IMS Fun Facts

• Churchill Downs, Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Roman Colosseum and Vatican City all can fit inside the IMS oval, which covers 253 acres.

• The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the world’s largest spectator sporting facility, with more than 250,000 permanent seats. If the seat boards from the grandstands at IMS were laid end-to-end, they would stretch 99.5 miles.

• The first event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a helium gas-filled balloon competition on Saturday, June 5, 1909, more than two months before the oval was completed.