The Indy 500 is the biggest single-day sporting event on the planet, a 500-mile American institution that punches above its weight on the Australian motorsport calendar. Here's the rundown.

The Indianapolis 500 is a 500-mile motor race held every year over Memorial Day weekend in late May. Thirty-three drivers line up three-abreast on a 2.5-mile oval in Speedway, Indiana, and run 200 laps at speeds north of 220 mph.

Run since 1911, the Indy 500 is older than both Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix, and together those three races form motorsport's unofficial Triple Crown. Closer to home for many Aussie fans, Formula 1 runs almost year-round; you can bet on Formula 1 across the campaign.

Australians have been showing up at the Brickyard for more than six decades, and one of them finally won the race in 2018.

How the Indy 500 Actually Works

The race format is dead simple on paper: 33 cars, 200 laps, 500 miles. Winner takes home the Borg-Warner Trophy and a slice of a prize pool that hit roughly $16 million for the 2026 edition.

The cars are purpose-built IndyCars, open-wheel and open-cockpit with a spec Dallara chassis, running either Honda or Chevrolet engines. Firestone supplies the tyres, and drivers also get a push-to-pass power boost they can deploy strategically during the race.

Qualifying happens the weekend before race day and is a tense event in its own right. Drivers run four-lap time trials to set their average speed, and only the fastest 33 start the race. Miss the cut and you watch from the grandstands. Legends have been bumped from the grid in the past, so it's never a formality.

On race day the cars form up in 11 rows of three for a rolling start. When the green flag drops on lap three, they're already doing well over 200 mph. Strategy wins races as much as raw pace does, because fuel stints typically stretch to around 30 laps and a well-timed caution can flip the running order completely. If you know how F1 strategy works, Indy's cautions, pit windows and fuel numbers create a very different tactical picture.

Curious about how the categories stack up beyond the oval? Here's a handy primer on IndyCar vs Formula 1 to put the machinery, rules and race craft in context.

Why They Call It 'the Greatest Spectacle in Racing'

The nickname isn't marketing fluff: around 300,000 people pack into Indianapolis Motor Speedway every year, making it the highest-attended single-day sporting event on Earth. The permanent seating alone holds more than 257,000, and the infield swells the crowd from there.

The race has run every year since 1911 apart from the two World Wars, giving it a century-plus of continuous history. Ray Harroun won the first one in just under 6 hours 42 minutes at an average of 74.6 mph, which sounds like a leisurely Sunday drive now. Modern winners cruise home well above 160 mph on average, hitting lap speeds above 220 mph.

The track itself is part of the legend. The 2.5-mile oval is nicknamed the Brickyard because the original 1909 surface was paved with 3.2 million bricks. Those bricks were eventually covered with asphalt, but a three-foot strip at the start-finish line was left exposed. That strip is still there today.

The Indy 500 also sits alongside the Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the Triple Crown of motorsport. Only one driver, Graham Hill, has ever completed the sweep. Fernando Alonso has twice attempted the Indy leg to finish his own set and fallen short both times.

The Traditions That Make the Race

Motorsport events love their rituals, and the Indy 500 has more than most. The winner drinks milk in victory lane. The tradition started in 1936 when Louis Meyer asked for buttermilk after his win, and the American dairy industry has been sponsoring it ever since. Each driver nominates their preferred variety before the race so the right bottle is ready if they cross the line first.

Then there's the trophy: the Borg-Warner Trophy has been awarded since 1936 and carries a sterling silver bas-relief of every winner's face. It stays at the Speedway year-round, with winners getting a smaller replica known as the "Baby Borg" to keep. When Alex Palou won in 2025, he became the 112th face added.

Winners also kiss the bricks. After the chequered flag, the driver and their team walk down to the start-finish line and plant a kiss on that exposed strip of original 1909 paving. A floral wreath comes with the win too, a horseshoe-shaped loop of cymbidium orchids and ivy draped across the winner's shoulders in every victory lane photo.

The Australian Connection

Aussies have been turning up at the Brickyard since Sir Jack Brabham raced there in 1961, finishing ninth in a rear-engined Cooper-Climax. That finish is widely credited as the moment that kickstarted the rear-engine revolution that changed Indy car design forever.

A handful of Australians followed over the decades, including Vern Schuppan (third in 1981) and Geoff Brabham, but none could crack victory lane. Ryan Briscoe moved the needle next. The Sydney-born driver took pole for the 2012 race, becoming the first Australian ever to start from the top spot. He finished fifth that year, matching his best Indy result from 2007.

Then there's Will Power. The Toowoomba native had been chasing the 500 for a decade by 2018, finishing runner-up in 2015 and banking multiple top-10s along the way. When he finally took the chequered flag in the 102nd running, he became the first Australian winner in the race's history. Power also won the INDYCAR Grand Prix on the IMS road course two weeks earlier that May, making him the first driver to sweep both May races at the Speedway in the same year. Power remains the only Aussie to have won the Indy 500, a fact he's been happy to remind the motorsport world about ever since.

And for local flavour on Mount Panorama, our Bathurst 1000 betting guide is a handy companion to the Aussie endurance classic.

How to Watch the Indianapolis 500 in Australia

Stan Sport holds the exclusive Australian broadcast rights to the IndyCar Series, including the Indy 500. The deal was re-signed in late 2024 for a further three years, so Stan is where Aussie punters will find the race for the foreseeable future. Every practice session, qualifying day and race goes out live and ad-free on the platform.

2026 Indy 500 Start Time in Australia

The 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for Sunday, May 24, 2026. Green flag drops at 12:45 pm ET in Indianapolis.

For Australian viewers, that converts to 2:45 am AEST on Monday, May 25, 2026, so yes, it's an early one. Pre-race coverage on Stan Sport typically kicks off a couple of hours before the green flag, so the full ceremony including Back Home Again in Indiana and the national anthem starts around midnight AEST. Anyone who finds 2:45 am a bit steep can stream the replay on Stan Sport later that Monday. Just stay off social media if you want the result preserved.