You may not realize just how big Indianapolis Motor Speedway is

scott horner, indianapolis star

Sat, May 18, 2024, 3:19 PM·2 min read

The Indianapolis 500 is run every year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 560-acre facility on the west side of the city. The race is scheduled for the day before Memorial Day each year, weather permitting.

Who owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

Roger Penske bought the facility, as well as the IndyCar Series, in 2019.

Tony Hulman, a Terre Haute businessman, bought the facility in 1945 and his family ran it until Penske's purchase.

Eddie Rickenbacker, a World War I fighter pilot who had raced in early Indy 500s, led an ownership group starting in 1927.

The Speedway's founders were Carl Fisher, James Allison, Arthur Newby and Frank Wheeler, who opened the facility in 1909.

How big is Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

IMS covers 560 acres, bordered by 16th Street on the south, 30th Street on the north, Georgetown Road on the west and and the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course on the east.

That can be hard to grasp, so here are some fun ways to get at it. IndyStar went all sci-fi on the comparisons:

Facility officials like to tell fans all the landmarks that could fit inside IMS — at the same time: Yankee Stadium, Churchill Downs, Vatican City, the White House, the Taj Mahal the Rose Bowl and the Roman Colosseum.

Here's how IMS compares to some other sports facilities and noted outdoor attractions:

∎ Augusta National Golf Club is 365 acres. (Four holes of the Brickyard Crossing golf course are in the Speedway infield.)

∎ Daytona International Speedway, also a 2.5-mile oval, covers approximately 500 acres.

∎ New York's Central Park is 843 acres.

∎ The National Mall in Washington, D.C., is 309 acres.

∎ Niagara Falls State Park in New York state is over 400 acres (140 acres of that is under water).

∎ The Kings Island amusement park near Cincinnati is 364 acres.

Also, depending on a lot of environmental factors, you could grow 12.32 million ears of corn on 560 acres.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway seating

There are approximately 250,000 permanent seats at IMS. Once general admission tickets are added, roughly 350,000 fit. When the place is at capacity, the population dwarves those of Fort Wayne and South Bend.