Race
The Indianapolis 500 has taken place annually at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1911, excluding the World War years (1917-18; 1942-45). The running of the 86th Indianapolis 500 is sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC). The Indy 500 is the largest single-day sporting event in the world, with an estimated crowd of 350,000 to 400,000.

Track
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a 2.5-mile superspeedway with 36-inch strip of original bricks at start/finish line. The facility opened in August 1909 and has 250,000 permanent seats.

Four turns: 1/4-mile each

Banking: 9 degress

Records
Pole record (four laps/10 miles): Scott Brayton, May 10, 1996; 233.718 mph
Qualifying (four laps/10 miles): Arie Luyendyk, May 11, 1996; 236.986 mph
Single lap (2.5 miles): Arie Luyendyk, May 11, 1996; 237.498 mph
Race (200 laps/500 miles): Arie Luyendyk, May 27, 1990; 2 hr., 41 min., 18.404 sec.; 185.981 mph.
Fastest race lap: Michael Andretti; May 24, 1993; 39.281 sec.; 229.118 mph
Most Career Starts: A.J. Foyt, 35 consecutive (1958-92)
Most Pole Positions: Rick Mears, 6 (1979-82-86-88-89-91)
Most Starts on the Front Row: Rick Mears, 11
Most Wins: 4 (A.J. Foyt, 1961-64-67-77); (Al Unser, 1970-71-78-87); (Rick Mears, 1979-84-88-91)
Back-to-Back Winners: Wilbur Shaw, 1930-40; Mauri Rose, 1947-48; Bill Vukovich, 1953-54; Al Unser, 1970-71
Worst Start to Win: 27th (Ray Harroun, 1911; Louis Meyer, 1936)
Number of Wins from the Pole: 11 (last Al Unser Jr., 1994)
Most Times Led in One Race: Tommy Milton, 13 (1923)
Most Laps Led in One Race: Billy Arnold, 198 (1930)
Widest Winning Margin: Jules Goux, 13 minutes, 8 seconds (1913)
Closest Winning Margin: Al Unser Jr., .043 second (1992)
Most Times Led in Career: A.J. Foyt, 39
Most Laps Led in Career: Al Unser, 644
Most Miles Led in Career: A.J. Foyt, 12,272 1/2
Youngest Winner: Troy Ruttman, 22 years, 2 months (1952)
Oldest Winner: Al Unser, 47 years, 11 months (1987)
Highest Single Race Winnings: Eddie Cheever, $1,433,000, (1998)
Highest Career Winnings: Rick Mears, $4,299,392
Most Rookies to Start: 19 (1919)
Rookie Winners: Ray Harroun (1911); Jules Goux (1913); Rene Thomas (1914); Frank Lockhard (1926); George Souders (1927); Graham Hill (1966); Juan Montoya (2000); Helio Castroneves (2001).