INDIANAPOLIS, IN – During the Father’s Day Weekend, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) is hosting the annual SVRA Vintage event. The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association is one of the oldest vintage racing organizations in the US.
IMS has been the setting for open wheel racing going back over 100 years. The on-site museum has dozens of cars that span the generations, including vehicles from the first Indy 500 to the present day. Over the years, IMS has added events beyond just the Indy 500, including NASCAR, F1 and others. And in 2014, the legendary facility started hosting SVRA for vintage racing.
GALLERY: SVRA at IMS – 2026 – Photos by Howard Cohen
This is my first visit to see racing live at Indy. I have watched many Indy 500 and NASCAR races on television. If you have never been to the track in person, you may not realize how HUGE it is. I walked many miles around the paddock the first day taking photographs and talking to racers and team members. I took photographs from the stands on the inside of the track over the pits. The main straight is soooo long. There are thousands of seats and stairs to climb. Television doesn’t show it as big as it is.
Thursday is setup and practice day, nothing formal, different open wheel and closed wheel cars on track using part of the oval and the infield road course. Cars from several eras ran laps clockwise, opposite to the way the 500 is run. Famous cars included ‘Cadillac Le Monstre’, Jacques Villeneuve’s Players IndyCar, McLaren CanAm, Corvette, Cobra, Lotus… too many to list.
For my first day at the track, I am thrilled, excited and exhausted, all at once. Day 2 is next. 😊