Indianapolis 500, byname Indy 500, U.S. automobile race held annually from 1911, except for the war years 1917–18 and 1942–45. The race is always run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, a suburban enclave of Indianapolis, Indiana. Drawing crowds of several hundred thousand people, the race is among the world’s best-attended single-day sporting events. It is held on the weekend of the country’s Memorial Day holiday.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909 as a testing facility for the local automotive industry. The track was first paved with crushed rock and tar but was soon repaved with brick; hence, the speedway is often called the “Brickyard.” Resurfacing with asphalt has covered all but a 36-inch (91-cm) strip of bricks at the start/finish line. The 2.5-mile (4-km) track has two 3,300-foot (1,000-metre) straightaways, two 660-foot (200-metre) straightaways, and four quarter-mile (400-metre) turns each banked at an angle of about 9 degrees. The speedway is also home to a 400-mile (644-km) stock-car race each August.
Racing cars used in the Indianapolis 500 have undergone considerable modification over time. The officially approved car now in use has an open-wheel, low-slung, open-cockpit chassis with a rear-mounted high-performance engine having a displacement of 183.6 cubic inches (3.0 litres). Drivers must first qualify in a four-lap time trial. The race starts with a field of 33 cars, arranged in rows of three on the basis of qualifying time. Racers then compete over a distance of 500 miles (800 km), or 200 laps.
In 1911 American Ray Harroun won the first 500 in about 6 hours 42 minutes with an average speed of 74.6 miles (120.1 km) per hour; he received winnings of $14,250. By the race’s ninth decade, the winner’s average speed typically exceeded 160 miles (257 km) per hour—with single-lap speeds of some 220 miles (355 km) per hour—and earnings were roughly $1.3 million. The first foreigner to win the race was Frenchman Jules Goux in 1913, and women began competing in 1977. Since 1936 it has been traditional for the winner to celebrate by drinking a bottle of milk.
In the early decades of the Indianapolis 500, the race was sanctioned by the American Automobile Association (AAA). From 1956 to 1997 the race was under the aegis of the United States Auto Club (USAC). A rival open-wheel racing series known as Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was formed in 1979. By the mid-1990s CART had successfully replaced USAC as the leading power in IndyCar racing. In 1996 speedway owner Tony George formed the Indy Racing League (IRL) to counteract the influence of CART. The IRL has overseen the 500 since 1997. CART went bankrupt in 2003 and was re-formed the following year as Champ Car. In 2008 the IRL merged with Champ Car, unifying the two leagues under the IRL name.
A chronological list of Indianapolis 500 winners is provided in the table.
Indianapolis 500
year
winner1
average speed (mph)
1Won by U.S. racer except as indicated.
2Scheduled 300-mile race.
3No competition 1917–18 and 1942–45.
4Race stopped because of rain—in 1926 after 400 miles, in 1950 after 345 miles, in 1973 after 332.5 miles, in 1975 after 435 miles, in 1976 after 255 miles, in 2004 after 450 miles, and in 2007 after 415 miles.
1911
Ray Harroun
74.602
1912
Joe Dawson
78.719
1913
Jules Goux (France)
75.933
1914
René Thomas (France)
82.474
1915
Ralph DePalma
89.840
19162
Dario Resta (France)
84.001
19193
Howdy Wilcox
88.050
1920
Gaston Chevrolet
88.618
1921
Tommy Milton
89.621
1922
Jimmy Murphy
94.484
1923
Tommy Milton
90.954
1924
L.L. Corum, Joe Boyer
98.234
1925
Peter DePaolo
101.127
19264
Frank Lockhart
95.904
1927
George Souders
97.545
1928
Louis Meyer
99.482
1929
Ray Keech
97.585
1930
Billy Arnold
100.448
1931
Louis Schneider
96.629
1932
Fred Frame
104.144
1933
Louis Meyer
104.162
1934
Bill Cummings
104.863
1935
Kelly Petillo
106.240
1936
Louis Meyer
109.069
1937
Wilbur Shaw
113.580
1938
Floyd Roberts
117.200
1939
Wilbur Shaw
115.035
1940
Wilbur Shaw
114.277
1941
Floyd Davis, Mauri Rose
115.117
19463
George Robson
114.820
1947
Mauri Rose
116.338
1948
Mauri Rose
119.814
1949
Bill Holland
121.327
19504
Johnnie Parsons
124.002
1951
Lee Wallard
126.244
1952
Troy Ruttman
128.922
1953
Bill Vukovich
128.740
1954
Bill Vukovich
130.840
1955
Bob Sweikert
128.209
1956
Pat Flaherty
128.490
1957
Sam Hanks
135.601
1958
Jimmy Bryan
133.791
1959
Rodger Ward
135.857
1960
Jim Rathmann
138.767
1961
A.J. Foyt
139.131
1962
Rodger Ward
140.293
1963
Parnelli Jones
143.137
1964
A.J. Foyt
147.350
1965
Jim Clark (Scot.)
150.686
1966
Graham Hill (Eng.)
144.317
1967
A.J. Foyt
151.207
1968
Bobby Unser
152.882
1969
Mario Andretti
156.867
1970
Al Unser
155.749
1971
Al Unser
157.735
1972
Mark Donohue
162.962
19734
Gordon Johncock
159.036
1974
Johnny Rutherford
158.589
19754
Bobby Unser
149.213
19764
Johnny Rutherford
148.725
1977
A.J. Foyt
161.331
1978
Al Unser
161.363
1979
Rick Mears
158.899
1980
Johnny Rutherford
142.862
1981
Bobby Unser
139.084
1982
Gordon Johncock
162.029
1983
Tom Sneva
162.117
1984
Rick Mears
163.612
1985
Danny Sullivan
152.982
1986
Bobby Rahal
170.722
1987
Al Unser
162.175
1988
Rick Mears
144.809
1989
Emerson Fittipaldi (Braz.)
167.581
1990
Arie Luyendyk (Neth.)
185.984
1991
Rick Mears
176.457
1992
Al Unser, Jr.
134.479
1993
Emerson Fittipaldi (Braz.)
157.207
1994
Al Unser, Jr.
160.872
1995
Jacques Villeneuve (Can.)
153.616
1996
Buddy Lazier
147.956
1997
Arie Luyendyk (Neth.)
145.827
1998
Eddie Cheever, Jr.
145.155
1999
Kenny Brack (Swed.)
153.176
2000
Juan Pablo Montoya (Colom.)
167.607
2001
Helio Castroneves (Braz.)
153.601
2002
Helio Castroneves (Braz.)
166.499
2003
Gil de Ferran (Braz.)
156.291
20044
Buddy Rice
138.518
2005
Dan Wheldon (Eng.)
157.603
2006
Sam Hornish, Jr.
157.085
20074
Dario Franchitti (Scot.)
151.744
2008
Scott Dixon (N.Z.)
143.567
2009
Helio Castroneves (Braz.)
150.318
2010
Dario Franchitti (Scot.)
161.623
2011
Dan Wheldon (Eng.)
170.265
2012
Dario Franchitti (Scot.)
167.734
2013
Tony Kanaan (Braz.)
187.433
2014
Ryan Hunter-Reay
186.563
2015
Juan Pablo Montoya (Colom.)
161.341
2016
Alexander Rossi
166.634
2017
Sato Takuma (Japan)
155.395
2018
Will Power (Austl.)
166.935
2019
Simon Pagenaud (France)
175.794
2020
Sato Takuma (Japan)
157.824
2021
Helio Castroneves (Braz.)
190.690
2022
Marcus Ericsson (Swed.)
175.428
2023
Josef Newgarden
168.193
A chronological list of IndyCar champions is provided in the table.
IndyCar champions
CART*/Champ Car
year
driver**
*Championship Auto Racing Teams; Champ Car from 2003 to 2007; merged with IRL in 2008.
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