History, Tradition, and Longevity: Why the Indianapolis 500 is More Than Left Turns

F1 snobs are very particular at putting down the Indy 500. It's an F1 reject series, it's just turning left, and so on.

But it's a race older than the F1 World Championship, it's a race where all the legends are honoured every single year, and the fact as well that it is a 230mph dogfight inches from walls. One muck up and you're in a wall.

So why should you give it a chance? Let's have a look.

Enjoy! And remember to like and subscribe for more!

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[AidanMillward]

Katherine Legge qualified. Read the list several times and never saw it. Just numbers. Lots... And lots... of... numbers... I'm smelling numbers. TASTING numbers.

This pinned comment won't stop people mentioning it tho... Good thing the editor exists.

[Vno]

2 day qualifying for the Indy 500 was more interesting to watch than most of the F1 races so far this season.

[mrbloodmuffins]

One point i would add about the 500 is that no driver who attempts to enter the race, is guaranteed to start the race, as demonstrated yesterday by Graham Rahal.

[AntoniusTyas]

Turning left is one thing. Maintaining average 220mph is another.

Doing it for 2 hours and 50 minutes (with some pitstops inbetween, tho) is just insane.

[helloScuffedAI]

I watched the entire broadcast of the Nurburgring 24-hour race and there was never a dull moment, on the other hand it is a challenge to watch 8 minutes of an F1 race highlights considering how dull the "pinnacle of motorsports" has become.

[keithshamradioworld]

To really understand the Indy 500 you need to see it in person. To be between turns one and two at the start when the 33 cars come by on the first lap is amazing

[d-d-i]

Over the years I've grown to understand the oval racing more and more that what makes it so difficult. For viewer it may not seem as difficult as driving on tracks with multiple left and right turns, but it's actually extremely exhausting experience. You're on full speed almost all the time and you have to maintain absolute consistency thru the whole race. You have only two corners to make up time with successful drive thru them, unlike in multi-turn racetracks where you have plenty of opportunities to make up time if you screw up once. Then you have the fact that you have to keep yourself from getting tired of it, since it can feel extremely repetitive after some laps and that can lead to mistakes, which you can't easily make up back.

[shannon]

Hey Aidan, just a shout out from Lafayette Indiana, about 50miles due north of the speedway. I want to thank you for the great video, your knowledge of Indy's history and the kind words you said about INDY and the 500. I'm 51yrs old and have loved Indy my entire life. It does have that small town feel and the brotherly love that comes with it. The history of Indy is like no other and it's still relevant today. If it wasn't why would Alonso risk everything to try it. Throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at race cars like in F1 doesn't equate to better racing. I wish F1 fans would see INDYCAR does have value. The split definitely hurt and we're still feeling the affects today. But INDYCAR as a series is evolving and does promote some of the best and closest racing and the 500 is a must see for anyone. I love your videos but this one in particular hits home for me!!! Looking forward to your next one. Keep up the great work 👍🏎️

[BrotherJPSP]

The racing in IndyCar has been absolutely fantastic this season. There are so many top drivers and you never know who may win the weekend.

[dancallahan]

Love these. Its great to see a primarily European racing fan giving Indy respect. Have a great day, sir!

[markalbert]

I remember watching Chris Economaki doing a driver interview back in the 70's. I can't remember the driver but Chris opened the interview using a metaphor about needing "The precision of a surgeon" to win Indy and the driver replied "Yeah, but being handy in a knife fight helps too".
I've seen every live broadcast of The 500 and never heard a better quote or more concise explanation of the race. Just wish I could remember who said it.

[dhupee]

Just watch 2 day Indy quali yesterday, watching them one by one try to be the fastest pulling 360+ kph average in 4 laps is one thing i cant believe i missed in years(thx for 12 hours time difference)

learning about weight jacket too, its another piece of engineering that i want to learn more

Also watching Taku and TK still has it is quite magical too

Edit:

other things that makes me click with Indy as a series is the open pitbox, same with IMSA and certain extend WEC in Sebring the pitstop is not 2 seconds change tire, but the effort in each people is apparent to see, something i like to appreciate

and in Indy500...there is no "he pushed me off" thing, since if they do, they kiss the wall

[arthuralford]

Graham Rahal watched as his teammate bumped him out of the field. He got out of his car, sat down, and cried with his wife and young daughter consoling him. He hadn't missed a 500 since his rookie year. And, it was almost thirty years to the day that his father, Bobby (a former Indy 500 winner) missed the race. Penske Racing wiped the floor in 1994 with an Ilmor engine nicknamed "The Beast, " the product of some of the most creative rules interpretation ever. The next year, the sight of Penske's trucks leaving Indy after qualifying because none of his cars were fast enough shocked everyone in the sport. Indy is a race where nothing is guaranteed.

Ask J.R. Hildebrand, the Andrettis, Scott Goodyear, Robby Gordon, etc. about how it feels knowing you've got the 500 won, and then suffered from a parts failure or momentary lapse of concentration or run out of time or were on the wrong end of the CART/IRL dispute. Indy breaks hearts. And yet, to a person, these drivers came back to the Brickyard for one more try.

While people have talked about how Tony George "diluted" the importance of IMS by bringing in NASCAR and IMSA and F1 and MotoGP. But if you look at Indy on a Memorial Day Sunday, you won't see anything but pure, undiluted love for the race.

[jeffreysheets]

As someone who grew up in Indiana, and is both an Indycar and F1 fan, it’s great to hear someone from across the pond singing the praises of the Indy 500.

[brianthomas]

I spent the weekend watching Indy qualifying in person at the speedway
seeing cars go by at 240mph is something to behold!

[terrycallahan]

Note: At the 3:06 mark you state that "Alex Palou was the fastest man ever in an Indy 500 qualifying session". Please note that in 1996, Arie Arie Luyendyk set the fastest qualifying average (236 + mph). However, since he did not do it on "pole day", he could not start from the pole. Back in those days, drivers/teams started fastest to slowest AND in accordance with the day on which they qualified. It is more accurate to say "Alex set the fastest pole speed average (average for a four lap qualifying run) in history. I enjoyed your analysis. Indy 500 number 50 for me next weekend.

[moonytheloony]

I visited Indianapolis in July of 1994, about 6 weeks before the inaugural Brickyard 400.

It was Mario Andretti's final year racing there. His pit stall still bore his name and number. I took a picture of it.

The museum is fantastic as it displayed many of the cars that I had seen win there as well as the Borg-Warner trophy, which I still think is the finest-looking trophy ever made for a sporting event. It's magnificent to see in person.

I also took a bus tour of the track and can say it's much larger than it is on TV.

To me Indianapolis is a racing cathedral and memorial all in one. Looking out onto the track one cannot help but thinking of the human triumph & tragedy that has taken place there.

The very first driver that I saw win there was Johnny Rutherford in 1980. The very first driver that I saw killed there was Gordon Smiley in 1982...still the most violent crash i've ever seen.

It's a place where mortal humans test the limits of science & engineering in the arena of competition to become, in a sense, immortal to the ages.

To me it's the perfect race track located in the perfect area of Indiana. The surrounding farm-like landscape gives the place a very warmish kind of charm that's not often seen at other venues in the states.

[vincentleedy]

As a fan of both IndyCar and F1, thank you for this!

[neblolthecarnerd]

Suprised you didn't mention the insane 0.002mph gap between Harvey and Rahal for the knockouk

[fullerx]

You haven't experienced Indy until you've partied in the Coke lot. Much like McPhillamy Park at Bathurst, that is the truest way to experience and understand the fanaticism that exists.