Bessie Lee Paoli was the third female car owner to enter the Indianapolis 500 and was the most successful. Like Maude Yagle, who entered the 1929 Indianapolis 500 with Ray Keech at the wheel for an eighth-place finish, Bessie was not permitted in the pits. She had to hand notes ...
Tony Hulman
USAC Is Formed
Between January 1 and June 30, 1955, auto racing killed ninety-one and injured over 100. The American Automobile Association, the sanctioning body for championship series, sprint car racing and midget racing, decided its mission of better automobile safety was inconsistent with auto racing. On August 3, 1955, AAA president Andrew ...
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is one of Tony Hulman’s lasting legacies. After buying IMS, he began thinking about a museum focused on racing cars and accessories. At the 1947 One Hundred Mile an Hour Dinner honoring those drivers who had driven an Indianapolis 500 with an average speed of ...
Sid Collins: “The Voice of the 500”
Sid Collins, “The Voice of the 500,” grew up in Indianapolis where he would help out putting price tags and unloading merchandise at his father's store. He attended Shortridge High School which would have a major influence on his life. Shortridge had the first daily high school paper in the nation ...
The IMS Radio Network
Over the 1951-1952 winter, Tony Hulman and IMS president Wilbur Shaw put together the IMS Radio Network to broadcast the Indianapolis 500. This was not a new idea but rather it was born of necessity.
The first coverage of the Indianapolis 500 was in 1922 when two small Indianapolis radio ...