1909
1909
1909
1910s
1910s
1920s
1920s
1930s
1930s
1940s
1940s
1950s
1950s
1960s
1960s
1970s
1970s
1980s
1980s
1990s
1990s
2000s
2000s
2010s
2010s
2020
2020
Experience the decade that brought star power to IMS and revolutionized racing in the Indy 500.
1960s
IMS DIGITAL ARCHIVE
Scottish racing icon Jim Clark became the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in a rear-engine car. It was also the first time the race was completed with an average speed of over 150 MPH.
1965
The remaining bricks on the front straightaway were covered with asphalt. A 36-inch strip of the original bricks (“Yard of Bricks”) was kept intact at the start/finish line, where it remains today.
OCT. 1961
1961
A.J. Foyt earned the first of his four Indianapolis 500 victories after he took the lead from Eddie Sachs on Lap 197.
Three-time runner-up Jim Rathmann was finally rewarded with a victory in perhaps the greatest “500” ever held...
05/16/2020
READ MORE
The Indy 500 Year-by-Year
ARTICLE
Of the numerous Hollywood “epics” of the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s in which the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has...
05/14/2020
READ MORE
HOLLYWOOD AND
THE INDIANAPOLIS 500
ARTICLE
Long used in international Grand Prix racing, the winner’s wreath at Indianapolis appears to have debuted in 1960...
05/19/2020
READ MORE
Winner’s Wreath Tradition Begins in 1960
ARTICLE
READ MORE
Taking the checkered flag in absolutely appalling conditions at 3 in the afternoon on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1961, a Police Enforcer version...
05/13/2020
24 hour stock car test in 1961
ARTICLE
George Bignotti, the most successful chief mechanic in the history of what is now known as Indy car racing, died at his home in Las Vegas...
05/17/2020
GEORGE BIGNOTTI: ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CHIEF MECHANICS EVER
READ MORE
ARTICLE
IMS HISTORIAN DONALD DAVIDSON
DIGITAL DONALD
READ MORE
05/19/2020
They’re the things that separate the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from every other race or track...
History of the Gordon Pipers' 1963 Debut
ARTICLE
"You think that was something?" Jim Hurtubise said with an ear-to-ear grin after his record-setting run on the fourth day of qualifying...
05/12/2020
READ MORE
A STAR IS BORN: ‘WAIT ‘TILL PARNELLI GETS HERE’
ARTICLE
The May morning was glorious and the atmosphere festive, with the spring sunshine making one wish the day could last forever...
05/05/2020
READ MORE
THE START OF SOMETHING,
AND SOMEONE, NEW
ARTICLE
1960s ALMANAC
1920s
02/18/2009
Andretti on 1969 Centennial Era Moments
VIDEO
02/28/2020
Clark’s Rear-Engine Victory in 1965
VIDEO
04/01/2011
Centennial Moment - Andy Granatelli
VIDEO
05/15/2010
Jim Rathmann, 1960 Indianapolis 500 Winner
VIDEO
IMS DIGITAL ARCHIVE
1909
1909
1909
1910s
1910s
1920s
1920s
1930s
1930s
1940s
1940s
1950s
1950s
1960s
1960s
1970s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020
Experience the decade that introduced modern-day legends to race fans around the world.
1950s
1950s
Experience the decade that introduced modern-day legends to race fans around the world.
IMS DIGITAL ARCHIVE
1909
1909
1909
1910s
1910s
1920s
1930s
1930s
1940s
1940s
1950s
1950s
1960s
1960s
1970s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020
THE INDY 500 YEAR-BY-YEAR
Hollywood Connections
to the Indy 500
Winner’s Wreath Tradition
Begins in 1960
24 hour stock car test in 1961
GEORGE BIGNOTTI: ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CHIEF MECHANICS EVER
DIGITAL DONALD
IMS HISTORIAN DONALD DAVIDSON
Scottish racing icon Jim Clark became the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in a rear-engine car. It was also the first time the race was completed with an average speed of over 150 MPH.
1965
The remaining bricks on the front straightaway were covered with asphalt. A 36-inch strip of the original bricks (“Yard of Bricks”) was kept intact at the start/finish line, where it remains today.
October 1961
A.J. Foyt earned the first of his four Indianapolis 500 victories after he took the lead from Eddie Sachs on Lap 197.
1961
LOOK BOOK
1960s ALMANAC
"You think that was something?" Jim Hurtubise said with an ear-to-ear grin after his record-setting run on the fourth day of qualifying...
05/12/2020
A STAR IS BORN: ‘WAIT ‘TILL PARNELLI GETS HERE’
READ MORE
ARTICLE
The May morning was glorious and the atmosphere festive, with the spring sunshine making one wish the day could last forever...
05/05/2020
The Start of Something, And Someone, New
READ MORE
ARTICLE
They’re the things that separate the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from...
05/19/2020
History of the Gordon Pipers, 1963 Debut
READ MORE
ARTICLE
02/18/2009
Centennial Moment - Andretti, 1969
VIDEO
02/28/2020
Clark’s Rear-Engine Victory in 1965
Was Evolution of Revolution at Indy
VIDEO
04/01/2011
Centennial Moment - Andy Granatelli
VIDEO
05/15/2020
Jim Rathmann, 1960 Indy 500 Winner
VIDEO
1920s
Scottish racing icon Jim Clark became the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in a rear-engine car. It was also the first time the race was completed with an average speed of over 150 MPH.
1965
The remaining bricks on the front straightaway were covered with asphalt. A 36-inch strip of the original bricks (“Yard of Bricks”) was kept intact at the start/finish line, where it remains today.
October 1961
A.J. Foyt earned the first of his four Indianapolis 500 victories after he took the lead from Eddie Sachs on Lap 197.
1961
Hollywood Connections to the Indy 500
The indy 500 year-by-year
Winner’s Wreath Tradition Begins in 1960
24 hour stock car test in 1961
GEORGE BIGNOTTI: ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CHIEF MECHANICS EVER
IMS HISTORIAN DONALD DAVIDSON
DIGITAL DONALD
The famed Wood Brothers Racing team had a historic connection to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 29 years before NASCAR competed at the fabled...
04/29/2020
READ MORE
NASCAR’s Wood Brothers pit Clark in 1965
ARTICLE
05/15/2020
Jim Rathmann, 1960 Indy 500 Winner
VIDEO
04/01/2011
Centennial Moment - Andy Granatelli
VIDEO
02/28/2020
Clark’s Rear-Engine Victory in 1965
Was Evolution of Revolution at Indy
VIDEO
02/18/2009
Centennial Moment - Andretti, 1969
VIDEO
1960s ALMANAC
LOOK BOOK
1970s
LOOK BOOK
10/10
1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti receives the famous “Granatelli Kiss” in Victory Circle from car owner Andy Granatelli after delivering him his first “500” win.
9/10
Andy Granatelli (left) and TV star Johnny Carson (middle) look over the famed No. 40 Granatelli-conceived, Parnelli Jones-driven, aircraft-type construction and four-wheel drive vehicle powered by a Pratt & Whitney gas turbine engine.
8/10
7/10
Progress is made on the construction of the famed Speedway Motel, which was built outside Turn 2 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1962.
6/10
Rodger Ward crosses the now iconic “Yard of Bricks” start/finish line to win the 1962 Indianapolis 500. This was the first year of the finish line race fans know of today, as the final few hundred yards of bricks on the frontstraightaway had been paved over in October 1961.
5/10
Parnelli Jones and the No. 98 crew celebrate the long-awaited breaking of the 150 mph “barrier.” An excited JC Agajainian is holding the sign signifying the milestone.
4/10
Eddie Sachs on pit road during the 1961 Indianapolis 500, in which he lost a riveting battle for the win to A.J. Foyt, who captured his first of four “500” wins.
Defending two-time World Champion Jack Brabham sits in his No. 17 car, a slightly modified British-built F1 Cooper–Climax. The car was the first rear-engined car ever to have finished the “500” and was the start of a rear-engined revolution at IMS. Brabham finished ninth.
3/10
The 500 Festival parade weaving through Downtown Indianapolis and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500 in 1961.
2/10
1/10
IMS Radio Network Chief Announcer and IMS icon Sid Collins calls action during the Month of May in 1960.
The popular Scottish driver Jim Clark celebrates in Victory Circle after his 1965 Indianapolis 500 win. Clark led for 190 of the 200 laps with a factory-entered Lotus, powered by a double-overhead-camshaft V8 Ford engine.
10/10
1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti receives the famous “Granatelli Kiss” in Victory Circle from car owner Andy Granatelli after delivering him his first “500” win.
9/10
Andy Granatelli (left) and TV star Johnny Carson (middle) look over the famed No. 40 Granatelli-conceived, Parnelli Jones-driven, aircraft-type construction and four-wheel drive vehicle powered by a Pratt & Whitney gas turbine engine.
8/10
The popular Scottish driver Jim Clark celebrates in Victory Circle after his 1965 Indianapolis 500 win. Clark led for 190 of the 200 laps with a factory-entered Lotus, powered by a double-overhead-camshaft V8 Ford engine.
7/10
Progress is made on the construction ofhe famed Speedway Motel, which was built outside Turn 2 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1962.
6/10
Rodger Ward crosses the now iconic “Yard of Bricks” start/finish line to win the 1962 Indianapolis 500. This was the first year of the finish line race fans know of today, as the final few hundred yards of bricks on the frontstraightaway had been paved over in October 1961.
5/10
Parnelli Jones and the No. 98 crew celebrate the long-awaited breaking of the 150 mph “barrier.” An excited JC Agajainian is holding the sign signifying the milestone.
4/10
Eddie Sachs on pit road during the 1961 Indianapolis 500, in which he lost a riveting battle for the win to A.J. Foyt, who captured his first of four “500” wins.
Defending two-time World Champion Jack Brabham sits in his No. 17 car, a slightly modified British-built F1 Cooper–Climax. The car was the first rear-engined car ever to have finished the “500” and was the start of a rear-engined revolution at IMS. Brabham finished ninth.
3/10
The 500 Festival parade weaving through Downtown Indianapolis and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500 in 1961.
2/10
1/10
IMS Radio Network Chief Announcer and IMS icon Sid Collins calls action during the Month of May in 1960.
10/10
1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti receives the famous “Granatelli Kiss” in Victory Circle from car owner Andy Granatelli after delivering him his first “500” win.
9/10
Andy Granatelli (left) and TV star Johnny Carson (middle) look over the famed No. 40 Granatelli-conceived, Parnelli Jones-driven, aircraft-type construction and four-wheel drive vehicle powered by a Pratt & Whitney gas turbine engine.
8/10
The popular Scottish driver Jim Clark celebrates in Victory Circle after his 1965 Indianapolis 500 win. Clark led for 190 of the 200 laps with a factory-entered Lotus, powered by a double-overhead-camshaft V8 Ford engine.
7/10
Progress is made on the construction of the famed Speedway Motel, which was built outside urn 2 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1962.
6/10
Rodger Ward crosses the now iconic “Yard of Bricks” start/finish line to win the 1962 Indianapolis 500. This was the first year of the finish line race fans know of today, as the final few hundred yards of bricks on the frontstraightaway had been paved over in October 1961.
5/10
Parnelli Jones and the No. 98 crew celebrate the long-awaited breaking of the 150 mph “barrier.” An excited JC Agajainian is holding the sign signifying the milestone.
4/10
Eddie Sachs on pit road during the 1961 Indianapolis 500, in which he lost a riveting battle for the win to A.J. Foyt, who captured his first of four “500” wins.
Defending two-time World Champion Jack Brabham sits in his No. 17 car, a slightly modified British-built F1 Cooper–Climax. The car was the first rear-engined car ever to have finished the “500” and was the start of a rear-engined revolution at IMS. Brabham finished ninth.
3/10
The 500 Festival parade weaving through Downtown Indianapolis and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500 in 1961.
2/10
1/10
IMS Radio Network Chief Announcer and IMS icon Sid Collins calls action during the Month of May in 1960.
George Bignotti became nearly as well known as some of the top drivers, showing the mechanical wizardry that helped him win the “500”...