Like all historic sporting events, the Indianapolis 500 has an almost unlimited supply of statistics.
Here’s a list of facts and figures for the 100th anniversary and the 95th Indy 500-mile race Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
DISTANCE — 500 miles or 200 laps around the asphalt-on-brick Indianapolis Motor Speedway track, a 2.5-mile rectangular oval.
RACE CARS — Open-cockpit, open-wheel and single-seat, with 3.5-liter, 635-horsepower normally aspirated Honda Indy V-8 engines.
PACE CAR — 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS, driven by four-time race winner A.J. Foyt.
FINISH — Standings are unofficial until posted by the IndyCar Series.
NUMBER OF STARTERS — 33 cars; three abreast in each of 11 rows.
POLE POSITION — Alex Tagliani, the first Canadian to win the Indy pole after averaging 227.472 mph in 4-lap qualifications. He will start first, the inside of the front row, for the first time in three Indy starts.
SLOWEST QUALIFIER — Ana Beatriz, who averaged 223.879 mph. Will start 32nd, the middle of the 11th row.
FASTEST ROOKIE — JR Hildebrand, 225.579 mph. Will start 12th, the outside of the fourth row.
2010 WINNER — Dario Franchitti, who averaged 161.623 mph for his second win at Indianapolis last year.
FORMER WINNERS IN RACE (5) — Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009), Dario Franchitti (2007 and 2010), Buddy Rice (2004), Dan Wheldon (2005), Scott Dixon (2008).
ROOKIES IN RACE (5) — JR Hildebrand, James Hinchcliffe, Jay Howard, Charlie Kimball and Pippa Mann.
YOUNGEST IN RACE — Graham Rahal, 22 (Born Jan. 4, 1989)
OLDEST IN RACE — Davey Hamilton, 48 (Born June 13, 1962)
MOST PREVIOUS RACES — John Andretti (11).
FOREIGN BORN (22) — Alex Tagliani, Canada; Scott Dixon, New Zealand; Oriol Servia, Spain; Will Power, Australia; Dan Wheldon, England; Dario Franchitti, Scotland; Takuma Sato, Japan; Vitor Meira, Brazil; James Hinchcliffe, Canada; Bertrand Baguette, Belgium; Helio Castroneves, Brazil; E.J. Viso, Venezuela; Justin Wilson, England; Jay Howard, England; Tomas Scheckter, South Africa; Tony Kanaan, Brazil; Simona De Silvestro, Switzerland; Paul Tracy, Canada; Ryan Briscoe, Australia; Alex Lloyd, England; Pippa Mann, England; Ana Beatriz, Brazil.
FIELD AVERAGE IN QUALIFICATIONS — 225.273 mph (Record 228.648 mph, 2002)
QUALIFICATION RECORD — 236.986 mph, Arie Luyendyk, 1996.
RACE RECORD — 185.981 mph, Arie Luyendyk, 1990.
CLOSEST FINISHES — 0.043 seconds, Al Unser Jr. over Scott Goodyear, 1992; 0.0635 seconds, Sam Hornish Jr. over Marco Andretti, 2006.
TELEVISION — Live HD by ESPN on ABC starting at 11 a.m. EDT, one hour before the race.
RADIO — More than 340 affiliate IMS Radio Network stations throughout the United States and Canada, plus XM 94, Sirius 212, American Forces Radio Network, shortwave radio worldwide and the Internet.
DEATHS — There have been 68 deaths at the Speedway, including pre-500 races of 1909-10. Last death was Aug. 30, 2010 when motorcycle rider Peter Lenz of Vancouver, Wash., was killed in a preliminary race to the Indianapolis MotoGP.
Article Last Updated: May 28, 2011.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.