Indy 500 tickets head to fans

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – An Indy 500 tradition offers an opportunity to celebrate the approach of Spring.

“It’s a great day,” said Speedway President Doug Boles, “a day that all our fans look forward to.”

This is the day the Indianapolis Motor Speedway put race tickets in the mail.

Boles said some of the fans who reserve tickets have been coming back for 50 and 60 years.

“This is one of those monumental points where you just know May is right around the corner,” Boles told 24-Hour News 8.

Renewals represent 85 percent of the tickets sold by the Speedway, Boles said. “These are hundreds of thousands of tickets, literally, today, that are going to go out.”

Boles said putting that many tickets in the mail is “a little bit of a relief because it’s an awful lot of work” to get them all prepared.

Now, with the tickets in the hands of the U.S. Postal Service, the ticketing team gets a break.  A short one.

“Now, they get ready to really ramp up for race weekend and the month of May,” Boles said.

The Speedway’s track maintenance people also appreciate the arrival of warmer weather.

“It feels really good,” Boles said, “because you can actually start building the racetrack, again, and getting it ready.  So, that’s great.”

The 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for May 24.