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Speedway, Indiana took its name from the ultra-famous landmark within its boundaries on the northeast border, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A suburb of Indianapolis, the town of Speedway nevertheless boasts its own civil service and political organizations, such as a town council; school system; including Speedway Senior High School; parks and recreation department; library; utilities; street and fire department. In the 2000 census, the population of this small Midwestern town was put at 12,881. Speedway High School, home of the Sparkplugs, has some of the best sports teams in the area.

Appropriate to the long history of the racetrack, the town was built by city planners to be a hospitable environment for the motor car, as far back as its inception in the 1820s. There were therefore asphalt-paved roads in place almost 200 years ago, as opposed to the brick-lined thoroughfares ubiquitous to other small towns across the Midwest. The modern garage, practical home for the family car, appeared in Speedway when other towns around it still built carriage houses for decades.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which originated in 1909,  has the capacity to seat up to 400,000, which makes it the sports arena with the highest seating capacity in the world, by far, almost twice the size of the Great Strahov Stadium in the Czech Republic, the next largest sports facility. Speedway is known around the globe as “The Racing Capital of the World.”

Speedway, Indiana was not officially incorporated until 1926, though the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that covers a great portion of the town has been in existence since 1909.

The town itself is gracious and atmospheric, with lots of lovely nostalgic architecture, some great Speedway restaurants, two parks sporting five pavilions, and an excellent infrastructure.

Art in Speedway

The arts, though admittedly somewhat eclipsed by the auto racing world, are nevertheless alive and well in Speedway. You’ll find artists learning about art and producing it all around the town. The Speedway school system, for example, offers art classes right inside the city. The HeART of ART is a summer art camp offered by the Parks Department of Speedway during the summer. Just next door in Indianapolis are well-known art scions such as the Indianapolis Art Center and the Herron School of Art and Design, not to mention dozens of excellent Indianapolis art galleries. And specialty shops like Izobatik and American Art Clay Company lurk right on the borders of town.

Attractions in Speedway

The world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which hosts the most famous auto races on the planet, is also home to the Hall of Fame Museum, offering year-round tours and displays of legendary race cars, trophies and other racing memorabilia.

Bars in Speedway

Fun City Finder has compiled a list of the five favorite Speedway bars; just click the above link for details. As everybody knows, Speedway is an extremely racy city. It follows, as the night follow day, that there will have sprung up around town several great places to party.

Favorite bars in Speedway include Kelly’s Pub Too, Grindstone Charley’s Pub and Restaurant, the Winner’s Circle Lounge and the Union Jack Pub. Each possesses its own particular charm.

Business in Speedway

Speedway business is rolling along nicely, in stark contrast to many other hard-hit United States communities. A low cost of living and high influx of visitors combine to make Speedway an attractive place to open a business or to work in one. Due to the great racing draw of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway inside the town, and its fortuitous proximity to Indianapolis, the community of offers an excellent attraction for Speedway businesses of all sorts.

Children in Speedway

With all the fun right next door in Indy, Speedway children have all the supplemental activities any kid could ever hope for. But inside the town of Speedway, there’s lots to keep kids entertained, educated and happy. The school offers a renowned sports and band program, the local parks offer great places to play and the local library always has ongoing, kid-friendly offerings.

Speedway Downtown

The Speedway downtown sector is in the midst of a huge renovation, similar to the improvements made to the Carmel downtown area, but on a smaller scale. The redevelopment projects will tie the town together and make of it a spiffy race theme-oriented community that gives a proud nod to the track that made them famous around the world. The updates are nevertheless expected to allow Speedway to retain its unique, checkered-Americana feel.

Speedway Education

Schools in Speedway, Indiana offer across-the-board public education from Kindergarten through high school. The four elementary schools, one junior high school and one senior high school, are comprised of some award-winning teams, carefully constructed by dedicated faculty and, of course, the agile minds they take charge of.

Speedway Events

The events in Speedway are fast and furious, mostly occurring on the world-famous oval track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Many related greater Indianapolis events have sprung up to celebrate the big-time races, make the most of the huge influx of tourists they attract and generally extend the fun as long as humanly possible.

Speedway Real Estate

Sports in Speedway

The town lives, breathes and derives its reason for being from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which houses the famous Indianpolis 500-mile car racing events. In 1975, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) earned a spot in the National Register of Historic places. Other super-famous events regularly occurring at the Speedway are the Red Bull Indianapolis GP and NASCAR’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Inside the fabled Speedway grounds, many hundred thousands of visitors every year pass through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, as well as the famous Brickyard Crossing Golf Resort, developed as long ago as 1929. The Indy 500, however, still maintains the title “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”