The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is an automotive museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, which houses the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. It is intrinsically linked to the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400, but it also includes exhibits reflecting other forms of motorsports, passenger cars, and general automotive history. In 2006, it celebrated its 50th anniversary. The museum collection includes several former Indianapolis 500 winning cars, and pace cars, and they are regularly rotated onto the display floor exhibits.
The museum is independently owned and operated by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation, Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) organization. The museum dates back to 1956, and moved to the current building in 1976. It is located in the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway race course, and is open year-round, except on certain holidays including Thanksgiving and Christmas.
In November 2023 the museum closed for substantial renovations. It reopened on April 2, 2025, after an $89 million renovation and modernization project.
History
The first museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was completed on April 7, 1956. The original building was designed by C. Wilbur Foster and Associates and was sited on the property's southwest corner at the intersection of 16th Street and Georgetown Road. Exhibits included Ray Harroun's 1911 Indianapolis 500-winning car and a handful of other vehicles. Karl Kizer became the first curator. When it opened, it only had six cars; however, within a few years, dozens of collector cars were being donated and acquired, quickly outgrowing available space. According to Speedway publicist Al Bloemker, by 1961, the museum was seeing an average of 5,000 visitors per week (not including month of May crowds).Fred Agabashian 1961 Interviews
In 1975, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway broke ground on a new museum and administration building inside the track's infield. In addition to the museum, the two-story building housed the Speedway's administrative offices, ticket office, a gift shop, and photography department. The expanded museum opened to the public on April 5, 1976, coinciding with the year-long United States Bicentennial celebration. It officially operated under the name Hall of Fame Museum, but was known colloquially as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. The original museum building outside turn one was converted into additional office space.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. A plaque commemorating the property's historic designation is displayed in the museum.
In the summer of 1993, the original museum building outside of turn one was demolished. In its place, a multi-million dollar administration building was erected. The administrative and ticket offices were moved out of the infield museum building and relocated to the new administration building. This freed up floor space and allowed for an expanded gift shop.
In 1993, the museum parking lot hosted the first "Indy 500 Expo" during race festivities, an outdoor interactive spectator exhibit. In 1995, it was expanded and renamed "Indy 500 FanFest". It was discontinued after 1997, but in recent years, smaller displays sponsored by Chevrolet have featured former pace cars and other exhibits. Also, at some point in the 1990s, the photography department added a Halon fire suppression system to the storage room where original film negatives and even glass plates for every race hosted at the track since the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. (However, no known negatives exist for the inaugural 1909 balloon race event.)
In 2016, a revitalization and modernization project was initiated to expand the museum's floor space and add interactive displays. In April 2016, the museum was officially renamed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, and the mission was changed "to specifically honor achievement at, and outstanding contributions to, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway." A substantial process of deaccession began to further refine, improve, and update the collection. In late 2023, the museum closed for substantial renovations.
The museum officially re-opened on April 2, 2025. The renovations include seven permanent and three rotating galleries, a new area dedicated to non-vehicle artifacts, and new interactive displays, such as a pit stop challenge allowing visitors to simulate a race-day tire change.
Exhibits
The museum has about 75 cars on display at any given time. With floor space totaling , only a small portion of the total collection can be displayed. Frequently, cars are sent on loan for display at other museums, historical car shows, parades, and other activities.
The collection includes over thirty Indianapolis 500 winning cars, various other Indy cars, and several racing cars from other disciplines. It also includes pace cars and passenger cars, with a particular focus on those manufactured in Indiana and by Indiana companies. Other items on display include trophies, plaques, and racing paraphernalia such as helmets, gloves, and driver's suits. Rotating exhibits include such elements as model cars, photographs, toys, and paintings. Displays include highlights of the history of Speedway ownership, the evolution of the track, and memorabilia from past years.
Indianapolis 500 winning cars
1911 Marmon Wasp (winner of first Indianapolis 500) (Ray Harroun) 1912 National (Joe Dawson) 1914 Delage (Rene Thomas) 1922 Duesenberg (also won 1921 French Grand Prix at Le Mans; painted in 1921 livery) (Jimmy Murphy) 1925/1927 Duesenberg (driven by Peter DePaolo in 1925, and by George Souders in 1927) 1928 Miller (Louis Meyer) 1932 Miller-Hartz (Fred Frame) 1939–1940 Boyle Special Maserati (back-to-back winner) (driven both years by Wilbur Shaw) 1941 Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special (Floyd Davis/Mauri Rose) 1946 Thorne Engineering (first race under Hulman ownership) (George Robson) 1947–1948 Blue Crown Spark Plug Special (back-to-back winner) (driven both years by Mauri Rose) 1950 Wynn's Offy (Johnnie Parsons) 1951 Belanger Special (Lee Wallard) 1953–1954 Fuel Injection Offy (back-to-back winner) (Bill Vukovich) 1955 John Zink Offy (Bob Sweikert) 1957–1958 Belond Special Offy (back-to-back winner) (Sam Hanks in 1957; Jimmy Bryan in 1958) 1960 Ken Paul Special (replica) (Jim Rathmann) 1961 Bowes Seal Fast Offy (A. J. Foyt) 1962 Leader Card Watson Roadster (Rodger Ward) 1963 Agajanian Watson Offy replica ("Calhoun") (Parnelli Jones) 1964 Sheraton-Thompson Watson Offy (A. J. Foyt) 1967 Sheraton-Thompson Coyote Foyt (A. J. Foyt) 1968 Rislone Special Eagle (Bobby Unser) 1969 STP Hawk Ford (replica) (Mario Andretti) 1972 Sunoco McLaren (Mark Donohue) 1973 STP Eagle Offy (Gordon Johncock) 1977 Gilmore Racing Team Coyote/Foyt (A. J. Foyt) 1978 First National City Traveler's Checks Lola/Cosworth (Al Unser Sr.) 1980 Pennzoil Chapparal (Johnny Rutherford) 1982 STP Wildcat/Cosworth (Gordon Johncock) 1983 Texaco Star March/Cosworth (Tom Sneva) 1986 Budweiser Truesports March/Cosworth (Bobby Rahal) 1990 Domino's Pizza Hot One Lola/Chevrolet (Arie Luyendyk) 1995 Player's Ltd. Reynard/Ford Cosworth BX (Jacques Villeneuve)
Other Indy cars
1912 Fiat driven by Teddy Tetzlaff to second place 1925 Miller Junior Eight 1925 Miller Special 1931 Cummins Diesel driven by Dave Evans (first car to complete the Indianapolis 500 without a pit stop) 1935 Miller-Ford 1938 Bowes Seal Fast Special driven by Louis Meyer (flipped car during race, and retired) 1940 Sampson Special 1948 Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 driven by Johnny Mauro 1950 Cummins Diesel Special driven by Jimmy Jackson 1950 Russo-Nichels Special (won the open wheel race at Darlington by Paul Russo) 1952 Ferrari Special 1954 Dean Van Lines Special (Jimmy Bryan; 2nd-place finisher) 1956 Wolcott Special (driven by Len Sutton, and Rodger Ward at Darlington) 1957 Dean Van Lines Special (winner of 1957 Race of Two Worlds) 1958 Leader Card Monza (winner of 1958 Race of Two Worlds) 1961 Cooper Climax driven by Jack Brabham, the first car of the European rear-engined revolution (the car in the museum is the back-up car a normal Cooper T53 Grand Prix car and not the T54 that Brabham drove). 1963 Lotus Powered by Ford driven by Jim Clark 1976 Bryant Heating & Cooling Offy driven by Janet Guthrie during practice. 1977 Bryant Heating & Cooling Lightning/Offy driven by Janet Guthrie, the first female to qualify for the Indy 500. 1968 STP Wedge Lotus/Turbine 1995 Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB driven by Arie Luyendyk (set current IMS track record in 1996) 2005 Panoz/Honda driven by Danica Patrick, the first female driver to lead a lap during the Indianapolis 500
Passenger cars
At least one Indy 500 pace car from 1911, 1930, 1964, 1966, and 1975 to the present. 1886 Daimler "Motor Carriage" 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen 1903 Premier 1903 Premier Special owned by Carl Fisher 1908 Richmond Surrey 1909 Haynes 1911 Cole 30 1914 Marmon roadster 1925 McFarlan TV6 passenger roadster.
Other race cars A NASCAR Winston Cup stock car driven and donated by Richard Petty in 1993. A sprint car driven by A. J. Foyt and George Snider 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winning car driven by Tony Stewart 1998 Stewart SF02-Ford Formula One car 1991 Benetton B191B-Ford Formula One car 1965 Le Mans-winning Ferrari 250 LM. 1964 Hussein 1/Dodge Zerex Special driven by A. J. Foyt 1957 SSI Corvette 1954–55 Mercedes-Benz W196 Formula One car 1929 Bugatti 35-B 1907 Itala G.P. race car 1906 Laurin & Klement race car 1906 Renault AK 90CV Indy car used during the filming of Winning (not restored) 1965 Spirit of America – Sonic 1 Land Speed Record car
Trophies Permanent home for the Borg-Warner Trophy The Wheeler-Schebler Trophy, which pre-dates the Borg-Warner Permanent home for the PPG trophy, awarded to the winner of the Brickyard 400 Historic Race of Two Worlds trophy Display case of historic trophies and medals from a broad range of racing events
Selected exhibits Various paintings and photographs from noteworthy artists Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network exhibit, including antique radio equipment The Tony Hulman theatre, showing a short film about the history of the race An additional admission includes a bus tour of the track
Special exhibits In recent years, the museum has featured one or two special exhibits per year, one running roughly from early spring through the fall, and another in the intervening months.
2011: The Ultimate Indianapolis 500 Winning Car Collection 2016: Team Penske 50th Anniversary exhibit 2016: Tony Stewart exhibit 2017: A. J. Foyt exhibit (40th Anniversary of Foyt's fourth Indy 500 victory) 2017: Incredible Engines of the Indianapolis 500 and 50th Anniversary of the Camaro Pace Car 2018: The Amazing Unsers: celebrating Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Al Unser Jr., and the rest of the Unser racing family. 2018: Hoosier Thunder: Indiana's Short Track Racing Heritage 2019: Mario Andretti exhibit ("Mario Andretti: Icon") 2021: Rick Mears exhibit ("Rocket Rick Mears") 2022: "Roadsters 2 Records" (front-engine Indy roadsters from the 1960s)
Basement Due to the size of the collection, and space constraints on the display floor, a large portion of the collection is in storage. Some cars are rotated into display, while others remained in storage permanently, out of public view. Prior to the 2023–25 renovations, the museum's storage areas were off-limits to the public, and admittance was by invitation only. The contents of the stored collection had become a source of folklore and mystique, as it includes some extremely rare vehicles that few visitors were allowed to see, and photography was strictly forbidden. However, access to the basement became public when the museum reopened in 2025 and can now be viewed by all museum visitors.
North Hall