Indianapolis 500 reaches its centennial during a resurgence for open-wheel racing

Before Daytona or Le Mans, Monza or Monaco, there was Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In many aspects the track is the cathedral of motor sports, a place spoken about with reverence almost as if it is a living being.

Its legacy encompasses acts of bravery, a place where men -- and later women -- thrust themselves well past the line of common sense in their quest for speed, to the site of unfathomable tragedy, and also the racing equivalent of a laboratory where innovation became as much a sector of the Speedway’s DNA as the stars turning the wheel.

Located just west of Indianapolis, the track first opened its doors in 1909 and staged the first 500-mile race of any kind two years later. Gradually, and despite some tumultuous early periods where it seemed certain the Speedway would be shuttered permanently, the track and its marquee event, the Indianapolis 500, became not just a fixture on the sporting calendar, but part of the fabric of American culture.

Think of the Indianapolis 500 and almost immediately the singing of “Back Home Again in Indiana” and the sipping of milk in Victory Lane comes to mind. As do images of A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and three generations of Unsers and Andrettis whooshing around the 2.5-mile quad oval. Indianapolis is where legends are made.

No one won more Indy car races than Foyt (67), who also owns victories in the Daytona 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hours, but his four Indianapolis 500 victories far outshine any of his other accomplishments. Mario Andretti is a Formula One World Champion, acclaimed as one of the greatest drivers of all time. And yet, his annual heartbreak nearly every May is the footnote that often stands out more than anything in his career.

Why? Because Indianapolis is the race even people who can’t differentiate a pushrod from a lug nut still possess a basic comprehension of.

Before the Titanic made its voyage to New York, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated and Pearl Harbor attacked, there was a race occurring every Memorial Day weekend in central Indiana. Before a Wrigley Field or Fenway Park were even constructed, cars raced across the row of bricks on the start/finish line.

Although there were a few interruptions during the World Wars, it’s been that way since 1909 and will continue Sunday with the 100the running at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“It’s hard to compare anything to the Indianapolis 500 because there is nothing else like it,” said Donald Davidson, the track’s longtime historian. “It’s the same event, the same facility at the same time of the year and it’s been that way for 100 years.”

As it celebrates a milestone birthday, the next chapter of Indianapolis’ legacy may not be so much about triumph, tragedy and tradition.

Eight years since the end of an acrimonious civil war splintered American open-wheel racing, the scars are still healing. Television ratings, while rising, are still marginal, the large majority of drivers are not household names without the cache of their predecessors, and in the conscious of the sporting public Indy car racing is essentially irrelevant outside of Memorial Day weekend.

But as IndyCar attempts to regain its importance as a racing discipline that once surpassed NASCAR in popularity domestically and rivaled Formula One globally, the Indianapolis 500 is the beachhead of that push. And though its relevance diminished during the split, recent signs are encouraging that the Indianapolis 500 has almost fully regained its former glory.

A year ago more TV viewers watched Indianapolis than that same night’s NASCAR race at Charlotte, which had the advantage of being held in primetime. That continues an upswing where IndyCar has enjoyed moderate increases in attendance and increased sponsorship activation.

“The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, opportunities for new presenting sponsorship, the ability to share this story in the commercial marketplace and attract new brands to invest in the sport and promote the sport is certainly goal number one,” said Rod David, the Chief Revenue Officer for Hulman Motorsports, the parent company of IMS.

The robust enthusiasm surrounding the centennial anniversary only buoys the optimism. Such was the demand, tickets for the race sold out for the first time in its history -- track officials estimate roughly 350,000 spectators on Sunday. That surge, however, did mean the end of one longstanding tradition: The local TV blackout has been lifted, meaning those not in attendance can watch the race live, something that hasn’t happened since 1950.

“The atmosphere around the city has been unbelievable,” said Scott Dixon, defending IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner. “To live in Indianapolis and be a part of everybody talking about the 100th running for the last 11, 12 months, no matter where you are, what restaurant you go into, whether I’m dropping the kids off at school, everybody is pumped about this race. It’s so cool to see.”

Whether this is a blip or a momentous step in IndyCar’s resurgence will be determined over the next weeks, months and years. For now, though, the fervor the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 has created hope that open-wheel racing has ceased being a punchline and returned to something of equal footing in the motor sports hierarchy.