Indy 500 sellout will entertain 350,000 fans: 'These are the good old days'

Bruce Martin
Special to FOXSports.com

INDIANAPOLIS — The 109th Indianapolis 500 will be contested in front of a sellout crowd of 350,000 fans, Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials announced Friday morning.

That means the television blackout for Central Indiana has been lifted and the first Indianapolis 500 televised for FOX Sports will be available both live and later that evening on a re-air on WXIN, FOX59.

"Having a sellout is emblematic of this beautiful thing we have now in INDYCAR, FOX Sports and a lot of hard work from people pushing this sport in the right direction," INDYCAR team owner Chip Ganassi told FOX Sports. "We got the Penske deal down, we got the FOX deal done, we got the race sold out, now let’s get back to huge crowds here for Pole Day.

"These are the ‘Good Old Days’ we’re in now."

According to IMS and INDYCAR President Doug Boles, just a few hundred reserved grandstand tickets remain available and are expected to be sold by the conclusion of Indy 500 qualifying this weekend.

It’s the first sellout since the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016. The local blackout was lifted that year.

In 2024, a heavy rainstorm delayed the start of the Indy 500 by four hours. The local TV blackout was lifted for that to accommodate the massive crowd in case they had to leave and miss the race because of the long delay.

"We are really excited to say that sometime between now and the next handful of hours, the Indianapolis 500 for the 109th running presented by Gainbridge will have a grandstand sellout," Boles announced. "We are under four digits in terms of tickets remaining. We wanted to get this announcement out now. Those fans that are thinking about coming, they've got a few hours to get that done.