Indianapolis 500: A Brief History Of ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Sports’

Memorial Day weekend is a time to reflect on those who have fought for our great nation, a time to get outside and barbecue, a time to hit the road for a mini-getaway – and a time for auto racing.

For more than a century, the unofficial kickoff to summer has paired with the Indianapolis 500 to become one of professional sports’ greatest traditions, much like the Super Bowl or the Kentucky Derby.

The Indianapolis 500 is the biggest racing event of the year, a 200-lap battle of stamina, endurance and strategy that provides more than 200,000 spectators a heaping dose of pageantry and history. The 500 has long been known as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, a phrase coined by Indianapolis radio station employee Alice Greene in 1955, which could be why every driver wants to win it.

Scott Dixon celebrating a victory at the Indy 500

This year marks the 100th Running of the Indy 500, a month-long celebration of the event’s illustrious past, one that has transformed the host city, leaving the locals buzzing about the race on May 29 at noon on ABC.  

“The whole city is talking about it – [Indianapolis] really embraces the Indy 500 and it’s definitely [on my mind],” said Scott Dixon, a New Zealand native whom now resides in Indiana’s capital city. “If you’re at a restaurant or a coffee shop, everybody’s definitely talking about it – everybody’s pumped up.”

Growing up thousands of miles away, Dixon was acutely aware of the Indianapolis 500, watching the event on television during his years racing in New Zealand’s Formula Vee. He knew it was a big deal and, year-after-year, watched some of the sport’s best compete for the racing’s highest honor. Though he wasn’t fully aware of the race’s history then, Dixon was well aware after visiting as a spectator.

“Obviously, growing up everyone knows about the Indy 500 – it’s a big deal,” the four-time IndyCar Series champion admitted. “It wasn’t until 2002 that I actually went as a spectator and it blows your mind just how big of an event it is – it was way bigger and much busier than the typical race.”

THE BRICKYARD

The Indianapolis 500 would be nothing without Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a true racing cathedral, much like Wrigley Field for baseball or Lambeau Field for football, that’s housed the event since day one. And there’s one man to thank for building one of the largest venues in professional sports.

More than a century ago, an Indianapolis businessman by the name of Carl G. Fisher accompanied several friends to France, where he witnessed a superior style of auto racing. The sport was still in its infancy, though Fisher knew the United States lacked vehicle craftsmanship and spectator viewership and, immediately upon returning home, he began to design a state of the art track. Fisher, and a number of business partners, purchased 328 acres about five miles outside of Indianapolis for $72,000 and in March of 1909, construction began on the three-mile oval, complete with a two-mile road course. It was soon downsized to a two and a half mile oval, with accompanying grandstands.

In early June of 1909, two months before the oval’s competition, Indianapolis Motor Speedway held its first event, a helium gas-filled balloon competition that drew approximately 40,000 spectators. Months later, the first auto race was met with moderate success, but after potholes cut it short, Fisher spent $155,000 repaving the track with 10-pound bricks – 3.2 million, to be precise. Even before the new surface was completed, the locals already deemed the new venue the “Brickyard.” Two years later, the first 500-mile race was held in front of about 80,000 onlookers, with a purse of $25,000, and thus the Indianapolis 500 was officially born – and it quickly became the biggest event in auto racing. Each year, the race gained more notoriety and with it came traditions unlike any other.

1911 checkered flag

TO THE VICTOR GO THE SPOILS

Winning the Indy 500 is unlike anything in professional sports. Sure, the National Hockey League allows champions to keep the Stanley Cup for a day, but at the “Brickyard” there’s a whole process. As the winning driver makes their way to the Victory Circle, they are given the Winner’s Wreath, a red white and blue themed accessory, complete with checkered flags. Believed to have begun in 1960, the wreath was first placed on Jim Rathmann and was the creation of a local florist who served as a consultant for both the Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl parades – two of college football’s biggest events.

From there comes the most unusual of traditions – the drinking of the milk. While still in the Victory Circle, the winning driver is handed a commemorative glass bottle full of ice cold milk, not exactly what one might crave after almost four hours in a car – except one driver did. Louis Meyer, a three-time winner of the Indy 500, drank buttermilk on hot days, thanks to advice from his mother. In 1936, after winning a third time, Meyer chugged the drink. A photograph of Meyer chugging the buttermilk was published in the paper and later seen by a dairy executive who vowed to make drinking regular milk a tradition and while it disappeared between 1947 and 1955, it proved to have staying power.

After that, drivers – along with their crew team – kiss the fabled bricks and pose for photographs with the Borg-Warner Trophy. Unveiled in 1936, the 5-foot-4, 135 pound trophy features the name and faces of each of the 99 drivers whom have won the Indianapolis 500. It was the idea of the Borg-Warner Automotive Company, who commissioned sculptors to build the trophy at a cost of just $10,000.

These celebrations are engrained in the heads of drivers and fans alike. 

Dan Wheldon celebrating in 2005.

“You’ve seen so many of these moments of people drinking the milk, people wearing the wreath, people kissing the bricks – especially when you’re at Indy, because if you’re in your motor home or in the team truck, those race victories and wins are on repeat the whole time, so you see it continuously,” said Dixon, who won the event back in 2008. “When you’re in that moment, you’re pulling in to Victory Circle, you’re putting on the wreath, you’re drinking the milk – it just seems unbelievable.”

But it all happens so fast and for the drivers, everything seems like a blur. There’s no greater feeling for an IndyCar driver, even if there’s little time for sleep afterward, according to Dixon.

“You really get about two hours of sleep [that night]. It’s an amazing feeling. For me, it was the biggest sensation of like a weight lifted off my shoulders. You’ve seen the stats and the many great drivers that have been with great teams that have never had the chance to win. You see the likes of like Michael Andretti, who led a ton of laps there and never actually got a victory, so when you pull it off you’re like, ‘My God, we’ve actually pulled this off and we’re on a short list of less than 70 people.’”

THE ANDRETTI CURSE

But for every story of thrilling victory, there is one of an agonizing defeat.

The name Andretti is synonymous with auto racing, beginning with Mario Andretti in 1965. Mario accomplished nearly every major accomplishment in his sport – including winning the checkered flag at the 53rd Indianapolis 500 in 1969. The then 29-year-old, who switched to the Granatelli team that year, managed to qualify for the front row and never looked back, adding his name – and face – to the Borg-Warner Trophy. After the win, team owner Andy Granatelli went to congratulate his winner, since previous years had each ended in heartbreak. The owner grabbed Mario and planted a kiss on his cheek, which many racing fans believe was the exact moment the Andretti Curse was born.

Mario unsuccessfully spent years trying to reclaim his Indy 500 success, competing in the race 24 more times, starting in first just once, while finishing as the runner-up only one time. As Mario’s career began to wind down, it was his son Michael who took over as a dominant force in the sport. Over the course of his career, Michael competed in the Indy 500 just 16 times, with his best finish (third) coming in both 2001 and 2006. It was the latter race that proved to be his best shot at erasing a 37-year drought – which just so happened to be the first time he shared the track with his son Marco – and with just a handful of laps to go, an Andretti win, one way or another, seemed imminent.

“It was definitely one of the most memorable – and always will be – events in probably both of our careers, I mean, the whole month leading up to that race in 2006 was basically the media asking us what it would be like if we had to race each other for a win and we said we’d race each other, we’d race each other clean – and it would be a fairy tale ending if that were to happen,” Marco recalled. “And, well, it darn near did happen – and it did happen, it was just unfortunate that there was a third party involved running very suspicious speeds, you could say, at the end of the race.”

A caution flag on lap 191 proved devastating. With Marco in the lead, Michael attempted to fend of Sam Hornish, Jr. but the rival driver soon passed him and caught Marco – winning by 0.0635 seconds, one of the closest margins of victory in Indianapolis 500 history. The father-son duo finished second and third respectively, in what was probably one of the most disappointing moments in Michael’s career.

As the years pass, talk of the Andretti Curse becomes more escalated from fans and media but it only makes the 29-year-old hungrier. A win at the venue he spent so much time at as a child would certainly exorcise any demons and get the weight of the family drought off of his shoulders. But what would his reaction be to winning the Indy 500? It’s something he’s thought about a great deal.

“We’ve been trying to win this race as a family and been extremely dominant doing it – it’s just escaped us. I think if I’m able to be victorious at the end of the month, there’s no way I won’t be able to have a long cry just because of all the heartache we’ve gone through. Having said that, people talk about the Andretti Curse, but I look at it as we’re very blessed – we’ve competed there a ton of times and we’re healthy. That’s what I look at and hopefully we have the chance to keep coming back.”

WHO TO WATCH FOR IN THE 100TH RUNNING?

A return to IMS during the month of May offers drivers hope, a chance that this year could be their year to make history and their year to sip on what’s undoubtedly the sweetest milk in the country. The field of 33 entrants – which might leave little wiggle room on the track – is set and with practice underway this week, despite some rainy weather, the world will get its first glimpse of the frontrunner. Right now, that frontrunner has to be Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud in the No. 22 car. Pagenaud, 31, has been head and shoulders above his competition so far this season, finishing in first the last three races. He’s beginning to run away with the standings, though he’s had little success at the 500, with his best finish (eighth) coming in 2013. But everything can change quickly – just ask James Hinchcliffe.

Last season, Hinchcliffe nearly lost his life in a crash at IMS during Indy 500 practice but thanks to the quick response of emergency crews, the Canadian native was able to make a full recovery. While Hinchcliffe didn’t compete for the remainder of the year, he’s back in full force with something to prove this time around and what better way to show your peers you’re back and you mean business than with a win. He’s looked streaky for much of this season, showing glimpses of what he’s capable of but win or lose, Hinchcliffe will have a smile on his face and he could certainly prove to be a dark horse.

When it comes to experience, no one might have more than Helio Castroneves. The Brazilian native has won the 500 three times over the course of his career (2001, 2002, 2009), not to mention two second place finishes, and knows better than almost anyone the intricacies of IMS. One more win would put him in elite company, as he would become just the fourth driver to win the event four times. No matter what happens, he’s going to look damn fine doing it in that yellow Pennzoil throwback car.

Juan Pablo Montoya, thanks in part to his NASCAR background, might just be the biggest name in the Verizon IndyCar Series. It certainly helps that he’s the reigning Indy 500 champion, notching his second win last year in just three attempts, though he’s still chasing a series championship. At 40, Montoya is one of the oldest drivers but that’s had little effect on him this season, winning the first race of the season before a couple of solid, hard-fought finishes at the Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Grand Prix of Alabama. He’s got to be one of the favorites, depending on how practice goes.

And despite the curse, Marco Andretti has came out this week and said that all drivers must come through him if they want to win. Andretti hasn’t won a race since Iowa back in 2011, so perhaps he’s due to break that streak as well. Maybe the planets are aligned for the No. 27 car. Either way, he’s ready – and not worried at all about the pressure that comes with the last name Andretti.

“I eat it up, man. It’s not really pressure, that’s what we are here to do,” Andretti said. “The more eyes on [the Indy 500], the better and it’s going to be an unbelievable event – attendance-wise, it’s going to be record-breaking. It’s really an honor to be able to compete in it, let alone be one of the ones to beat there. It’s going to be pretty awesome, but I’m going to drive it like any other 500 so far.”

Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports and a movie quote extraordinaire. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.

All photos courtesy of IMS Photo.