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The article states that IMS is "the oldest surviving auto racing track in the world, having existed since 1908." I believe the Milwaukee Mile opened in 1903 and this article calls it the "oldest continuously operated motorsports track in the world."

Is there a resolution to this seeming conflict in the way the superlatives are defined (surviving v. continuously operated)?

Rdikeman 16:01, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC)

You are right. According to the MM website "Since 1903, The Milwaukee Mile has been one of the premier venues in American motorsports. It is the oldest operating motor speedway in the world, as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway began contesting events in 1911." Source

I think IMS are careful to state that they are the oldest Speedway, with Milwaukee being considered an Oval. Chalk it up to the men in marketing. Djarra 16:26, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Was it called "The Brickyard" before or after the conversion to pavement?--Rbeas 04:00, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

Chr.K. 17:27, 26 Nov 2005

• After. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was termed 'The Brickyard' after its owners, specifically Carl Fisher, had placed the 3.2 million paving bricks to replace the crushed stone and tar surface that was prevelent on civilian motor transit roads at the time, but had proven unable to withstand high-speed competition.

Contents 1 The 2002 Indy 500 occurred after 9/11, not the 2001. 2 Updates 3 Records 4 Indy Only Pure Auto Racing Landmark? 5 NASCAR drivers having national flags 6 Track records 7 F1 Track record 8 Do the math 8.1 highest-capacity sporting facility in human history? 8.2 Banking

[edit] The 2002 Indy 500 occurred after 9/11, not the 2001.

The 2001 race could hardly have come after 9/11, since it was 3 months before.

Also, the future is looking (a little) better for F1 at Indy. There will be a race in 2006. July 2, 2006, as a matter of fact. You can see this at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com. However, the existing contract ends in 2006, and negotiations for extending the contract have not begun (and may never, who knows).

• The 2001 United States Grand Prix was held in September. The race was later moved to June, and in 2006 is scheduled for July 2. Chr.K. 08:22, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Updates

All updates I've thus far made this to this page have been based on data provided by commemorative programs of the events in question, the book Indianapolis 500 Chronicle by Rick Popely and L. Spencer Riggs, and the recent historical reference work Indy: Racing Before the 500 by D. Bruce Scott. All mathematical data is provided via the online English/Metric conversion resource page, http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/conversions.html.Chr.K. 08:29, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

I corrected the coordinates of the circuit. The coordinates given are for the start/finish line, taken from Google Earth.--Ciroa 17:50, 18 September 2006 (UTC)--

I eliminated the Geographic reference (it contains the same info as the coordinates and occupies the same space of the screen). --Ciroa 19:31, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Records

I've been unable thus far to ascertain the Formula One records for qualification and race average in the United States Grand Prix from 2000-2005, for the Record section. If anyone has these, they would be appreciated. --Chr.K. 23:36, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Indy Only Pure Auto Racing Landmark?

In review of other possible sites that might share the Speedway's designation as National Historic Landmarks, I have found no others that have existed since inception as devoted either to the development of automotive technology or to automotive racing purposes in general. As such, I am putting in the statement that Indianapolis is unique among racing facilities for such fact, until someone proves otherwise, whereupon it should be stated what tracks it shares the quality with. --Chr.K. 09:29, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] NASCAR drivers having national flags

I wonder about redundancy. I can name only one non-American-born driver winning any NASCAR event ever held, and that would be Mario Andretti in the 1967 Daytona 500. To name NASCAR drivers who've won the Brickyard 400 as American seems to be self-referencing the nature of the NASCAR entertainment product. --4.225.20.38 14:41, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

In favor of removal of flags on NASCAR names, until more than 1% of their winners come from any country other than America. --Chr.K. 12:00, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Definitely remove. Earl Ross' article claimed that he is the only non-American NASCAR driver to win a NASCAR race (I think Andretti became a U.S. citizen). Royalbroil 13:06, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I say keep them. NASCAR wants to go international, and they'll drag as many rednecks kicking and screaming along as possible. I believe Ron Fellows (Canadian) has won in the NASCAR Busch Series.Mustang6172 08:33, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

I wonder how NASCAR will handle a people claiming they're boring and composed of rustbelt technology, compared to the F-1 cars, as a friend of mine recently stated. I say get rid of them (already did mention, granted) until we have a foreign winner. --Chr.K. 14:18, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

As a fan of all forms of racing, and a mechanic, the common response is: "Most fans don't understand the technology of any vehicle (racing or otherwise) and don't care to know." Mustang6172 06:19, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Most fans must therefore mean Americans, as opposed to www.formula1.com, which has "Technical Analysis" as a section in their preview of every race they run. --Chr.K. 11:04, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I check that site a lot. There's never anything interesting though. It's mostly common sense information about wings and tires.Mustang6172 08:16, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Track records

Track records have been listed in table form, rather than the clumsy list form. "Normally aspirated" records are actually not comparable and thus not offically kept by the Speedway. From 1997-2006, the IRL has used 3 seperate normally aspirated formulas (4.0L, 3.5L, 3.0L) and that does not include previous years where turbocharging was not used, therefore they're only relative, they can't be compared, and should not be listed. In addition, the list of winners shouldn't be on this main track page, it should be referenced to the race page where it's hosted. If anything, a page of "List of winners at Indianapolis Motor Speedway" could be started, but that would still be redundant information. Just some friendly work really... Doctorindy 03:48, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Some of us were not in favor of making a "normally-aspirated" vs. "turbocharged" listing, instead of simply what the records are all-time, period. --Chr.K. 14:20, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] F1 Track record

On 6/19/04, Rubens Barrichello ran a 1:09.454 in the pre-qualifying round, which stands as the fastest lap ever run on the road course. Since that was the pre-qualifying session, I don't think they consider it the official qualifying record. Regardless, it should at least be kept in mind for future reference. Doctorindy 12:29, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Do the math

Can somebody fix this?

"Of the 33 drivers of the 1953 race, nearly half, 16, died from racing accidents."

Were they all killed in the '53 event, or in the course of their careers? (I'd guess the latter, given the fatality rate in F1 in the '60s.) Trekphiler 08:19, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

The 500 was F-1 solely in name, and the fatality rate in the latter in the 60s was actually less than that of American open-wheel in the 1950s, where casualties were actually more numerous than those of the ancient Roman gladiators. --Chr.K. 00:37, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] highest-capacity sporting facility in human history?

I'm not sure about this - Wikipedia states an estimated 250,000 spectators for Circus Maximus too, so Indianapolis probably has to share this title. --137.208.185.169 21:24, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

In the year 1999, Tony George was asked to approximate the number of seats IMS had; he stated it to be "around 330,000." Be aware, in recent years a number of grandstand seats in certain less-auspicious locations have not been filled, with much of the crowd going instead to the large family-oriented picnic mounds on the backstretch; both pleasantness (if you can handle the sheer number of people) and the gigantic big-screen TVs, are responsible. Either way, the grandstand capacity is sizably larger than 250,000. I'll find the link for such, momentarily. --Chr.K. 07:13, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

The line does sound totally over-the-top, and is essentially unprovable. "Highest capacity sporting facility in the world" would more than suffice. John the mackem 23:31, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Banking

Shouldn't the infobox read 12° in the turns and 9° in the straights?Mustang6172 08:21, 3 March 2007 (UTC)