IMS Museum – Syndication Server

Hard hat tours to give a glimpse of reimagined IMS museum a year ahead of its reopening

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum might be undergoing a transformation right now, but you can still take a look inside thanks to a series of newly-announced “hard hat tours” which are taking place throughout the Month of May. Beginning this …

Beginning this Friday, May 10, guided tours of the main floor and the newly-constructed Mezzanine level (pictured above) of the museum will be offered to mark the one-year countdown until the reimagined museum opens its doors once again.

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Members of the IMS Museum leadership team will lead the tours, which will also be taking place on Friday May 17, and Friday May 24, with museum president Joe Hale and vice president of curation and education Jason Vansickle also available by request.

The tours will allow visitors to learn more about the museum’s main floor and its new Mezzanine level, as well as all of the artifacts and exhibits – comprising over 55,000 items and 300 vehicles – that will occupy these spaces once it reopens next year.

With the museum currently an active construction site, guests will need to wear closed-toed shoes, while a safety vest, protective eyewear, and of course the aforementioned hard hat will be provided.

IMS Museum begins 140-car basement move-out as transformation approaches

The IMS Museum began the second phase of its move-out this week with approximately 140 cars making their way out of the famed IMS Museum basement and onto transporters for off-site storage. The move is in preparation for the closure of the museum to …

Work on phase one, performed largely over the summer, was the packaging and storage of over 55,000 pieces of artifact. Jason Vansickle, Vice President of Curation and Education at the museum, has been heavily involved in the process since its inception. “Driver suits, helmets, paper archives, trophies… A little bit of everything had to be uniquely packed and stored,” noted Vansickle.

Next up was the basement and the diverse collection of race and road cars. “We re-measured all the cars to make sure everything was accounted for and had a plan of which cars are going to be in certain areas because we’d like to showcase the vehicles at various events and programs while we’re closed for the renovation,” Vansickle said.

While the museum closure means that most of the historic cars and memorabilia will be unseen, Vansickle pointed out that this does provide a unique opportunity the IMS Museum is rarely faced with. “This does allow for the ability to showcase some of the cars that are typically in our permanent display. We tend not to want holes in the floor when the museum is open, so they rarely leave. We’re working on various ways to showcase the cars while the museum is closed — whether it be Indianapolis or across the country. Stay tuned.”

See the full story with more photos from the move at VintageMotorsport.com.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum opens two new exhibitions: ‘1956’ and ‘Our Collection, Your Favorites’

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has announced the opening of two new exhibitions, “1956” and “Our Collection, Your Favorites,” presented by Shell. The exhibitions are now open, and showcase collection highlights through two unique …

“1956” celebrates the origin of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. In 1956, the original Museum opened in what is now the location of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Administration building. This exhibition features the first 13 vehicles, including the Marmon Wasp and Indian Motorcycle. Collection items, including the Wheeler-Schebler trophy that was showcased for guests in the early days of the Museum, are complemented with narratives on the evolution of the Museum and those behind its original inception.

“Our Collection, Your Favorites” presented by Shell, puts the guest in the role of the curator. In March, guests, members, and fans could vote for cars in the Museum’s collection they wanted to see on display. After an online vote, the top 15 vehicles were selected. Collection items featured in this exhibition include over 30 diecast cars, vintage games, and racing suits.

“We wanted to pay homage to the first years of the Museum,” said Jason Vansickle, the Museum’s vice president of curation and education, about “1956.” “To see how it began as a modest display and has grown to be the largest collection of winning Indianapolis 500 cars is a testament to the vision of Tony Hulman, Wilbur Shaw, and Karl Kizer.”

In “1956,” guests will learn about the first curator of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, Karl Kizer, and how it has evolved into the independent, non-profit organization it is today. Visitors can sign the famed guest book before leaving the exhibition, similar to how they would have done in the original Museum.

“The concept for ‘Our Collection, Your Favorites,’ is inspired by the requests we would receive from guests asking when we were planning to display a certain car,” said Vansickle. “Everyone has their favorites they want to see featured, and we decided to let them curate this exhibition. I hope the guests enjoy seeing if their favorite made the exhibition.”

Various vehicles in the Museum collection hold significant meaning to race fans for many reasons: their favorite driver, the design, nostalgia, and more. When completing the online vote for “Our Collection, Your Favorites,” guests were asked to share why they selected the cars as their favorites. Some guests may discover their own words incorporated into the exhibition through those notes.

With the opening of these exhibitions, the Museum has unveiled a record eight new exhibitions in the last 18 months. The exhibition is open now through November. Admission is free to members and included in general admission.

IMS Museum tour with Marshall Pruett and curator Jason Vansickle

Take a guided tour through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum with its curator Jason Vansickle and RACER’s Marshall Pruett. Presented by: RACER’s IndyCar Trackside Report is presented by Skip Barber Racing School. With multiple locations in the …

Take a guided tour through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum with its curator Jason Vansickle and RACER’s Marshall Pruett.

Presented by:

RACER’s IndyCar Trackside Report is presented by Skip Barber Racing School. With multiple locations in the US, Skip Barber Racing School has developed more winning racers than any other school. Their alumni have taken the podium in all facets of motorsports including NASCAR, INDYCAR, SCCA, World Challenge and IMSA. In fact, more than 1/3rd of the starting lineup in the 2022 Indy 500 were Skip Barber graduates. Click to learn more.

Tim Cindric, Tony George tapped for IMS Hall of Fame Class of 2023

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum recently announced the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 2023 Inductees Tim Cindric and Tony George. The inductees will be formally celebrated at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and Dinner presented by Shell and supported by National Bank of Indianapolis, to be held on the evening of Friday, May 26, at the Indiana Roof Ballroom.

The two were chosen from a ballot of 14 nominees by a national panel of more than 150 journalists, participants, and historians.

Tim Cindric currently serves as President of Team Penske. Cindric has overall management responsibility for Team Penske’s racing operations which includes teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, the NASCAR Cup Series, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the World Endurance Championship.

Cindric grew up working with his father, Carl, who was an IndyCar engine builder for IMS Hall of Fame member Herb Porter. A basketball standout and a Hall of Fame member of Pike High School (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where he recently received an honorary doctorate in engineering after graduating in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

After graduation, Cindric began his career with the TrueSports IndyCar team as a design engineer, then served as Team Manager for Team Rahal prior to joining the Penske organization as President in the fall of 1999. His 24-year career with Team Penske consists of more than 375 victories and 27 championships. His successes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway include eight Indianapolis 500 wins, eight IndyCar victories at the IMS Road Course, a Brickyard 400 win, and two NASCAR Xfinity Series victories.

In addition, Cindric served as race strategist for Helio Castroneves’s first three Indianapolis 500 wins and currently serves in this capacity for the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet, driven by Josef Newgarden, the two-time INDYCAR SERIES champion.

Tony George began his tenure as President and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation in 1989, continuing the work his grandfather, Anton “Tony” Hulman, Jr, started when he purchased the Speedway at the end of World War II. He served in this role until 2009. George joins his grandfather, grandmother, Mary Fendrich Hulman, and his mother, Mari Hulman George, in the Hall of Fame.

Under George’s leadership, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway underwent significant changes. Before George assumed the role, the Speedway traditionally only had one race, Indianapolis 500. Determined to bring more events and different racing styles to the Speedway, George announced the addition of a NASCAR race, The Brickyard 400, which debuted in 1994.

Continuing to grow the events and programming, George also helped bring Formula 1 back to the United States by hosting the United States Grand Prix in 2000, which ran through the 2007 season. Hosting the Formula 1 race involved the construction of the road course inside the oval. The road course was also the home to the MotoGP event, held from 2008 through 2015. The road course continues to be used for IndyCar and NASCAR events, among others, throughout the racing season.

George also oversaw the construction of the current iteration of the Pagoda at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Pagoda has nine tiers and reaches a height of 153 feet, equal to a 13-story building. The Pagoda has state-of-the-art facilities for race control, safety, timing and scoring, and radio broadcast booths. In addition to the Pagoda, the media center was constructed, and the tower terraces were rebuilt along with the suites behind Tower Terrace south. All of these new elements were designed to serve the Indianapolis 500 and other racing events that take place through the course of the year.

George has made a lasting impact on the sport of racing outside of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With a desire to improve the safety conditions for drivers, George enlisted the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to develop a new wall barrier for race tracks to reduce driver impact. The Steel and Foam Energy Reduction Barrier (SAFER Barrier) was installed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002. The technology is still used and installed in numerous other racetracks.