Indianapolis 500 in film and media

The Indianapolis 500 auto race has been the subject for several motion pictures. It has also received countless references in television, film, commercials, and other media. The following is a list of such references.

Film

*"Racing Hearts" (1922) - silent film featuring actual drivers Edward Heffman, Jerry Wunderlich, Jimmy Murphy, Tommy Milton and Ralph DePalma.
*"Speedway" (1929) - starring William Haines, Anita Page. Bill Whipple (Haines) is a cocky racer and mechanic, on the track, and chases Patricia (Page) around longing to impress her.
*"The Crowd Roars" (1932) - starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell
*"Speed" (1936) - starring Jimmy Stewart
*"Indianapolis Speedway" (1939) - Also known as: "Devil on Wheels", remake of "The Crowd Roars"
*"The Big Wheel" (1949) - starring Mickey Rooney Thomas Mitchell. Racer Billy Coy (Rooney) is the son of a great auto racer who was killed at the Indianapolis 500. He is branded a daredevil after causing the death of another driver, and strains to rebuild his career and personal life.
*"To Please a Lady" (1950) - starring Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck. Columnist Regina Forbes (Stanwyck) writes an article about driver Mike Brannan (Gable) claiming he is reckless and blames him for the death of another driver. Brannan then tries to clean up his act, and at the same time, win Regina's love.
*"Roar of the Crowd" (1953) - starring Howard Duff, Helene Stanley. Racer Johnny Tracy (Duff) wants to race at the Indianapolis 500, but his girlfriend wants him to retire. He agrees to retire after the race, but gets injured in a crash. He then works to get back to the track, and get her to change her mind about his retirement.
*"Winning" (1969) - starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Robert Wagner. Frank Capua (Newman) is a rising star on the race circuit who dreams of winning the big one - the Indianapolis 500. But to get there he runs the risk of losing his wife Elora (Woodward) to his rival, Luther Erding (Wagner), and strains the relationship with his stepson.

Film references

*"A Christmas Story" (1983) - During the flat tire scene, the narrator, Jean Shepherd, explain that the Old Man always dreamed of being "in the pits at the Indianapolis Speedway in the 500."
*"The Brave Little Toaster" (1987) - During the junkyard scene, one of the cars sent to the crushing machine claims he "once ran the Indy 500."
*"Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" (1991) - Closing credits show a Motor Trend magazine reporting "Reaper wins Indy 500."
*"Grease" (1978) - During the "Greased Lightnin" scene in the garage, an accurate, authentic period Firestone Indianapolis 500 advertisement poster is located on the wall in the background.
*"Apocalypse Now" (1979) - Captain Willard states that "Charging a man with murder in this place (Vietnam) was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500."
*"Platoon" (1986) - Bunny states that "Ain't nothing like a piece of pussy, except maybe the Indy 500."
*"JFK" (1991) - Susie Cox states that she had spoken to a car salesman who had accompanied Lee Harvey Oswald on a test drive who said that Oswald "took the curves like A.J. Foyt at the Indy 500."
*"Days of Thunder" (1990) - When asked what his goal was in open-wheel auto racing, Cole Trickle said "Indianapolis, but you can't win Indy without a great car and my name isn't Unser or Andretti."

Television

*On the May 18, 1991 episode of "Saturday Night Live", a sketch featured Bill Swerski's Superfans discussing the prospects of the Chicago Bears entering the Indianapolis 500 with Mike Ditka driving the team bus. On the December 12, 1998 episode, a "Bill Brasky" sketch starring Alec Baldwin, John Goodman, and Will Ferrell included dialog by Goodman's character (Ted): "Did I ever tell you about the time he taught his son how to drive? He did it by entering him in the Indy 500. The kid wrecked and died. Brasky said it would've happened sometime."
*In a 1995 episode of "Home Improvement", a friend of Tim Taylor announces he's planning his wedding for Memorial Day weekend. A stunned Tim quickly whispers to him that's the weekend of the Indy 500, and the friend quickly corrects himself, and scheduled it for the following weekend. In many other episodes, Tim's garage features an authentic "Gasoline Alley" street sign, an official Indianapolis Motor Speedway souvenir. Indy drivers including Mario & Michael Andretti, Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser, Sr., Al Unser, Jr., and Robby Gordon have all guest-starred on the program at one time.
*On the December 10, 1964 episode of "The Flintstones", Fred and Barney enter the "Indianrockolis 500" with Fred driving under the name "Goggles Pisanno."
*The Indy 500 was referred to at least twice in the television series "M*A*S*H". In one instance, Corporal Klinger is driving Major Winchester to the Kimpo Airfield. Winchester demanded to know if the Jeep they were riding in could go any faster. Klinger replied, "There's a reason you don't see these things racing at Indianapolis". In another episode, an ambulance overturns when it is leaving the compound too quickly. When Radar informs Col. Potter about the incident, Potter exclaims "When are these boys gonna realize this isn't the Indianapolis 500!"
*On an episode of "The Jeffersons", a friend, who is interested in automobiles, states he desires to be the "first black driver in the Indianapolis 500."
*Three 1999 episodes of COPS were filmed in the city of Indianapolis during race weekend of 1999. Footage of the 500 Festival Parade was shown, as well as police action outside the track the days leading up to the race.
*The episode of "Jeopardy!" which aired August 21, 2006 featured the clue "The Borg Warner Trophy is awarded in this traditional Memorial Day weekend sporting event." The correct response, which incidentally was not answered correctly by any of the three college contestants, was the "Indianapolis 500." On May 29, 2008, the Final Jeopardy category "Annual Sporting Events" had the following clue: "With an estimated sellout crowd of 267,925 people, it claims to be the best-attended single-day sporting event in the U.S." The correct response was the Indianapolis 500, and none of the three contestants answered correctly.
*On the November 12, 2006 episode of "", host Ty Pennington was shown on the mainstraight of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the opening sitting in an Indycar.
*The pilot episode of "Show Me the Money" which aired November 14, 2006 featured the question: "Who finished 4th in the Indianapolis 500 in 2005, her rookie year in the Indy Racing League." The correct answer was Danica Patrick, and the contestant responded correctly.
*In 2006, the Food Network hosted a "Food Network Challenge" cake decorating contest at the track. It was held in the infield the morning of the race. The winner was invited to compete in a later episode.
*2001 and 2002 Indy 500 winner Hélio Castroneves was a contestant on and won Season 5 of "Dancing with the Stars." That ensuing May, his professional partner, Julianne Hough, sang the National Anthem and Season 6 champion Kristi Yamaguchi was the starter of the 2008 race.
*On the series "Roswell", the character Michael has a sign in is apartment, reading "Indy 500 fan parking only."
*In the "Jem" episode "Intrigue at the Indy 500", rock star Jem races in and wins the Indy 500.
*On the "Beavis and Butt-head" episode "," the school bus driver becomes angry when he is cut off by a reckless driver, and yells "this isn't the Indy you moron!"
*Indy Racing League and Indianapolis 500 decals and souveniers, and related content, have appeared in the background on shows including "According to Jim", "Grounded for Life", "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", and "Family Foreman"

Music

*The Beach Boys song "Fun, Fun, Fun" includes the line "She makes the Indy 500 look like a roman chariot race now."
*Rap duo Binary Star released a song titled "Indy 500" on their 2006 album "Masters of the Universe".
*"Indie 500" is a song by The Wrens on the 1996 album "Secaucus".
*An Indianapolis Motor Speedway sticker can be seen on a case in the video for Grateful Dead's "Touch of Grey." The video itself was filmed during a concert which was held at Laguna Seca Raceway, a former Champ Car track.

Video games

*"Indy 500" - a 1977 Atari game.
*"" - a 1989 PC game by Papyrus and EA.
*"Indianapolis 500 Expansion Pack" - a 1993 add-on for the 1992 game "IndyCar Racing" by Papyrus.
*"Indy 500" - a 1995 Sega arcade game.
*"Indianapolis 500 Legends" - a 2007 Wii and DS game.

Other

*The 2005 Indianapolis Colts were nicknamed on CBS as the "Indy 500 Offense".
*A short story by Jean Shepherd, also recited on WOR May 26, 1967, was entitled "Indy 500."