The Indianapolis 500 is perhaps the most famous in the racing world in America, whether a fan prefers stockcar racing or open wheel racing. The race has sold Indy 500 tickets since 1911. The event, called the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, takes the drivers through 500 miles on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a venue with room for an incredible 257,000 with permanent seating and an additional 143,000 with temporary seating. Year after year this is the most well attended sporting event of any kind throughout the globe.
The race lasts 200 laps and has been a major automobile racing spectacle since the beginning. The Indianapolis 500 never intended to be anything short of a prestigious race. The first event came after promoters tired of promoting many smaller events. They decided to gather their resources and create one big race. That first race drew 80,200 people, making it a huge success at the time. The event rose so quickly in the developing world of automobile racing, that soon French and Italian car companies began to develop cars for the race. They even dominated the Indy 500 until after World War I, when American companies established the dominance first promised by the race's first winner, Ray Harroun.
In particular, engineer Harry Arminius Miller became one of the most successful race car manufacturers for the Indianapolis 500. Miller's advances were so revolutionary that cars based on his models were winners well into the 1970s.
Early on, as the name of the event changed as often as the cars. The race took on names such as the International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race, the Liberty Sweepstakes, and the Annual Memorial Day Race. The fans, though, always leaned toward the Indianapolis 500, the Indy 500, or simply The 500. In 1981, the officials made the official name the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, though the fan favorites still dominate when it comes up in conversation.
