Indianapolis 500

Getting a full-ride scholarship to a prestigious school like MIT is the dream of many high school students. If they somehow found themselves in that position, 99 percent of those students would jump at the opportunity. J.R. Hildebrand was the other 1 percent. Since he was a kid, all Hildebrand wanted to do was race. […]

Whether donning retro-inspired T-shirts or suiting up to get down in the Snake Pit in their finest “American-flag casual,” attendees of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing have plenty of fashionable race-day options from local retailers. Broad Ripple’s The Shop is a popular destination for people looking for apparel for their favorite Indy sports team or […]

For the last 90 laps of the Indy 500, Rossi’s team strategist wanted him to do the impossible—go farther than the fuel he had could take him.

An estimated 350,000 people attended to see Lady Gaga take a two-seater ride with 500 legend Mario Andretti, and to watch Alexander Rossi cross the finish line on fumes then get a tow to Victory Lane.

At age 48, Lazier has the most experience of anyone in the race. However, team owners are not interested in signing him to drive for their team. Rather, team owners are on the lookout for the youngest talent they can find.

“I’m ready to go,” Karam says. “I’m starting 23rd—but I don’t think I’m going to be there for long.”

While some drivers put in headphones and get themselves pumped up before a race, Hinchcliffe likes to crack jokes with his team until they put him into the car.

“All I can compare it to is going down a ski slope. You’re making those long, winding turns. You feel the skis about to lose their grip, getting away from you—but not quite.”

“The can looks like one you might’ve seen at the track back in the day. It might be a conversation starter with some of the old-timers.”

“The car can’t tell what color it’s painted, it can’t tell what color my helmet is, and it can’t tell what gender I am when I’m driving it,” says Mann. “I’m just one of the drivers in the race.”

The race and related on-track activities have claimed the lives of at least 54 drivers, mechanics, IMS workers, and spectators since 1911. But innovation in safety procedures and technology have tempered the tragedy.

You’re fighting for fractions of a second all the time out there. That isn’t even a blink of an eye, but at the speeds you race at, that turns into footage. Half a car length, a car length—whatever it was. In my eyes, it was a mile.

In one image, a sampling of the 80,000-plus spectators take in the action from the fourth turn, some in the north grandstands and others from their own vehicles. Some fans appear somewhat more debauched—particularly the gentleman to the right of the rutted roadway who appears to be unconscious.