It�s been four years since the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation and the Formula One Administration Limited (FOA) reached an agreement to return Formula One racing to the United States. The decision was made to bring F1 to Indianapolis � and now the 5th annual United States Grand Prix on 20 June, 2004 and its festivities are upon us. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway stays alive in June as he technologically advanced F1 race cars will hug the tight and thrilling road course that has been specifically created for the United States Grand Prix. The 2.606-mile course incorporates part of the famed 2.5-mile oval, known for nearly a century as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built on 328 acres of farmland 5 miles northwest of Indiana's capital city in the spring 1909. Financed by four local businessmen, Carl Fisher, James Allison, Frank Wheeler and Arthur Newby, it was planned as a year-round testing facility for the fast-growing automobile industry in Indiana. Occasional racing would be presented at the track, featuring those very same manufacturers racing their products against each other. Spectators, it was reasoned, would be sufficiently impressed as to want to head downtown quickly to the showrooms for a closer look at one of these newfangled contraptions. Four turns, each banked at nine degrees and 12 minutes and measuring exactly 440 yards from entrance to exit, were linked together by a pair of long straights and, at the north and south ends of the property, by a pair of short straights to form a rectangular-shaped, 2.5-mile track as dictated by the confines of the available land.

With the original surface of crushed rock and tar proving to be unsafe at the opening motorcycle and automobile racing events in August 1909, 3.2 million paving bricks were imported by rail from the western part of the state. That fall, the bricks were laid on their sides in a bed of sand and fixed with mortar, thus inspiring the nickname "The Brickyard."

Poor attendance at a trio of three-day meets on the revamped surface in 1910 caused the owners to rethink their plans and focus instead on a single event for 1911. They envisioned it as an event of gigantic proportions offering a huge purse. On May 30 - Memorial Day - a grueling 500-Mile race paying $14,250 to win took place, enjoying instant success and attracting universal recognition�and making history as the inaugural Indianapolis 500.

With the exception of an additional program of racing on a single day in September 1916, no race other than the Indianapolis 500 took place at the Speedway until 1994. (The �500� was suspended during America's involvement in the two world wars, 1917-1918 and 1942-1945, but held in all other years.) And for all those years, it was only the �500.�

Asphalt was first applied to the rougher portions of the track in 1936, and by 1941 all but the greater part of the mainstraight had become blacktop. The remaining bricks were finally covered over in the fall of 1961. Most of the original paving bricks are still in place underneath the modern asphalt surface, with only the famous "yard of bricks" still exposed at the start/finish line as a nostalgic reminder of the past.

The track has changed ownership only twice. With Carl Fisher heavily involved in the development of Miami Beach and Jim Allison's nearby engineering company growing rapidly, the foursome sold IMS in 1927 to a group headed up by WWI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker. Rickenbacker had actually driven in several 500�s before he ever knew how to fly. One of Rickenbacker's first actions was to install an 18-hole golf course on the grounds in 1929, now known as Brickyard Crossing and home of a SENIOR PGA TOUR golf tournament, the Comfort Classic at the Brickyard, in September.

Allowed to fall into a state of disrepair due to four years of neglect during World War II, the Speedway was purchased in 1945 by Terre Haute businessman Anton "Tony" Hulman Jr. He immediately embarked on a phenomenal rejuvenation program that began the transformation of the facility into what it is today. Hulman passed away in October 1977, but to this day members of his family perpetuate the traditions of the Speedway - now encompassing 559 acres.

What once played host to only one premier auto race each year now offers a spectacular trifecta in auto racing. In 1994, the Speedway welcomed the inaugural Brickyard 400, a tremendously successful NASCAR stock car event. The Brickyard 400 has continued annually since, set for the first weekend in August each year. The Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 have become the first- and second-largest, single-day sporting events in the world, respectively, based on spectators. And now, United States Grand Prix at the Speedway plays host to largest Formula One race in the world based on paid attendance.

The Hulman vision lives on � transforming and evolving the Speedway beyond the wildest imaginations of its founders. The Hulman-George family continues to own and operate the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Mari Hulman George serving as chairman of the board and Anton "Tony" George serving as president and chief executive officer.

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Media Contact:
Bob Schultz
+1 317-639-4772
bschultz@indianapolis.org