Two-time Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi (left) and Roger Penske during the Carb Day prior to the 109th Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 23, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael L. Levitt/Lumen via Getty Images)
Lumen via Getty Images
Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske is so confident the 110th Indianapolis 500 is nearing sellout status; he quipped that he may want to make alternate arrangements to take care of the massive crowd.
“Let me put it this way,” Penske told me before Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. “We’re going to be selling folding chairs here before long.”
That is how confident Penske is that in the next few weeks, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will announce a third-straight sellout of the Indianapolis 500.
“We have a great group of people and many of you don’t know them, but they are the ones that make it happen,” Penske told me. “Remember, there is no dress rehearsal. Three-hundred-plus-thousand people. Real number. This isn’t a telephone book number or a newspaper; it’s a real number.
“What we try to do every year is make it better for the guests that come in as fans. We put handrails up these big stands this year going up in the Southwest stands and the North stands so the people can walk up those stands. That is what of the new things we’ve done this year.”
I had a chance to do an exclusive interview with IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske early Sunday morning in the Team Penske paddock. It was a chance to talk to the dynamic man whose leadership has helped IndyCar regain its glory and prestige which has been evident with an outstanding start to the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season.
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Another important factor that Penske stressed is there will be a full field of 33 cars at the 110th Indianapolis 500. At the moment, there are less than 33 car/driver combinations that have filed entries for the Indy 500, but Penske is confident it will once again be 11 rows of three cars abreast taking the green flag to start the Indianapolis 500 on May 24.
“We expect to have 33 cars, let me say that,” Penske said. “There are lots of things working. Remember, it costs a lot of money to go to Indy, and you want to be competitive. It’s not the old days where you picked up your pickup truck, grabbed your car in the garage and came to Indy. That’s not the case anymore.
“We’ll have 33. It’s exciting to fill the field and see what happens.”
Roger Penske waves to the crowd before the 109th Indianapolis 500 on May 25, 2025.
IndyCar Photo
As a team owner, Roger Penske has won a record 20 Indianapolis 500s. In many ways, Penske’s success owned the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
On November 4, 2019, Penske purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar from the Hulman-George Family, concluding 74 years of ownership that began when Tony Hulman bought the track from previous owner Eddie Rickenbacker in November 1945.
In many ways, Penske considers it his lasting legacy.
“It was our duty, the iconic track, what the Hulman family had done for so many years,” Penske said. “When we took it over, we wanted to maintain that level of professionalism and add what we know from our track experience.
“When you put that together, we’ve made it better and we want to continue to do that.”
Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske (Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo)
INDYCAR Photo by Joe Skibinski
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