Indianapolis Motor Speedway
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| Layouts - Oval - Infield |
This track has been used with the permission of www.etracksonline.co.uk
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana (a separate town completely surrounded by Indianapolis, Indiana|Indianapolis) in the United States, is the second-oldest surviving automobile racing track in the United States (after the Milwaukee Mile), having existed since 1909, and the original "Speedway," the first racing facility historically to incorporate the word. It is one of the oldest active circuits in the world. The track is a relatively flat (by American standards; considered high-banked by European) two and a half mile oval, almost rectangular in shape. The dimensions have remained unchanged since 1909. There are two 5/8 mile straightaways, two 1/8 mile short straightaways, and four 1/4 mile turns. The infield road course includes parts of the oval to create a 2.6 mile track. Altogether, today the grounds have expanded to cover over a total current area of 559 acres from an original 320 from which the Speedway was first built. With a combined permanent seating and infield spectator capacity of over 400,000, it is the largest sporting facility in the world, and generally recognized as among the most famous and prestigious in auto racing history. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, currently the only such landmark to be affiliated with automotive history since its inception.
To date, a total of 222 automobile races between August 19, 1909 and August 6, 2006 have been held, with 123 separate drivers winning.
The prestige and pageantry of Indianpolis Motor Speedway is the Indianapolis 500, held during Memorial Day weekend every year. The racing calendar of the event spans the entire month, including 4 days of qualifying and special events like a pit stop competition. The most successful drivers at the 500 are A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears, have each won the event four times.
The 500 had such a special nature to the Speedway that for many years, it was the only race run at the Brickyard. That all changed in 1994, when the Brickyard 400, a NASCAR event, was first run at Indy. Jeff Gordon, the inaugural winner, has won the event four times.
The Speedway has also gone on to welcome Formula One, with the revival of the United States Grand Prix. In its short history, the Grand Prix has produced the winningest driver at Indy, when Michael Schumacher won his fifth USGP in 2006.
In July 2007, it was announced that Formula One would not continue racing at IMS. It will, however, host racing in the MotoGP series.
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| Sprint Cup Series Tracks |
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Atlanta -
Bristol -
California -
Charlotte -
Chicagoland -
Darlington -
Daytona -
Dover -
Homestead -
Indianapolis -
Infineon |
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| IndyCar Series Tracks |
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Belle Isle -
Chicagoland -
Edmonton -
Homestead -
Indianapolis -
Infineon -
Iowa -
Kansas -
Kentucky -
Long Beach |
