The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials announced earlier in the week that the event had sold out. With more than 250,000 permanent seats, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the world’s largest seating facilities. The race is among the world’s best-attended single-day sporting events.
During the race, the cars go 200 laps around the 2.5-mile track, equaling 500 miles. The track’s current dimensions are much the same as when it was constructed in 1909.
Currently, 33 cars start the race in rows of three. In the past there have been as few as 21 (1916) and as many as 42 (1933.)
Last year’s race was won by Juan Pablo Montoya, who earned $2,449,055 from an overall purse of $13,397,315 for his victory.
Since 1936, tradition holds that winners of the race celebrate with a bottle of milk.
