The Indianapolis 500 which is famously known as INDY 500 is a motor race annually held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana.
The race is held over Memorial Day Weekend in the month of May.
It is held as a part of the Verizon IndyCar Series, the highest level of American open wheel formula cars also know as "Indy Car Racing"
The race is considered as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is also categorized as a part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, which compromises the most prestigious Motorsport races in the world, along with the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix, Monte-Carlo and 24 Hours of Le Mans, France.
The permanent seating capacity is around 2,50,000 at the Indianapolis Speedway and including the infield patrons on the race day, the number goes up to 3,00,000 spectators approximately.
History
The Inaugural INDY 500 race was held in the year 1911 and the first ever winner of the race was Ray Harroun.
The most successful drivers in the series are A.J Foyt, Al Unser Sr., and Rick Mears, each with four INDY 500 wins to their credit.Rick Mears also holds the record for most pole positions at the INDY 500 with a record number six.The most successful team is the INDY 500 is Team Penske which belongs to Roger Penske with a total of 16 wins and 17 poles.
Danica Patrick is the most successful American Women to have raced in the INDY 500 and also the NASCAR series. In 2005, Patrick became only the fourth woman to start the Indy 500, qualifying fourth, leading laps, and finishing fourth. Across her IndyCar career, she won at the 2008 Indy Japan 300 at the Motegi race circuit, making her the only woman in the history of the sport to have won a round of the INDY series. She has a total of seven podiums and two pole positions in the INDY series.
Patrick is making a comeback in the INDY 500 2018 after she left the series back in 2011. This will also be the final race of Danica Patrick as she is set to retire from her successful motorsport career post the Indy 2018. She qualified in the 7th place for the race.
Ed-Carpenter, the teammate of Danica Patrick will be starting on pole for 2018 Indianapolis 500 which is to be held on the 27th of May 2018.
