Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum is an automotive museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. It is intrinsically linked to the Indianapolis 500, but it also includes exhibits reflecting other forms of motorsports, passenger cars and general automotive history. In 2006, it celebrated its 50th anniversary.

History

The first museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was completed April 7, 1956.cite news
title =1996 Indianapolis 500 Official Program
publisher =Indianapolis Motor Speedway
date = 1996-05-26] cite news
url =http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/museum/
title =Hall of Fame Museum
publisher =IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com
accessdate = 2008-03-31] cite news
url =http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/2007-05-02-3092398979_x.htm
title =Museum displays auto racing history
publisher =USAToday.com
date = 2007-05-07
accessdate = 2008-03-31] It was located on the southwest corner of the property, outside turn one of the famous oval, at the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road. Its exhibits included Ray Harroun's 1911 Indy 500 winning car, and a handful of other vehicles. Karl Kizer became the first curator. When it opened, it only had six cars. Within a number of years, dozens of collector cars were being donated and acquired. It did not take long for management to realize that the building was of insufficient size.

In 1975, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway broke ground on a new convert|96000|sqft|m2|sing=on museum and administration building, located in the infield of the track. The two-story white building was made of Wyoming quartz, and along with the museum, housed office space, the ticket office, a gift shop, and photography department. It officially opened to the public on April 5, 1976, coinciding with the year-long United States Bicentennial celebration. The original museum building outside turn one was kept intact, and converted into additional office space.

The museum, representing the entire facility, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

In the summer of 1993, the original museum building outside of turn one was demolished. In its place a multi-million dollar administration building was erected. The administrative and ticket offices were moved out of the infield museum building, and relocated to the new admin office. This freed up floor space in the museum for an expanded gift shop and other exhibits.

In 1993, the museum parking lot hosted the first Indy 500 Expo during race festivities, an outdoor interactive spectator exhibit. In 1995, it was expanded and renamed Indy 500 FanFest. It was discontinued after 1997, but in recent years, smaller displays sponsored by Chevrolet have featured former pace cars and other exhibits.

Exhibits

The museum rotates a display of over 75 cars at any given time. Due to considerable space restraints, only a small portion of the total collection can be displayed. Many cars are stored in the invitation-only basement, or at separate off-site facilities. Some of the cars in storage, however, are not restored to display condition. Frequently, cars are sent on loan for display at other museums, historical car shows, parades, and other activities.

The collection includes over 30 Indianapolis 500 winning cars, various other Indy cars, and several racing cars from other disciplines. Other items on display include trophies, plaques, racing paraphernalia such as helmets, gloves, and driver's suits. A collection of models, photographs, toys, and paintings are also for view. One display exhibits a timeline of scoring devices.

Indy 500 winning cars

*1911 Marmon Wasp (winner of first Indianapolis 500)
*1912 National
*1914 Delage
*1922 Duesenberg (also won 1921 French Grand Prix at Le Mans; painted in 1921 livery)
*1925/1927 Duesenberg
*1928 Miller
*1932 Miller-Hartz
*1939-1940 Boyle Special Maserati (back-to-back winner)
*1941 Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special
*1946 Thorne Engineering (first race under Hulman ownership)
*1947-1948 Blue Crown Spark Plug Special (back-to-back winner)
*1950 Wynn's Offy
*1951 Belanger Special
*1953-1954 Fuel Injection Offy (back-to-back winner)
*1955 John Zink Offy
*1957-1958 Belond Special Offy (back-to-back winner)
*1960 Ken Paul Special (replica)
*1961 Bowes Seal Fast Offy (first of A. J. Foyt's four wins)
*1962 Leader Card Watson Roadster
*1963 Agajanian Watson Offy (Old Calhoun)
*1964 Sheraton-Thompson Watson Offy (second of A. J. Foyt's four wins)
*1967 Sheraton-Thompson Coyote Foyt (third of A. J. Foyt's four wins)
*1968 Rislone Special Eagle
*1969 STP Hawk Ford (replica)
*1972 Sunoco McLaren
*1973 STP Eagle Offy (replica)
*1977 Gilmore Racing Team Coyote/Foyt (fourth of A. J. Foyt's four wins)
*1978 First National City Traveler's Checks Lola/Cosworth (Al Unser, Sr.)
*1980 Pennzoil Chapparal (Johnny Rutherford)
*1982 STP Wildcat/Cosworth (Gordon Johncock)
*1983 Texaco Star (Tom Sneva)
*1988 Pennzoil Z-7 Special (Rick Mears; on temporary loan from Penske Racing in 2008)
*1990 Domino's Pizza Hot One Lola/Chevrolet (winner of fastest Indy 500 won by Arie Luyendyk)
*1995 Player's Ltd. Reynard/Ford Cosworth BX (Jacques Villeneuve)
*1998 Rachel's Potato Chips Dallara/Aurora (Eddie Cheever)
*1999 Powerteam Aurora (Kenny Brack; on temporary loan from A. J. Foyt Enterprises)

=Other Indy cars=

*1912 Fiat driven by Teddy Tetzlaff to second place
*1925 Miller Junior Eight
*1925 Miller Special
*1931 Cummins Diesel driven by Dave Evans (first car to complete the Indianapolis 500 without a pit stop)
*1935 Miller-Ford
*1938 Bowes Seal Fast Special driven by Louis Meyer (flipped car during race, and retired)
*1940 Sampson Special
*1948 Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 driven by Johnny Mauro
*1950 Cummins Diesel Special driven by Jimmy Jackson
*1952 Ferrari Special
*1957 Dean Van Lines Special (winner of 1957 Race of Two Worlds)
*1958 Leader Card Monza (winner of 1958 Race of Two Worlds)
*1961 Cooper Climax driven by Jack Brabham, the first car of the European rear-engined revolution.
*1963 Lotus Powered by Ford driven by Jim Clark
*1967 STP Turbine driven by Parnelli Jones (on loan from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History)
*1976 Bryant Heating & Cooling Offy driven by Janet Guthrie during practice.
*1977 Bryant Heating & Cooling Lightning/Offy driven by Janet Guthrie, the first female to qualify for the Indy 500.
*1968 STP Wedge Lotus/Turbine
*1994 Reynard/Ford Cosworth XB driven by Arie Luyendyk (set current IMS track record in 1996)
*2005 Panoz/Honda driven by Danica Patrick, the first female driver to lead a lap during the Indianapolis 500

Passenger cars

*At least one Indy 500 pace car from 1911, 1930, 1964, 1966, and 1975-2008.cite news |url=http://www.indy500.com/news/story.php?story_id=6607
title=Indy 500 Pace Car Reunion Bringing Classic Autos To IMS This Weekend
publisher=Indy500.com
date=2006-05-18
accessdate=2008-04-14]
*1886 Daimler "Motor Carriage"
*1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen
*1903 Premier
*1903 Premier Special owned by Carl Fisher
*1908 Richmond Surrey
*1909 Haynes
*1911 Cole 30
*1914 Marmon roadster
*1925 McFarlan TV6 passenger roadster.
*1935 Duesenberg Model JN four-door convertible passenger car

Other race cars

*A NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car driven and donated by Richard Petty.
*A sprint car driven by A. J. Foyt and George Snider
*2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winning car driven by Tony Stewart
*1998 Stewart-Ford SF-2 Formula One car
*1991 Benetton B191B Ford Formula One car
*1979 Porsche 935 K-3
*1965 Le Mans-winning Ferrari 250 LM.
*1964 Hussein 1/Dodge Zerex Special driven by A. J. Foyt
*1961 Birdcage Maserati
*1957 SSI Corvette
*1954-55 Mercedes-Benz Formula One car
*1929 Bugatti 35-B
*1907 Itala G.P. race car
*1906 Laurin & Klement race car
*1906 Renault

Trophies

*Permanent home for the Borg-Warner Trophy.
*The Wheeler-Schebler Trophy, which pre-dates the Borg-Warner.
*Permanent home for the PPG trophy, awarded to the winner of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
*Historic Race of Two Worlds trophy

elected exhibits

*Indianapolis 500 picture wall including winners portrait and car photograph of every Indianapolis 500 winner from 1911-2008.
*Speedway photography department, including over 4 million images
*Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network exhibit, including antique radio equipment.
*The Tony Hulman theatre, showing a short film about the history of the race.
*A additional admission includes a bus tour of the track.
*Louis Chevrolet Memorial

Hall of Fame

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame, in early years, referred to as Racing's Hall of Fame, dates back to 1952. It was established and supported by the AAA and Ford Foundation. It was originally the brainchild of Tony Hulman who had expressed interest in starting a racing hall of fame shortly after he purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1946.

The AAA dropped out of racing entirely in 1955. After being established for only three years, and after only a handful of historical, "veterans committee" inductees, the hall of fame went dormant. A year later, the first Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum opened its doors. In 1961, Hulman acquired and revived the hall of fame, and incorporated it into the Speedway's museum organization.

Candidates can be nominated after at least twenty years from the first date of active participation in professional-level auto racing. Inductees must receive 75 percent of the votes of a 100-member panel of racing officials, living hall of fame members, and selected media representatives. Voting is usually held annually in February or March, and members are inducted about a week before the race in conjunction with the annual Indy 500 Oldtimers' Club Banquet. There is no set number of inductees for each year, and the number varies annually.

Al Unser, Jr. was the lone inducteee for the class of 2007. No candidates received enough votes for induction in 2008.

Inductees

Indy 500 winnerscite news
title =2002 Record Book: Indianapolis 500
publisher =Indianapolis Star
date = 2002] (wins)
* Mario Andretti (1969)
* Joe Boyer (1924)
* Jimmy Bryan (1958)
* Gaston Chevrolet (1920)
* Jim Clark (1965)
* Bill Cummings (1934)
* Joe Dawson (1912)
* Ralph DePalma (1915)
* Pete DePaolo (1925)
* Mark Donohue (1972)
* Emerson Fittipaldi (1989, 1993)
* Pat Flaherty (1956)
* A. J. Foyt (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977)
* Fred Frame (1932)
* Jules Goux (1913)
* Sam Hanks (1957)
* Ray Harroun (1911)
* Bill Holland (1949)
* Gordon Johncock (1973, 1982)
* Parnelli Jones (1963)
* Ray Keech (1929)
* Frank Lockhart (1926)
* Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991)
* Louis Meyer (1928, 1933, 1936)
* Tommy Milton (1921, 1923)
* Jimmy Murphy (1922)
* Johnnie Parsons (1950)
* Jim Rathmann (1960)
* Dario Resta (1916)
* Floyd Roberts (1938)
* Mauri Rose (1941, 1947, 1948)
* Johnny Rutherford (1974, 1976, 1980)
* Troy Ruttman (1952)
* Wilbur Shaw (1937, 1939, 1940)
* Tom Sneva (1983)
* Bob Sweikert (1955)
* Al Unser, Sr. (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987)
* Al Unser, Jr. (1992, 1994)
* Bobby Unser (1968, 1975, 1981)
* Bill Vukovich (1953, 1954)
* Lee Wallard (1951)
* Rodger Ward (1959, 1962)
* Howdy Wilcox (1919)Other drivers
* Fred Agabashian (1 pole position)
* Johnny Aitken (1 pole position)
* Gil Andersen (1 pole position)
* "Cannonball" Baker
* Henry Banks
* Cliff Bergere (1 pole position)
* Tony Bettenhausen
* Jack Brabham
* David L. Bruce-Brown
* Bob Burman
* Duane Carter, Sr.
* Louis Chevrolet
* Earl Cooper (1 pole position)
* Cliff Durant
* Harlan Fengler
* Harry Grant
* Dan Gurney
* Harry Hartz
* Eddie Hearne
* Ralph Hepburn
* Ted Horn (1 pole position)
* Rex Mays (4 pole positions)
* Roger McCluskey
* Jack McGrath (1 pole position)
* Chet Miller
* Lou Moore
* Ralph Mulford
* Duke Nalon (2 pole positions)
* Barney Oldfield
* Eddie Rickenbacker
* Lloyd Ruby
* Eddie Sachs (2 pole positions)
* Jimmy Snyder
* Myron Stevens
* Lewis Strang (1 pole position)Contributors
*J.C. Agajanian
*James A. Alllison
*George Bignotti
*Tom Binford
*Clint Brawner
*Clarence Cagle
*Tom Carnegie
*Colin Chapman
*J. Walter Christie
*Joe Cloutier
*Sid Collins
*Al Dean
*Bert Dingley
*Darrell Drake
*August Duesenberg
*Fred Duesenberg
*Chris Economaki
*Eddie Edenburn
*Harvey S. Firestone, Sr.
*Carl Fisher
*Henry Ford
*Earl Gilmore
*Leo Goossen
*Andy Granatelli
*Cotton Henning
*Takeo Hirashima
*Linsey Hopkins
*Mary Fendrich Hulman
*Tony Hulman
*Frank Kurtis
*Eddie Kuzma
*Jean Marcenac
*Harry Miller
*Pop Myers
*Fred Offenhauser
*Roger Penske
*Art Pillsbury
*Herb Porter
*Chester Ricker
*George Robertson
*George Salih
*Art Sparks
*Harry C. Stutz
*William K. Vanderbilt
*Fred Wagner
*A. J. Watson
*Lew Welch
*Bob Wilke
*Ed Winfield
*John Zink

Eligible

The following Indianapolis 500 winners, as of 2007, are currently eligible for the Hall of Fame, but have not yet been voted as a member:
*Rene Thomas
*Billy Arnold
*George Souders
*Floyd Davis
*L.L. Corum
*Louis Schneider
*Kelly Petillo
*George Robson
*Graham Hill
*Danny Sullivan
*Bobby Rahal
*Arie Luyendyk
*Eddie Cheever, Jr.

Future

In 2007, the town of Speedway, Indiana unveiled a large redevolpment plan for the vicinity of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.cite news
url =http://www.redevelopspeedway.com/
title =Speedway Redevelopment Commission
publisher =Speedway Redevelopment Commission
accessdate = 2008-03-31] Some plans have included a new larger Hall of Fame Museum, located outside the track to the south. No official plans have been announced.

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/museum/ Hall of Fame Museum- Official site]
* [http://www.redevelopspeedway.com/ Speedway Redevelopment Commission]