The Penske Era - 2020-Present

On November 4, 2019, Roger Penske (Penske Corporation) purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from the Hulman Family and thus began the Penske Era at IMS.

The 2020 Indianapolis 500 will no doubt go down in auto racing history as one of the most unusual 500’s of all time due to the global pandemic. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced on March 26, 2020, that the ‘500’ was postponed to Sunday, August 23rd which marks the first time since the inaugural 500 in 1911 that the ‘500’ will not be in May. Unusual indeed.

As of June 26, 2020, all tickets with a date of May 24, 2020 (below left) were no longer valid and are now souvenirs. Ticket mailing halted in late March* and the ticket office was closed around the same time* so it is unclear how many tickets were mailed or picked up before these events happened. That being said, there are already (and will be) enough May 24 tickets out there that one should have no difficulty finding one.

The May 24, 2020 ticket remains vertical and is the same size as 2019 at 8” x 3”. It depicts 2019 “500” winner Simon Pagenaud drinking the traditional milk in victory lane with embossing of the figure of Pagenaud along with the wreath, his name and the 2020 event logo. Reserved seat tickets again came in a thin cardboard holder. As there were no general admission tickets or walk-up tickets sold there will be no May 24th tickets *printed on a thinner, semi-gloss paper stock.

The August 23rd grandstand ticket (below middle) was printed and distributed in late July. On August 4th, IMS announced the race would be run without fans for the first time in its long history. Also as of August 4th, the printing of tickets was stopped at approximately 1 pm. so those who either picked up their tickets before 1 pm or had their tickets mailed to them were the only people to get August 23rd tickets at the time. The August 23rd general admission ticket (below right) was printed and sold before the cut off but will more than likely be *scarcer than grandstand tickets.

Both the grandstand and general admission August 23, 2020 tickets are vertical and the same size as the May 24th ticket. They also depict 2019 “500” winner Simon Pagenaud celebrating his win at the yard of bricks from the flag stand overhead. August 23rd tickets use the thinner, semi-gloss paper stock with no embossing as is the case with print on demand tickets such as the general admission ticket at far right. Note the general admission ticket uses a different font in place of the seat designation area on the grandstand ticket. General admission tickets like this would’ve been printed on demand for walk-up sales had the race been run on August 23rd.

It is *highly unlikely an embossed version of either ticket was or will be made.

As of *December 2020, all May 24th and August 23rd tickets were mailed to those who ordered them. Those who did so did not always get the exact seats they initially ordered.

As all tickets were to be scanned in there are no perforations to either ticket so all tickets are considered unused.

The Speedway may have *both tickets available as souvenirs in the near future.

With the worldwide pandemic still going on, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced on April 19, 2021, that a limit of 135,000 (40% capacity with NO general admission) fans would be allowed for the race on May 30th. All 135,000 tickets were sold.

The 2021 ticket remains vertical and is the same size as 2020 at 8” x 3” and features 2020 winner Takuma Sato celebrating his second ‘500’ win in Victory Lane. There is NO embossing as in previous years and the paper used is that of the thin print-on-demand ticket.

Although there were only *135,000 tickets, there should be enough of them for collectors to get one.

As all tickets were to be scanned in there are no perforations so all tickets are considered unused.

The 2022 ticket remains vertical and is the same size as 2021 at 8” x 3” and features 2021 winner Helio Castroneves with his car at the yard of bricks along with the Borg-Warner trophy. This years ticket has Helio, his car and the 106th logo all embossed. *It is assumed general admission tickets will not be embossed.

For the first time since 2019 a full capacity crowd was allowed for the 106th ‘500’ so there should be plenty of tickets for collectors.

As all tickets were to be scanned in there are no perforations so all tickets are considered unused.

The 2023 ticket remains vertical and is the same size as 2022 at 8” x 3” and features 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson celebrating in victory lane. The only thing embossed on this years ticket is Ericsson. *It is assumed general admission tickets will not be embossed.

Once again there was a capacity crowd so there should be plenty of tickets for collectors.

As all tickets were to be scanned in there are no perforations so all tickets are considered unused.

* This information is to the best of our knowledge. If anyone has any corrections or more information, please contact: NI500CC@NI500CC.COM