IMS Museum celebrates pair of racing icons

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) – From the first car to ever win the Indianapolis 500, to more modern racers, you can see it all at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

“We are never going to run out of stories to tell here,” Eric Powell of the IMS Museum said.

This year, the museum has two new exhibits celebrating 50 years of history.

Mario Andretti won the 1969 Indy 500, the same year legendary team owner Roger Penske had his first entry in the race.

Andretti is this year’s driver being honored in the icon exhibit.

“You know, he’s one of the best drivers in the world, so this was a good year to do it,” Powell said.

“It has been beyond what I ever could have expected,” Andretti remarked. “I was in tears when I first got here and saw what they did.”

Within the exhibit, you can see Andretti’s influence transcend into different racing series’ and get a firsthand look at the tools he used to make the Andretti name what it is today.

“The diversity of his career is just so phenomenal, so amazing,” Powell said. “This was a guy who could literally be racing the Hoosier 100 here in Indianapolis and then flying to Italy for a race the next day.” 

Team Penske is celebrating 50 years in racing. The exhibit highlights five of the most iconic cars in the team’s history.

“Penske won the Brickyard 400 for the first time last year, and then they had the team’s 500th win last year,” Powell said. “It is just kind of interesting how all of these anniversaries have come about and 2019 has proven to be a pretty good year to do all this.”

Both exhibits will be up at the museum through November.