Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) (Speedway, Indiana)

USA / Indiana / Speedway / Speedway, Indiana / West 16th Street, 4790
 sports venue, NASCAR, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, draw only border, movie / film / TV location, IndyCar Series, auto racing track, tourist attraction, U.S. National Historic Landmark
4790 West 16th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46222
www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) was built on 328 acres of farmland 5 miles northwest of Indiana's capital city in the spring of 1909. Financed by four local businessmen, Carl Fisher, James Allison, Frank Wheeler, and Arthur Newby, it was planned as a year-round testing facility for the fast-growing automobile industry in Indiana. Four turns, each banked at nine degrees and 12 minutes and measuring exactly 440 yards from entrance to exit, were linked together by a pair of long straights and, at the north and south ends of the property, by a pair of short straights to form a rectangular-shaped 2 mile track, as dictated by the confines of the available land.

With the original surface of crushed rock and tar proving to be disastrous at the opening motorcycle and automobile racing events in August of 1909, 3,200,000 paving bricks were imported by rail from the western part of the state in the fall, laid on their sides in a bed of sand and fixed with mortar, thus inspiring the nickname "The Brickyard". In October of 1961, the track became completely asphalt, with the exception of a distinct 3'-wide line of bricks at the start/finish line, turning the "Brickyard" into the "Yard of Bricks."

The IMS annually hosts the Indianapolis 500 each Memorial Day weekend. The automotive race is one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world and accommodates the largest single-day attendance in the world. About 350,000 spectators attended the 100th running of the Indy 500 in 2016, a track record. The IMS complex, a National Historic Landmark, includes the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and Brickyard Crossing Golf Course.

ABC Broadcast of the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI0qxWT4Z30

Brickyard 400 Fan Video

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZL4jAJsZEg
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_Motor_Speedway
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   39°47'45"N   86°14'1"W

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