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    INDY 500

Fact Sheet: Indy 500

What You Need To Know About Indy 500

UPDATED: 2:09 pm EDT May 11, 2009

Who won the first Indy 500? Who was the youngest winner? Or the oldest? Find out all you need to know about the Indy 500 here.

  • The first Indy 500, won by Ray Harroun, was held in 1911.

  • The 500-mile race is contested over 200, 2.5-mile laps.

  • Three drivers have won the event four times: A.J. Foyt (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977), Al Unser (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987) and Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991).

  • At 22 years, 80 days, Troy Ruttman was the youngest winner of the Indy 500 when he was victorious on May 30, 1952.

  • The oldest Indy 500 winner was Al Unser, who was 47 years, 360 days old when he won on May 24, 1987.

  • The winner receives the Borg-Warner Trophy.

  • Each year the winner of the Indy 500 drinks milk in Victory Lane. The tradition started when Louis Meyer drank buttermilk after winning the event in 1936.


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