon and the festival parade. People from all over the country flock to watch the 33 drivers compete for 500 miles to drink that cold bottle of milk and kiss the legendary bricks."

"When Indiana chose to become a home for both amateur and professional sports, Hoosiers answered the call. Indianapolis is host to a plethora of professional teams, state of the art facilities, and sports business headquarters. The laundry list of options is part of what makes it an incredible host city and arguably the sports capital of the world. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), and USA Gymnastics are all headquartered here in Indy. Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Bankers Life, and Lucas Oil are all unbeatable facilities. Along with some of the best spaces, the connectedness and walkability of downtown make it convenient as ever for spectators of these big sporting events."

"The 500 purses continued to increase in value into the new century, the totals often fluctuating due to the amount of “contingency” prize money posted and earned. The current record for the overall race purse stands at $14,406, 580, paid in 2008, while the record for the winner’s share is $3,048, 005 earned in 2009 for the mighty team Penske by Helio Castroneves, the popular three-time winner from Brazil," the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis says.



"Attendance figures, although unofficial (the Motor Speedway does not release this information), are similarly impressive. The race is reputed to be the largest single-day sporting event in the world, with estimates of the crowd size in some years having exceeded 400,000.

"As worldwide exposure of the 500 increased, hand-in-hand with technological advances, rising speeds, and increased involvement in recent years by both automotive and non-automotive international corporations, a variety of socially intriguing “firsts” have taken place."