Speedway photo archives preserve history — and some stuff that's best forgotten
Dawn Mitchell
Have you ever seen a photo of A.J. Foyt on a unicycle in the garage at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
How about the image of Ralph DePalma pushing his car across the finish line at the Indianapolis 500?
You'll find those images in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway photo archives — one of the best-kept secrets in racing history, tucked away on the second floor of the IMS Museum.
Mixed in with the photos of racing, crashes and drivers are images of events at the speedway — hot air balloon and motorcycle races, air shows, the snake pit and rarely seen (with good reason) images of the men’s restroom after the 1972 Indy 500.
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When the former Speed TV channel interviewed Tony Stewart for a segment, they sat him down in the archives to relive moments he had at the speedway. Stewart looked through photos of himself with drivers who inspired him, such as A.J. Foyt. “Tony didn’t have his ‘race face’, it was just him recalling the moments – you could see the emotion and passion,” said Mike Roth, head of retail and commercial photo sales for the IMS. “It was fun watching him get excited about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”
Roth doesn’t have a favorite photo, “Out of five million images, how do you pick just one?” he asks.
For more than 100 years, the IMS photo department has been responsible for documenting everything that happens at the speedway — construction, people or events — for historical purposes. The photo department has one full-time photographer as well as part-time and volunteer photographers. Between 15-20 photographers work during the month of May.
The photo archives contain proof books dating back to 1909 and are filled with prints of negatives that customers can look through. Glass negatives from the early 1900s, 4 x 5 large format negatives, slide film and 35 mm negatives fill storage room cabinets and shelves.
The archives also contain photos of the Brickyard 400, IndyCar series races and Hoosier Hundred. Carb Day and Legends Day are the busiest days of the year for the archives. On those days, rows of people line up 10 deep, waiting for a seat at the computers to look through the digital archives. Selected images are available on the IMS photo website.
Not all images are digitized and that seems to be okay with some visitors who “love to touch and feel the books; they don’t want to sit at a computer, they just love the nostalgia of the books,” Roth said.
Most customers are searching for something specific. Pace car images are of particular interest to those who collect the cars – especially for restoration purposes. For others, it's a family connection. “A grandfather was a riding mechanic or their father was a crew chief,” Roth said. “They’re looking for photos of family members to document the history of their family.”
Many fans of the archives are regular visitors to the Indianapolis 500. The photos bring back rich memories. “Older gentlemen look through photos of the old Novi engine and can just hear those motors when it ran around the racetrack,” Roth said.
“The archives are indicative of the passion that people have for the speedway and what the Indianapolis 500 means to so many people.
Follow IndyStar photo coordinator Dawn Mitchell on Twitter: @dawn_mitchell61.