“the fastest hall of fame!”
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, located five miles northwest of downtown Indianapolis on the grounds of the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is recognized as one of the most highly visible museums in the world devoted to automobiles and auto racing. In 1987, the Speedway grounds were honored with the designation of National Historic Landmark. The late Tony Hulman and Karl Kizer, the museum's first director, established the original Hall of Fame Museum in 1956. The building was located at the southwest corner of the Speedway's property where the Speedway's Administration Building now stands. It was large enough only to display a few vintage race cars. Before long, it was obvious something more substantial was needed. During 1975, Hulman built a larger, more modern museum within the Speedway oval, its opening coinciding with the United States Bicentennial celebration in 1976. Constructed of pre-cast cement and Wyoming quartz, the facility encompasses 96,000 square feet of museum and administrative office space. Museum display space measures approximately 37,500 square feet. A glass canopy above the main display floor provides year-round natural light. The building also houses two Speedway gift shops, the track's photography department and other offices. An air-conditioned snack shop and departure area for bus tours of the historic 2.5-mile oval is located near the museum's front doors. About one-third of the museum's annual visitors tour the museum during May, the month of the annual Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.
The track may close from time to time, but the museum is open every dang day but Christmas! It's full of incredible cars with stories about the incredible men and women that drove them around this beast of a track. This museum & the track are the 2 things you MUST SEE on a visit to Indianapolis.
This place is Mecca for my family. The sheer size and scale of IMS will blow you away. YOU MUST visit the museum... Open every day except Christmas and they offer awesome tours of the track. If you even kind-of like racing or you like gigantic, impressive places, you must visit the track when it's not a race weekend. Of course, you should also come back to catch the Indy 500!
Was on a roadtrip and with a stroke of look we were passing by Indianapolis on the day of the Iny 500! Fantastic experience!
This is one of the most professionally done tours I have ever been on. The tour guide was the son of a former Indy racer. He obviously was passionate and proud of Indy and his connection to it.
This was a great stop. We learned a lot about the history of the track and the cars. And there are so many cars on display. There is a 20 minute film that gives you the main briefing you want to hear.
We had a great visit! The museum has lots to see. In addition, we took the tour they offer and went up to the VIP areas and into the stands. It was great to get a behind-the-scenes look. We were there about a month before the Indy 500, so a huge bonus was watching some of the cars practice on the track! Definitely worth a visit here!
We had a blast! Tour Bus took us around the track and we kissed the bricks! The museum was awesome as well.
Been here, and it is big and the tour was amazing. I also got to meet Danica Patrick.
This place is fantastic and much, much bigger than you expect. Was able to get a visit during time trials and had a fantastic time walking through the pits, and watching the cars.
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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
Hours
- Sun - Sat: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
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