Qualla: Indianapolis Motor Speedway: The Brickyard Where Speed Was Born

Indianapolis Motor Speedway: The Brickyard Where Speed Was Born: Introduction

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Figaro at English Wikipedia, Public domain. A single yard of bricks remains. Out of the 3.2 million that once paved the entire 2.5-mile oval, that narrow strip at the start-finish line is all that survives from the original 1909 surface. Winners kiss those bricks. Champions kneel on them. The tradition says everything about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: this is a place that remembers what it was while constantly pushing toward what racing can become. Carl G. Fisher, an Indianapolis entrepreneur who had watched European automakers dominate car design, bought 328 acres of Indiana farmland in December 1908 for $72,000. He and three partners incorporated the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company on March 20, 1909, with $250,000 in capital. Fisher's vision was straightforward: give American manufacturers a purpose-built track to test their cars at sustained speed, and give spectators a venue where they could actually watch the action.

Image: Figaro at English Wikipedia | Public domain

Indianapolis Motor Speedway: The Brickyard Where Speed Was Born: Blood and Bricks

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Doctorindy, CC BY-SA 4.0. The first races at the Speedway, held on August 19, 1909, drew up to 20,000 spectators paying a dollar apiece. Louis Schwitzer won the inaugural event, a two-lap, five-mile sprint. But the crushed stone and tar surface disintegrated under racing conditions. Louis Chevrolet was bl...

Image: Doctorindy | CC BY-SA 4.0

Indianapolis Motor Speedway: The Brickyard Where Speed Was Born: Saved from the Wrecking Ball

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Doug Fawley, CC BY 3.0. By the end of World War II, the Speedway was crumbling. Eddie Rickenbacker, the World War I flying ace who had owned the track since 1927, was ready to sell, and most buyers wanted to bulldoze the facility for housing. Three-time 500 winner Wilbur Shaw returned to the track in No...

Image: Doug Fawley | CC BY 3.0

Indianapolis Motor Speedway: The Brickyard Where Speed Was Born: More Than the 500

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rick Dikeman, CC BY-SA 3.0. For 74 years, from 1919 to 1993, the Indianapolis 500 was the only sanctioned race at the Speedway. That changed when Tony George brought NASCAR's Brickyard 400 to the oval in 1994, drawing the largest crowd and largest purse in NASCAR history. A Formula One road course was added...

Image: Rick Dikeman | CC BY-SA 3.0

Indianapolis Motor Speedway: The Brickyard Where Speed Was Born: A Capacity No Stadium Can Match

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Doctorindy, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 2004, Indianapolis Star journalist Curt Cavin counted every permanent seat: 257,325, a world record for any sporting venue. That number has since been reduced to an estimated 235,000, but with infield spectators, race-day attendance regularly exceeds 300,000. The track was pla...

Image: Doctorindy | CC BY-SA 4.0

Indianapolis Motor Speedway: The Brickyard Where Speed Was Born: Legends on the Bricks

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Doctorindy, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Speedway's history is a roster of racing immortals. A. J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr., Rick Mears, and Helio Castroneves are the only four-time winners of the 500. The 1989 race produced one of the greatest finishes: Emerson Fittipaldi dueled Al Unser Jr. for the final ten laps until ...

Image: Doctorindy | CC BY-SA 4.0