SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- The modern and sleek reimagining of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is just days away from opening to the public.
The building at the entrance to Gate 2 of IMS has been closed to visitors since November 2023. In the time since then, crews have worked to better utilize the space with $60.5 million in renovations. It's the first significant renovation in 40 years.
”There's not one square foot in this museum that hasn't been touched in some way," said Joe Hale, the President of the IMS Museum.
With 40,000 square feet of additional space, the museum now has seven permanent and three rotating galleries.
When guests first enter, they'll find Gasoline Alley. The wide hallway has seven different garages that each show a different era of Indy 500 racing.
”You walk down Gasoline Alley and you see the evolution of design, you see the evolution of technology," Hale said.
The wall across from the garages shows some of the 55,000 artifacts the museum has.
”Everything is of that era," Hale said. "We scoured the world to get some of those artifacts here."
From there, race fans will enter the Starting Line Experience, a seven-minute long video taking you from 4:30 race day morning all the way until the green flag waves.
"It has so far produced tears and cheers," Hale said. "It is going to blow you away when you see that."
From there, visitors will find a space unrecognizable from the former museum, with a mezzanine that wasn't there before. That space is dedicated to non-vehicle artifacts. On display is the racing suit from INDYCAR defending champ Alex Palou and the NASCAR Brickyard 400 trophy.
On the main floor, there is a new interactive exhibit called the Qualifying Zone. It has a driving simulator, pit stop challenge, a reflex test and even a soft play area for the youngest Indy 500 fans.
”Making the museum accessible and entertaining for the next generation to tell that 116-year history of the Speedway is critical for a modern time," said Jason Vansickle, the Vice President of Curation and Education at the IMS Museum.
Across from the Qualifying Zone is the John H Holiday Family Indianapolis 500 Winners Gallery. It has winning cars that have shaped the history of the Indy 500. In total, nearly 30 Indy 500-winning cars are on two levels. In the center, fans will find the Borg-Warner Trophy rotating slowly.
"Every display in front of the car has a QR code on it," Hale said. "If you click on that QR code, you can actually see that car running."
Just down the hall, you'll find the Penske Gallery featuring historic race cars, trophies, artifacts and displays honoring Team Penske and its leader Roger Penske.
For the first time in museum history, the basement is now open to the public. In the past, it was only used for private tours. It will now house Indy 500-winning cars and rotating exhibits. Currently on display is "The Best of the Best: The Four-Time Winners" exhibit in honor of A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves.
”To see a couple of them stroll through that and see how their stories are being told, it was just incredible," Hale said.
The museum is set to open to the public on Wednesday, April 2. Hale recommends going to the museum website to get your tickets ahead of time and book what time you'll be coming.
”After being closed for 17 months, I can't wait to be inundated with people, believe me," Hale said.