INDIANAPOLIS – Speedway, Indiana is the racing capital of the world! Millions of people visit the small town every year for the Indy 500.
We went out into the community to talk with the people who work and live there to see what it’s like, not only during the month of May, but all year.
While the track is a big part of their community, town leaders want you to come visit to see what the spirit of Speedway is all about.
“Whenever I go on vacation, people say where are you from and I say Speedway, Indiana. They go, Speedway, Indiana where’s that at? I’d say, have you ever heard of the track? They say, oh Indianapolis, and I say, no Speedway,” said Phil Smith who has lived in Speedway for more than 50 years.
The roughly 5 mile town, with 12,000 people is built on tradition and community.
“It’s a great place to live,” Smith added.
Councilor Gary Raikes grew up here and takes pride in his town.
“A lot of communities have just the four common seasons, but we have the month of May,” said Raikes, “That’s our fifth season and for a lot of us, it’s our favorite season.”
While the focus is on May, he wants Speedway to be a destination all year. He’s worked on bringing new businesses to Main Street, schools continue to rank in the top of the state. Public safety is a major focus, and soon a program will extend its trails to the edge of the town.
“We’ll have another million visitors throughout the year that are coming to see our museums, frequent our other restaurants and retail,” said Raikes.
Vincent Noblet, the President of the Speedway Town Council added, “Visitors to the town of Speedway are welcomed the same as any other small town in the United States, everybody waves and says hi, you don’t get the big city feel. You get more of the ‘how can I help you?’”
Sharing the spirit of Speedway with you, in hopes you’ll be racing here to experience it, for yourself.
“Really, it’s nice to sit on your patio or your deck, listen to the race cars and just enjoy,” said Smith.