Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum - Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame, also referred to as Auto Racing Hall of Fame, dates back to 1952. It was established and supported by the AAA and Ford Foundation. It was originally the brainchild of Tony Hulman who had expressed interest in starting a racing hall of fame shortly after he purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1946.

The AAA dropped out of racing entirely in 1955. After being established for only three years, and after only a handful of historical, "veterans committee" inductees, the hall of fame went dormant. A year later, the first Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum opened its doors. In 1961, Hulman acquired and revived the hall of fame, and incorporated it into the Speedway's museum organization.

Candidates can be nominated after at least twenty years from the first date of active participation in professional-level auto racing. A short list of eight finalists from before 1970, and eight after 1970 are placed on the ballot. Inductees must receive 75 percent of the votes of a roughly 150-member panel of racing officials, living hall of fame members, and selected media representatives. Participation and accomplishments in the Indianapolis 500 are heavily weighed, but are not the lone factors in consideration. Voting is usually held annually in the spring, and members are inducted about a week before the race during a special ceremony. There is no set number of inductees for each year, and the number varies annually.

Inductees that are deceased are sometimes assigned Speedway historian Donald Davidson to accept the award in their memory. In 2004, former car owner Roger Penske accepted the award on behalf of Emerson Fittipaldi, who could not make the trip from Brazil. The current inductees are summarized below.

The 2012 inductees were Pat Vidan and Michael Andretti