SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Football has Canton. Baseball has Cooperstown.
The IndyCar Series has Indianapolis.
The Super Bowl, the World Series and the Indianapolis 500, they’re all among the greatest annual sporting events.
Since its first running in 1911, the Indianapolis 500 — known as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” — has developed into an institution and a national treasure. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, located in the middle of the famous speedway, is dedicated to preserving artifacts related to the races and telling the race’s history.
The museum opened in 1956 in a building located outside of the track. Large enough only for a few displays, twenty years later, the museum moved into a new building constructed in the middle of the track’s infield.
While the museum’s exhibits are constantly changing, there are usually at least 75 cars on display at any given time. One permanent exhibit is Ray Harroun’s 1911 Marmon Wasp — the car he drove to victory lane is the race’s first running.
For an additional charge, visitors can board a bus for a trip around the 2.5-mile-long track.
