User:Rob.spradling/Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500 has a very extensive revision history. The current version looks more similar to its original version than 23 Blast did. The biggest difference in the article is in the amount of information. There was a decent amount of information when the article was created, but now there is much more. There have been several sections added and there are now a lot more sub sections. I feel like there has never been a real consensus on how the article should be organized and I think that that has been the biggest problem for the article.

• I could not identify who made the major edits because of the number of edits.

Indianapolis 500

History[edit]

The Early Years[edit]

Joe Dawson winning the 1912 Indianapolis 500

The

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 one-thousand-mile (1,600 km) event. They decided on 500 miles (800 km), the estimated distance a race car could run before dark descended on the track, and a spectacular purse of $25,000, equivalent to 82.93 pounds (37.62 kg) of pure gold. The combination allowed the track to rapidly acquire a privileged status for automobile races.

The

The Mercedes-Benz W154 entered by Don Lee at the 1947 Indianapolis 500 with Duke Nalon as driver

Following the European trends, engine sizes were limited to 183 cu in (3,000 cc) during 1920–1922, 122 cu in (2,000 cc) for 1923–1925, and 91 cu in (1,490 cc) in 1926–1929. The 1920 race was won by

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 prohibited supercharging and increased the displacement limit to 366 cu in (6,000 cc), while also re-introducing the riding mechanic.

In 1935, Miller's former employees, Fred Offenhauser and Leo Goossen, had already achieved their first win with the soon-to-become famous 4-cylinder Offenhauser or "Offy" engine. This motor was forever connected with the Brickyard's history with a to-date record total of 27 wins, in both naturally aspirated and supercharged form, and winning a likewise record-holding 18 consecutive years between 1947 and 1964.

European Incursions and Links to Formula One[edit]

Meanwhile, European manufacturers, gone from the Indianapolis 500 for nearly two decades, made a brief return just before

It was not until the Indianapolis 500 was removed from the World Championship calendar that European entries made their return. In 1963, technical innovator Colin Chapman brought his Team Lotus to Indianapolis for the first time, attracted by the large monetary prizes, far bigger than the usual at a European event. Racing a mid-engined car, Scotsman Jim Clark was second in his first attempt in 1963, dominating in 1964 until suffering suspension failure on lap 47, and completely dominating the race in 1965, a victory which also interrupted the success of the Offy, and giving the 4.2-liter Ford V8 its first success at the race. The following year, 1966, saw another British win, this time Graham Hill in a Lola-Ford.

The Offenhauser engine was also paired with a European maker, McLaren, obtaining three wins for the chassis, one with the Penske team in 1972 with driver Mark Donohue, and two for the McLaren works team in 1974 and 1976 with Johnny Rutherford. This was also the last time the Offy would win a race, its competitiveness steadily decreasing until its final appearance in 1983. American drivers continued to fill the majority of entries at the Brickyard in the following years, but European technology had taken over. Starting in 1978, most chassis and engines were European, with the only American-based chassis to win during the CART era being the Wildcat and Galmer (which was technically built in Bicester, England) in 1982 and 1992, respectively. Ford and Chevrolet engines were built in the UK by Cosworth and Ilmor, respectively.

Fernando Alonso was the most recent active Formula One driver to race at the Indy 500-mile race, in 2017. Before that, no active F1 driver had competed in the Indy 500 since 1984.

World Series[edit]

Emerson Fittipaldi driving the Penske PC-23 at the 1994 event

After foreign cars became the norm, foreign drivers began competing in the Indianapolis 500 regularly, choosing the United States as their primary base for their motor racing activities.

In 2009, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway began a three-year-long "Centennial Era" to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the track (1909), and the 100th anniversary of the first Indy 500 (1911). As a gesture to the nostalgic Centennial Era celebration (2009–2011), tickets for the 2009 race donned the moniker "93rd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes". It is the first time since 1980 that the "Sweepstakes" title has been used. During the month of May 2009, the ordinal (93rd) was used very sparingly, and for the first time since 1981, was not identified on the annual logo. Instead, in most instances in print, television, and radio, the race was referred to as the "2009 Indianapolis 500". Since the race was not held during the United States' participation in the two World Wars (1917–1918, 1942–1945), the advertised Centennial Era occurred during the 93rd to 95th runnings. To avoid confusion between the 100th anniversary, and the actual number of times the race has been run, references to the ordinal during the Centennial Era were curtailed.

Six years later, in 2016, the race celebrated its 100th running with about 350,000 in attendance.

Four local actors were hire to portray the Founding Four of James Allison, Carl Fisher, Frank Wheeler, and Arthur Newby during multiple Centennial Era events and the 100th race. Harold Hefner (Allison), Tom Harrison (Fisher), Jeff Angel (Wheeler), and Matthew Allen (Newby).

Race Name[edit]

The Chrysler 300 pace setter used in 1963 in the 47th running of the Indianapolis 500

The race was originally advertised as the "International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race" from 1911 to 1916. However, from its inception, the race has been widely known as the Indianapolis 500 or, more simply as "the 500". In 1919, the race was referred to as the "Liberty Sweepstakes" following WWI. From 1920 to 1980, the race officially reverted to the "International Sweepstakes" moniker, as printed on the tickets and other paraphernalia, with slight variations over the years.

Following WWII, the race was commonly recognized as "The 500", "The 500-Mile Race", "Indianapolis 500-Mile Race", "Indianapolis 500", or the simple form "Indy 500". Usually the ordinal (e.g. "50th") preceded it. Often the race was also advertised on the radio as the "Annual Memorial Day race," or similar variations.

For the

For nearly a century, the race eschewed any sort of

The Borg-Warner Trophy, introduced in 1936, proclaims the event as the "Indianapolis 500-Mile Race", with no reference at all to the name "International Sweepstakes".

Race specifics[edit]

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis 500 is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile (4 km) oval circuit. The track is a rounded-rectangle, with four distinct turns of identical dimensions, connected by four straightaways (two long straightaways and two "short chutes"). Traditionally, the field consists of 33 starters, aligned in a starting grid of eleven rows of three cars apiece. Drivers race 200 laps, counter-clockwise around the circuit, for a distance of 500 miles (800 km). Since its inception in 1911, the race has always been scheduled on or around Memorial Day. Since 1974, the race has been specifically scheduled for the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend is widely considered one of the most important days on the motorsports calendar, as it is the day of the Indianapolis 500, the Coca-Cola 600, and (currently) the Monaco Grand Prix. Practice and time trials are held in the two weeks leading up to the race, while miscellaneous preliminary testing is held as early as April.

The race is the most prestigious event of the IndyCar calendar, and one of the oldest and most important automobile races. It has been reported to be the largest single-day sporting event in the world. Likewise, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway itself is regarded as the world's largest sporting facility in terms of capacity. The total purse exceeded $13 million in 2011, with over $2.5 million awarded to the winner, making it one of the richest cash prize funds in sports.

Similar to NASCAR's Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 is typically held early in the IndyCar Series season. That is unique to most sports where major events are usually at the end of the respective season. Currently, the Indy 500 is the sixth event of the 17-race IndyCar schedule. From the 1970s to the 1990s, Indianapolis was often the second or third race of the season, and as late as the 1950s, it was sometimes the first championship event of the year. Due to the high prestige of the Indianapolis 500—rivaling or even surpassing the season championship—it is not uncommon for some teams and drivers to focus heavily on preparing for that race during the early part of the season, and not focus fully on the championship battle until after Indy.

Due to safety issues such as aquaplaning, the race is not held in wet conditions. In the event of a rain delay, the race will be postponed until rain showers cease, and the track is sufficiently dried. If rain falls during the race, officials can end the race and declare the results official if more than half of the scheduled distance (i.e., 101 laps) has been completed. The Indianapolis 500, as well as other IndyCar Series races, does not utilize the green–white–checker finish in case of a late-race yellow. The race can be (and in the past has been) finished under caution. However, officials may call for a late-race red flag to ensure a green-flag finish, an option that was used in 2014 and 2019. The circuit lacks lights, therefore lateness can become a factor in the cases of lengthy delays.

The Car

The event is contested by

Penske PC-23 Mercedes, 1994 winning car

Technical specifications for the Indianapolis 500 are currently written by IndyCar. Rules are generally the same as every other IndyCar race. In the past, particularly during the era in which USAC sanctioned the Indy 500 (but CART sanctioned the other Indy car races), rules at Indy slightly differed at times. The result, for example, would be a particular chassis or engine configuration being legal at Indy, but not so at the CART-sanctioned events. This was rather commonplace in the 1980s and early 1990s, when "stock-block" engines (namely the V-6 Buick) was allotted an increased level of turbocharger boost by USAC at Indy, compared to the purpose-built V-8 quad-cam engines. While the "stock block" engines were technically legal in CART competition, they were not given the increased boost advantage, which effectively rendered them uncompetitive, and precluded their use by teams. The most famous manifestation of the USAC rules disparity was the Ilmor-built Mercedes-Benz 500I engine fielded by Roger Penske in 1994.

Teams may enter up to two machines under a given car number—the "primary" car and a "backup" car. The backup car is identified by the letter "T". For example, the two cars for the #2 team would be numbered #2 and #2T. Both cars may be practiced during the month, but due to engine lease rules, they must share the same engine. It is not uncommon for teams to prefer their backup car, if it is deemed faster, or for other strategic reasons. Additionally, as the month wears on, a "T car" may be split off into a separate entry, and reassigned a new number, or be sold to another team.

All cars must pass a rigorous technical inspection before receiving a sticker signifying that the car is eligible to practice. Various criteria include minimum weight, dimensions, and approved parts, particularly safety equipment. Before and after qualification attempts, cars must pass another inspection. The pre-qualifying inspection is focused on safety aspects and is done on the pit lane qualifying queue. It is relatively brief, due to the time constraints of the qualifying procedure. The post-qualifying inspection is much more stringent and lengthy, taking place in the garage area. It is to detect deviations from the performance guidelines set forth by the league, and cars can and have been fined or outright disqualified if they fail inspection.

During the race, work on the car is permitted, but it is usually limited to routine pit stop work (changing tires and refueling) and minor adjustments (wing angles, etc.) Pit stop activity is rigorously rehearsed by the crews and in modern times, routine pits stops are regularly completed in under ten seconds. Other more involved work, such as replacing damaged bodywork (wings, nose cones, etc.), can also be completed quickly by the crews. More lengthy repairs are allowed, and since 1998 teams are permitted to return to the garage area to make repairs. However, there are limitations to the extent of repair work allowed and the practicality of such work. Teams are not allowed to change engines, and since 1933 a rule has been in place where teams are not allowed to add oil. In addition, the officials designate a certain lap after which cars off the track being serviced/repaired are no longer permitted to return to the race.

Qualifying procedure[edit]

Further information: List of Indianapolis 500 pole-sitters Scott Dixon makes his pole-winning qualification run for the 2008 Indianapolis 500

Throughout the years, the race has used several different qualifying procedures. The current four-lap (ten-mile) qualifying distance was first introduced in 1920 and has been used every year since 1939.

In 2019, the qualifying procedure was refined. "Bump Day" and "Pole Day" were moved the second day of qualifying and drivers who qualified in positions 10-30 will be locked into the field on day one. On the weekend before the race (Saturday and Sunday), all cars are entered into a blind draw for the qualifying order.

• Saturday: All entries are guaranteed at least one attempt to qualify and can make additional attempts if time permits. At the end of the session, the fastest nine drivers advance to a "shootout" session held on the next day to determine pole position and the first three rows of the grid. As mentioned above, drivers who qualify 10th-30th have their spots locked in and will not re-qualify. Drivers who qualify 31st and lower advance to a separate "shootout" session also held on the next day to determine the final three spots on the grid.

• Sunday: The drivers who qualified 31st and lower from Saturday have their original times erased. These drivers are then given only one attempt to re-qualify using the same four-lap format. Drivers who qualify 31st-33rd have their positions locked in. Drivers who finish 34th and lower fail to qualify. The fastest nine drivers from Saturday take part in the "Fast Nine Shootout". The qualifying order is based on the times from Saturday's session from slowest to fastest. Once again, the times from Saturday are erased and each driver is given only one attempt. The fastest driver wins the highly coveted pole position and the remaining eight drivers have their positions locked in based on their times.

For each attempt, cars are allowed two warm-up laps. At that time, a member of the team is stationed at the north end of the main stretch. He or she must wave a green flag, signaling an attempt, or else the car will be waved off. The attempt can be waved off during any of the four laps by the team, driver, or race officials. (The series will wave off the run if it is obvious the run will not be fast enough to qualify and it is getting late in the day.) If an attempt is waved off after the run starts, the attempt counts towards the three-attempt limit and the previous time is still forfeited unless race officials waved off the attempt because of weather.

Race sanctioning[edit]

AAA and USAC[edit]

The Borg-Warner Trophy presented to Indy 500 winners in victory lane, otherwise on permanent display at the Hall of Fame Museum

From 1911 to 1955, the race was organized under the auspices of the

From 1950 to 1960, the Indianapolis 500 also counted toward the

The starting field of the 2007 Indianapolis 500 in formation before the start

In 1994, Speedway owner

In response to CART's 1996 schedule that put several races in direct conflict with the first Indy Racing League events, George announced that 25 of the 33 starting positions at the 1996 Indy 500 would be reserved for the top 25 cars in IRL points standings. This effectively left eight starting positions open to the CART-regulars that chose not to participate in the IRL races and would be the first time that not all 33 spots were open for qualification in the history of the race. CART refused to compromise on the schedule conflicts, skip the IRL races required to accumulate the qualifying points, boycott the race, and stage a competing event, the U.S. 500, on the same day at Michigan. Veteran Buddy Lazier won a competitive but crash-filled 1996 Indy 500. Two CART teams, Walker Racing and Galles Racing, competed in the Indianapolis 500 to fulfill sponsor obligations and were welcomed without incident. The U.S. 500, meanwhile was marred by a crash on the pace laps that forced ten teams to use backup cars. Hélio Castroneves, winner in 2001, 2002 and 2009 For 1997, new rules for less expensive cars and "production-based" engines were put into place. The move made it such that the IRL utilized different and incompatible equipment from CART; no CART-based teams would enter the Indy 500 for the next three years. CART would run a 300-mile race Gateway International Raceway on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend from 1997–1999 to avoid a conflict.

In 2000,

The 2012 race was the return of Turbocharged engines for the first time since 1996 with the use of the Dallara DW12 chassis and 2.2 L V-6 single-turbo and twin-turbocharged engines.^[citation needed]

NASCAR and the 500[edit]

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the Indy 500 and the

Main article: List of female Indianapolis 500 drivers Danica Patrick on Pole Day at Indy, 2007 Female participation of any sort at Indianapolis was discouraged and essentially banned throughout the first several decades of competition. As such, female reporters were not even allowed in the pit area until 1971. There have been nine female drivers to qualify, starting with Janet Guthrie in 1977.

Sarah Fisher has competed nine times, the most of any woman. Danica Patrick led 19 laps in the 2005 race and ten laps in the 2011 race, the only times a woman has led laps during the race. Pippa Mann has raced in Indy five consecutive times between 2013 and 2017.

Memorabilia[edit]

Many people promote and share information about the Indianapolis 500 and its memorabilia collecting. The National Indy 500 Collectors Club is an independent active organization that has been dedicated to supporting such activities. The organization was established January 1, 1985, in Indianapolis by its founder John Blazier and includes an experienced membership available for discussion and advice on Indy 500 memorabilia trading and Indy 500 questions in general.

The longest-running Indy racing memorabilia show is the National Auto Racing Memorabilia Show.^{[citation needed]}

Entertainment[edit]

Main article: Indianapolis 500 in film and media

The Indianapolis 500 has been the subject of several films and has been referenced many times in television, movies, and other media.

Milk[edit]

2011 winner Dan Wheldon holding a bottle of milk

Louis Meyer requested a glass of buttermilk after winning his second Indy 500 race in 1933. After winning his third title in 1936, he requested another glass but instead received a bottle. He was captured by a photographer in the act of swigging from the bottle while holding up three fingers to signify the third win. A local dairy company executive recognized the marketing opportunity in the image and, being unaware Meyer was drinking buttermilk, offered a bottle of milk to the winners of future races. Milk has been presented each year since then, apart from 1947 to 1955. Modern drivers are offered a choice of whole, 2%, and skim.

At the 1993 Indianapolis 500, winner Emerson Fittipaldi, who owned and operated an orange grove, notoriously drank orange juice instead of milk during the televised winner's interview. He eventually relented and also drank from the milk bottle later in the post-race ceremonies after the broadcast was over, but the public relations damage had already been done. The snub led to Fittipaldi being booed at the next ChampCar race, the Milwaukee Mile, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the heart of dairy country, and by some, as late as 2008 in which he drove the pace car. In 2016, as a promotion, the track gave out commemorative bottles of milk to 100,000 attendees to toast the winner with milk after the race.

Broadcasting[edit]

Radio coverage of the race dates back to 1922. The race has been broadcast live on the radio in its entirety by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network since 1953.

The Hulmans did not allow live television coverage of the 500 until 1986, largely to maximize gate attendance. The race was briefly televised live in 1949 and 1950 on

From 1986 through 2018, ABC televised the race live in its entirety. However, at the request of the Speedway, Indianapolis affiliate WRTV was required to blackout the live broadcast and carry it on tape delay in prime time to encourage local race attendance; WRTV would air the ABC primetime lineup in the afternoon. In 2007 (the first year in which the race was carried under the ESPN on ABC branding), the race was first aired in high-definition. In 2016, the IMS declared a sell-out of race tickets for the 100th running of the event, meaning that WRTV would be allowed to air the race live for the first time since 1950.

Under the live coverage arrangement, the Indianapolis affiliate of the network airing the race airs that day's programming in a transposed arrangement, with network primetime programming airing during the race and transmitted to the affiliate in advance (for instance in 2019, WTHR aired the season finale of the NBC primetime series Good Girls at 2 p.m. local time), while the race airs on tape delay in prime time.

Coverage of time trials on ABC dates back to 1961. ABC covered time trials in various live and in tape-delayed formats from 1961 to 2008 and from 2014 to 2018. ESPN (and later along with ESPN2) carried various portions of time trials from 1987 to 2008. Versus (now NBCSN) covered time trials from 2009 to 2013. Practice sessions have been streamed live online dating back to at least 2001.

In 2019, coverage of the Indianapolis 500 moved to NBC, as part of a new three-year contract that unifies the IndyCar Series' television rights with NBC Sports (the parent division of its current cable partner NBCSN), and replaces the package of five races broadcast by ABC with an eight-race package on NBC. The Indianapolis 500 is one of the eight races; this contract ended ABC's 54-year tenure as broadcaster of the race. WTHR is now the local broadcaster of the race under this contract; the existing blackout policy remains, though speedway officials have left the door open to allowing WTHR to air the race live in the event of a sellout. In contrast with the usual sell-out policy, in 2020, the race aired live on WTHR, as IMS owner Roger Penske announced on April 4 there would be no public admission for any of the year's events due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in the state.