Q. In what year did the first Indianapolis 500 take place?
A. 1911. Ray Harroun won in the Marmon "Wasp."

Q. Has the Indianapolis 500 been an annual event since 1911?
A. No. The race did not take place in 1917-18 and 1942-45 due to America's involvement in the world wars.

Q. The Indianapolis 500 consists of how many laps?
A. 200.

Q. Why was the distance of 500 miles selected?
A. Having decided to dispense with multi-race programs and concentrate on one major race for 1911, Speedway leader Carl Fisher and his partners envisioned an event that would appeal to the public by lasting approximately seven hours between mid-morning and late afternoon. A distance of 500 miles was settled upon, and Ray Harroun won the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 in six hours, 42 minutes and eight seconds.

Q. What is the distance of one lap around the oval?
A. 2.5 miles. The track has four distinct turns and straightaways, a layout unchanged since the facility opened in 1909. The front and back straightaways are 5/8th of a mile each, with the "short chute" straightaways between Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 3 and 4 at 1/8th of a mile each. Each of the four turns is 1/4th of a mile long.

Q. What is the degree of banking in the turns?
A. Each of the four turns on the oval is banked at exactly 9 degrees, 12 minutes, the same dimensions as when the track opened in 1909.

Q. Which driver has won the Indianapolis 500 the most times?
A. Three drivers have won the Indianapolis 500 four times each: A.J. Foyt (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977); Al Unser (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987) and Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991).

Q. Who is the youngest winner of the Indianapolis 500?
A. Troy Ruttman was 22 years, 80 days old when he won the 36th Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 1952.

Q. Who is the oldest winner of the Indianapolis 500?
A. Al Unser was 47 years, 360 days old when he won the 71st Indianapolis 500 on May 24, 1987.

Q. What is the name of the trophy presented to the winner of the race each year?
A. The Borg-Warner Trophy, which was commissioned in 1935 by the Borg-Warner Automotive Company. In 1936, Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer was the first driver to receive the trophy.

Q. Why does the winner of the Indianapolis 500 drink milk in Victory Lane?
A. Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer regularly drank buttermilk to refresh himself on a hot day and happened to drink some in Victory Lane as a matter of habit after winning the 1936 race. An executive with what was then the Milk Foundation was so elated when he saw the moment captured in a photograph in the sports section of his newspaper the following morning that he vowed to make sure it would be repeated in coming years. There was a period between 1947-55 when milk was apparently no longer offered, but the practice was revived in 1956 and has been a tradition ever since.

Q. Have women competed in the Indianapolis 500?
A. Five women have raced in the Indianapolis 500: Janet Guthrie (1977-79), Lyn St. James (1992-97, 2000), Sarah Fisher (2000-04, 2007), Danica Patrick (2005-07) and Milka Duno (2007).

Q. Have any rookies won the Indianapolis 500?
A. Yes. Eight drivers have won as Indianapolis 500 rookies: Ray Harroun (1911, inaugural race), Jules Goux (1913), Rene Thomas (1914), Frank Lockhart (1926), George Souders (1927), Graham Hill (1966), Juan Pablo Montoya (2000), Helio Castroneves (2001).

Q. Have there always been 33 cars in the starting field of the Indianapolis 500?
A. No. After 40 cars started in the inaugural race in 1911, the Contest Board of the American Automobile Association (AAA), the sanctioning body at the time, mandated a formula for limiting the size of a starting field according to the size of the track. It was determined that the safe distance between each car spread equally around a course would be 400 feet, thereby limiting the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway to 33 cars. Speedway President Carl Fisher, however, placed a limit of only 30 cars for the "500" between 1912 and 1914 and did not adopt AAA's 33 maximum until 1915. Although there had been numerous occasions between 1912 and 1928 when the field was not filled, the allowed number was increased during the Depression years to 40 cars between 1930 and 1932 (only 38 made it in 1930) and further to 42 in 1933. The maximum has been at 33 ever since 1934, although extenuating circumstances expanded the field to 35 starters in 1979 and 1997.

Q. What is the fastest official lap ever turned during the month of May?
A. 237.498 mph by Arie Luyendyk during qualifying May 12, 1996. Luyendyk turned a lap of 239.260 during practice May 10, 1996. It was the fastest unofficial lap ever at the Speedway, as practice laps are not official.

Q. Who was the first driver to turn an official lap of 200 mph during the month of May?
A. Tom Sneva, who turned 200.401 mph and 200.535 on Laps 1 and 2 of his qualifying run on May 14, 1977.

Q. Has any driver ever won the Indianapolis 500 three times in a row or more?
A. No. Five drivers have won the race two years in a row: Wilbur Shaw (1939-40), Mauri Rose (1947-48), Bill Vukovich (1953-54), Al Unser (1970-71) and Helio Castroneves (2001-02).

Q. Who was the first driver and team to earn $1 million in one year for winning the Indianapolis 500?
A. Emerson Fittipaldi and Patrick Racing, whose winner's share was $1,001,604 in 1989.

Q. Has any driver raced in the Indianapolis 500, Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis during their career?
A. Yes. Juan Pablo Montoya made his first Allstate 400 at the Brickyard start in 2007 to become the first driver to compete in all three major auto racing events at IMS during a career. Montoya won the 2000 Indianapolis 500 in his only start in "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing," while he also competed in the United States Grand Prix from 2001-06.

Q. How many drivers have competed in the Indianapolis 500 and at least one of the other major auto racing events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
A. Thirteen. Eleven drivers have raced in the Indianapolis 500 and Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: John Andretti, Geoff Brabham, A.J. Foyt, Larry Foyt, Robby Gordon, Jason Leffler, Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, Tony Stewart, Danny Sullivan and J.J. Yeley. Jacques Villeneuve, Tomas Enge and Montoya each have raced in the Indianapolis 500 and the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

• 3.5-liter, 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol-powered engines of IndyCar Series cars
  produce more than 650 horsepower, nearly four times that of the average street car?
  
  
• Each of the eight pistons in an IndyCar Series engine travels nearly 1 mile up and
  down in the cylinder every minute?
  
  
• Each of the eight pistons in an IndyCar Series engine is subjected to a maximum
  acceleration of 70,000 times the force of gravity?
  
  
• Fuel mileage of an IndyCar Series car is less than 2 miles per gallon? A car burns
  approximately 1.3 gallons of fuel per lap at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
  
  
• IndyCar Series car accelerates from 0 to 100 mph in less than three seconds, more
  than nine seconds quicker than it takes a production Porsche 911 Turbo street car to reach the
  same speed?
  
  
• 1,565-pound IndyCar Series cars generates 5,000 pounds of downforce at 220 mph,
  enough to allow the car to run upside down if that speed is maintained?
  
  
• Tread depth of an IndyCar Series tire is 3/32nds of an inch – slightly thicker than a credit
  card?
  
  
• Front tire for the IndyCar Series weighs approximately 18 pounds - slightly less than the
  average weight of a 1-year-old child?
  
  
• At speed, the tread area of the racing tires approaches the temperature of boiling water (212
  degrees Fahrenheit)? At those levels, the tread area actually becomes tar-like in consistency
  to help the tires and car adhere to the track.
  
  
• Any given moment on the racetrack, the total area of all four tires that is in contact with
  the track surface is equal to about 1 square foot? That means that an area not much bigger
  than a sheet of notebook paper is responsible for transferring all the technology and power
  generated by IndyCar Series cars into speeds exceeding 220 mph.
  
  
• At speeds of 220 mph, the front tires of an IndyCar Series car rotate at a rate of 43 times per
  second. That means, over the course of a single lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the front
  tire will experience approximately 1,955 revolutions, and the rear tires will experience 1,800
  revolutions. Considering a normal fuel stint is 30 laps or more at Indy, each tire could
  experience more than 60,000 revolutions before it is changed for a fresh set.
  
  
• The draft (or the “hole” in the air) created by an IndyCar Series car extends 25 feet
  behind the car?
  
  
• While traveling approximately 220 mph, IndyCar Series cars travel slightly more than
  the length of a football field every second?
  
  
• On an oval, IndyCar Series drivers endure G-forces equal to nearly four times the
  weight of gravity while going through turns? The space shuttle leaves the launching pad at
  Cape Canaveral with approximately the same force.
  
  Sources: indy500.com, Indy Racing League Media Relations, Indy Racing League Technical Department, IndyCar Series race teams, Firestone, Honda.
  
  

RACING FLAG COLORS AND MEANINGS

Checkered Flag: Signifies the end of the practice session, qualification attempt or race.
The race leader is declared the winner.

Green Flag: Signals the start of the practice session, qualification attempt or race
and all restarts after a caution or red-flag period.

Yellow Flag: The “caution flag,” signals hazardous conditions on the track, and cars
must slow immediately, maintain position and yield to track safety
vehicles until the green flag is displayed. During a qualification
session, a qualification attempt is halted.

White Flag: Displayed when the leader starts the final lap of the race. During
qualifications, signals that driver has started final lap of qualification
attempt.

Royal Blue Flag: The “passing flag,” signals slower cars to yield to faster
with Diagonal traffic.
Yellow Stripe:

Red Flag: Signals that the race stops immediately, regardless of position of cars
on the track.

Black Flag: Directs a driver to proceed to the pits on the next lap and to consult
with race officials.

Black Flag Officials have ceased scoring the car until further notice.
with White Cross:

Alternating Red Signals that oil, water or some other substance has made
and Yellow Striping: track surface slippery.

Carb Day – The final on-track practice before Race Day each year during the Indianapolis
500, taking place on Friday of Race Week, two days before the race. The Miller Lite Carb
Day schedule includes the Freedom 100 Indy Pro Series race and the Indy 500 Pit Stop
Challenge. The term “Carb Day” was originated because in the past, this was the final day
teams could make adjustments of their carburetors and other engine systems based on track
performance. All IndyCar Series engines are fuel-injected today; carburetors have not been
used since 1963.

Happy Hour – The final hour of each practice day during which many drivers attempt to
post their fastest lap of the day, taking advantage of cooler conditions.

Pole position – The driver who is the fastest qualifier in pole qualifying sits on the “pole,” or
first starting position of the race, which is on the inside of the front row. The term originates
from horse racing. The horse that started on the inside was closest to the pole located inside
the inner guardrail, and thus was on the “pole position.”

Pushing – The car does not want to turn in the corners due to a lack of tire grip. This can be
caused by a lack of downforce on the front of the car or too much downforce on the rear of
the car. Also known as “understeer” and “tight.”

Rookie – An Indianapolis 500 rookie is a driver who never has competed in the race.
Therefore it is possible for a driver with prior IndyCar Series or other high-speed open-wheel
experience to still be classified as an Indianapolis 500 rookie if that driver never has
competed in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

ROP – Abbreviation for Rookie Orientation Program, the four-phase speed test that all
Indianapolis 500 rookies must pass before they are permitted to participate in the event.

SAFER Barrier – The Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) Barrier, an energy-
absorbing barrier system attached to the outside retaining walls in each of the four turns of
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The energy-absorbing barrier, installed in May 2002, was
constructed in 20-foot modules. Each module consisted of four rectangular steel tubes,
welded together, to form a unified element. The modules are connected with four internal
steel splices. Bundles of 2-inch-thick sheets of extruded, closed-cell polystyrene are placed
between the concrete wall and the steel tubing modules every 10 feet. Six or seven sheets of
polystyrene are used in each bundle, depending on the location on the module. The original
SAFER Barrier was removed in August 2004 to repave the track, and an updated SAFER
design was installed in spring 2005 with five rectangular steel tubes in each module.

Setup – The aerodynamic and mechanical adjustments that can be made to a car to create the
ideal balance between handling and speed.

Side pod – Bodywork on the side of the car covering the radiators and engine exhaust. Aids
in engine cooling, car aerodynamics and driver protection in the event of a side impact.

Slick – n. A tread-less tire, used only on dry surfaces. Slicks provide maximum contact with
the track surface, thereby enhancing grip. In wet conditions, treaded tires are used to dissipate
the water build-up between the track and the tire surfaces in order to increase grip. adj. A
track condition where a car’s tires do not adhere to the surface. This could be for a variety of
reasons, such as a lack of rubber on the surface (a “green track”), dirt on the track or high
track temperatures.

Stagger – Right-front and/or right-rear tire is larger in diameter than left-side tires in order to
improve turning ability on ovals.

Sticker tires – Slang term for new tires, derived from the manufacturer stickers placed on
each new tire.

Superspeedway – A racetrack of 1.5 mile or more in length.

Telemetry – A radio device that relays information such as engine, tire, steering and throttle
performance to team engineers in the pits. The team can monitor both car and driver activity
to ensure the car is performing properly. Also enhances driver safety by allowing the team to
notice any developing mechanical problem the driver cannot foresee.

Tight – Also known as “understeer.” A handling condition characterized by a lack of grip in
the front tires. As the driver steers through a turn, the front wheels want to continue straight
ahead.

Tire compound – A formula based on rubber polymers, oils, carbon blacks and curatives
used to create a tire. The varying lengths and banking of IndyCar Series tracks require
different compounds.

Toe – Refers to the alignment of the front and rear tires. If tires point inward, the alignment is
called “toe-in;” if outward, it is called “toe-out.” Correct toe settings are essential in order to
maximize grip, and generally change from track to track.

Tow/drafting – As a car moves around the track at 220 mph, it literally splits the air, some
of which goes over the car, and some of which goes beneath. This lack of air behind the car
creates a vacuum, which a trailing car may use to be pulled, or “towed,” by the lead car.

Victory Lane – The location of post-race celebration for the race winner. The Indianapolis
500 Victory Lane and post-race celebration was developed circa 1919 and took place at the
south end of the main straightaway. It moved to its current location in 1971. Today, the
circular Victory Podium is located in front of the Bombardier Learjet Pagoda and is used for
both pre- and post-race festivities.

Wave off – The process by which a team forfeits a qualification attempt. A driver or team
can “wave off” an attempt any time before the start of the fourth and final lap in the attempt.
If the run is waved off before the car takes the green flag, it does not count as one of the three
allowed attempts for that car. Once the green flag is waved to start the attempt, the run counts
as one attempt, even if it’s waved off.

Weight jacker – A hydraulic cylinder the driver uses to adjust car handling from the car’s
cockpit while racing. The cylinder compresses or extends springs, which transfers the car’s
weight distribution from one side of the car to the other, thereby adjusting the car’s handling
to the driver’s liking.

Wicker bill – A long, narrow, removable spoiler made of steel, aluminum or carbon fiber on
the trailing edge of the front and rear wings which varies in height, creating downforce.
Teams will use different sized wicker bills to create more or less downforce. The larger
(higher) the wicker bill, the greater the downforce, and vice versa for smaller wicker bills.