You'll hear the word "historic" a lot during the Brickyard 400. The host track — Indianapolis Motor Speedway — dates back to 1909, with its first race coming two years later.

Bit of trivia that might've escaped you over the years: America's oldest, purpose-built automobile racetrack is the Milwaukee Mile, which is still a viable player in the racing world.

But that initial race in 1911, the debut Indianapolis 500, paved the way (first in bricks, later in asphalt) for Indy to become the racing capital of the world. The Indianapolis 500, from the first World War to the second, through Vietnam and even the Reagan Administration, was the most important racing event in the universe.

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But in the late 20th century, along came the rapidly increasing ascent of NASCAR, and in the '90s Indy decided it was time to quit looking down its nose at the good ol' boys and allow them on their playground. The Brickyard 400 was born and returns to the 2.5-mile oval this year after three years on the Indy road course.

Road course? That was built for Formula One in the early 2000s, which was another bit of culture shock for many in the Indy world.

Today, Indy is host to IndyCar and the famed 500 in May, NASCAR in August, and ISMA's sports-cars in September. Everyone within all of those organizations step through the Indy gates and — yeah, they're right — into a big page of American automotive history.

∎ The Speedway was built in 1909 and designed to be a testing ground for the infant motor-car industry in the United States. It was originally topped with crushed stone, but by year’s end it was covered in bricks — 3.2 million bricks, weighing 10 pounds each, supplied by five brick manufacturers statewide. “The Brickyard” nickname was born and a 3-foot-wide strip of bricks remains today at the start-finish line (and runs beyond the track, past the pits and pagoda and through the fan plaza.

∎ Ray Harroun won the first Indy 500 in 1911, largely due to a weight advantage — unlike the others, he decided to drive without a ride-along mechanic. Also, he was considered to be the first driver, anywhere, to employ a rear-view mirror, which was fortuitous since everyone was behind him at one time or another.

∎ The famed racetrack is actually within the city limits of a municipality called Speedway, which is geographically wedged into a west-central section of Indianapolis. In 1912 the Indianapolis Motor Speedway founders plotted the town — an early-American version of a planned community — hoping to house workers for the new town’s industrial base — namely the Prest-O-Lite factory and Allison Engine Company.

∎ Speedway is currently home to the U.S. Auto Club, A.J. Foyt Racing, Dallara’s race-car factory and Allison Transmission. While Charlie Brown’s Pancake and Steak House remains a favorite with locals and visitors alike, most folks say you find the very best pork tenderloin sandwich (the official cuisine of Indiana) down the street at Dawson’s on Main. Hand-breaded and with a side of fries: $14.

∎ Joyce DeWitt grew up in Speedway, graduated from Speedway High, and later worked a while in the Indy ticket office. You remember Joyce as Janet — Jack and Chrissy’s roommate on “Three’s Company.”

∎ From 1911-93, the Indianapolis 500 was the only automobile race held annually at the famous track. That changed with NASCAR’s debut in 1994 and plenty of Indy-car fans and competitors  were none too pleased. Overall, it seemed, more agreed than disagreed with the concept, and the early Brickyard 400s were a commercial hit, if not always a rousing, rough-and-tumble stock-car show.

∎ From above, you might see a lot of green space within the track’s boundary. The Brickyard Crossing golf course sits alongside the Speedway, outside the backstretch. Four of the course’s 18 holes, beginning with the seventh, sit inside Speedway property. It’s no pitch-and-putt, by the way. The four Speedway holes include a 181-yard par-3 and three par-4s ranging from 353 to 464 yards.

∎ If you watched the Indy 500 in May, you might be in for some sensory adaptation. IndyCar qualifying generally includes speeds in the 230s, while the record speed for NASCAR qualifying was 188 by Jeff Gordon in 1988.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR at Indy | Speedway, bricks, and best place for pork tenderloin