Donald Davidson, a native Brit whose encyclopaedic knowledge of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500 earned him the distinction of the track’s preeminent historian, plans to retire at the end of the year.
Joe Hale will oversee the museum’s operations, programming, partnerships, communications and advertising efforts.
The 28th annual running of the race will be part of a doubleheader in which IndyCar will race on the road course on Aug. 14, followed by the NASCAR race on Aug. 15.
The basement of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is jam-packed with hundreds of vehicles that never go on display. Some of those cars are going on the auction block.
The determination to allow spectators at the 300,000-seat venue came from the Marion County Public Health Department.
In 2020, Carb Day was little more than a two-hour Friday practice session three months after the usual Memorial Day holiday weekend so familiar to the race.
The 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 is Sunday. For the surrounding community of Speedway, which bills itself as the racing capital of the world, many residents will be watching from home, and they are filled with sadness.
Roger Penske will not pretend he is not disappointed that he can’t open the gates to spectators for his first Indianapolis 500 as steward of the iconic event.
The network is hoping to deliver a broadcast that educates what could be one of the largest audiences in race history while also turning some casual fans into avid ones.
The race had been postponed from its usual Memorial Day weekend date to Aug. 23, before announcements that the track would limit seating to 50% and then later 25%—with masks required—and now with no fans at all.
The decision to allow local fans to watch the race live comes one day after Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials announced plans to reduce attendance capacity for this year’s race to 25%.
Officials said that ticket sales for the Aug. 23 race will not be permitted after Friday, which could further limit the number of people who attend the 104th running of the Indy 500.
Penske gave a two-hour tour of the speedway this week, showing off with dizzying detail the new landscaping, paved lots, planted trees, picnic tables, widened pedestrian paths, hand dryers in every bathroom, improved sight lines, pressure-washed buildings, freshly painted signs and LED monitors everywhere.
The judges commended IBJ’s “expansive content that reaches into the corners of transportation, technology, sports, health, higher education, civic affairs, state government and more.”
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials are putting all their energy into running the Indy 500 with fans in August, despite continuing concerns about big crowds and the coronavirus.
Gov. Eric Holcomb’s five-stage roadmap to reopen the state reaches its end on July 4 — the very day an IndyCar-NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader is scheduled to be run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The added stop at Indianapolis, called the Harvest GP, would be the third trip to the speedway in one season for IndyCar.
The race—rescheduled for Aug. 23—is on an otherwise open weekend in the city’s summer event calendar, which could fill hotel rooms at a time they would otherwise have been empty.
The not-for-profit organization that plans community events around the Indianapolis 500 race said it is continuing to plan for events after April 11, including the One America Mini Marathon, scheduled for May 2.
The project is expected to include a 127-room Hampton Inn and conference center, a national grocer, restaurants and retail space, and possibly senior housing and medical offices.
