--- title: Indianapolis 500 History: How This Year's Race Is the 100th description: The first Indianapolis 500 took place in 1911, but this weekend's race is the 100th edition. Here's how that works out. canonical: https://time.com/4341550/indy-500-100-years/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-27T17:00:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:40:41.567Z article:section: History og:title: Indianapolis 500 History: How This Year's Race Is the 100th og:description: Yes, the math still works out og:url: https://time.com/4341550/indy-500-100-years/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45039bff55ce98b4/6988940ce20a87ddbaa90ec0/indy.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Indianapolis 500 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Indianapolis 500 History: How This Year's Race Is the 100th twitter:description: Yes, the math still works out twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45039bff55ce98b4/6988940ce20a87ddbaa90ec0/indy.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Year's Indy 500 Is the 100th Race—Even Though It Started in 1911  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 27, 2016 5:00 PM UTC  A view of the pits and original Pagoda on the front straightaway during the Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 1911, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway A view of the pits and original Pagoda on the front straightaway during the Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 1911, at the Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayNathan Lazarnick—Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 27, 2016 5:00 PM UTC This year’s [Indy 500](http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500), which will take place on Sunday, is being [fêted](http://wishtv.com/2016/05/19/actor-chris-pine-to-wave-green-flag-at-100th-indy-500/) as the 100th edition of the famed American auto race. But the race started in 1911, which was 105 years ago. How does that work out? The reason the math works is war. On account of World War I and World War II, no Indy 500 race was held in 1917, 1918, 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945\. The World War I pause allowed the speedway to serve as an [aviation repair depot](https://books.google.com/books?id=sSopqvCeAXQC&pg=PA80&dq=indy+500+cancelled+1917&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9vd3zpOfMAhXIXh4KHTmbAwgQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q=indy%20500%20cancelled%201917&f=false), but wasn’t government-mandated. “Racing means taking away from the Government the services of skilled mechanics, who can be used by the Government to better advantage in time of war than by a speedway corporation as a means of entertainment,” [announced](http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/03/24/102324437.html?pageNumber=8) James A. Allison, Secretary-Treasurer of the speedway. During World War II, however, the Indy 500’s organizers didn’t have time to make a similar decision: the U.S. banned automobile racing. [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) As TIME [explained](http://time.com/vault/issue/1942-07-06/page/18/) in the July 6, 1942 issue, gas was getting increasingly difficult for Americans to find: “The U.S. motorist, onetime King of the Highway, looked more like a funny-cartoon pedestrian each week. A great many Eastern gas tanks were dry, and hell had seen no furies like the motorists who did not have enough gas left to drive around to a service station for gas that was not there.” (As a result, one shoe store in Georgia reported “an all-time high in low-heeled shoe sales,” the magazine added.) In response, the U.S. extended gas rationing to a larger area. Most citizens were limited to 16 gallons a month, with few exemptions. That same month, the Office of Defense Transportation issued an [order](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1970&dat=19420716&id=Xl4iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sKYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4725,1330072&hl=en) banning automobile racing in the U.S. The ban was also [meant](http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1942/07/08/85042134.html?pageNumber=29) to conserve rubber. After the war’s end, the race returned for 1946—and it has taken place every year since. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4341550/indy-500-100-years/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4341550/indy-500-100-years/"},"headline":"This Year's Indy 500 Is the 100th Race—Even Though It Started in 1911","datePublished":"2016-05-27T17:00:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:40:41.567Z","description":"Yes, the math still works out","url":"https://time.com/4341550/indy-500-100-years/","keywords":["Transportation","Sports topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45039bff55ce98b4/6988940ce20a87ddbaa90ec0/indy.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45039bff55ce98b4/6988940ce20a87ddbaa90ec0/indy.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Indianapolis 500","caption":"The Indianapolis 500","creditText":"Nathan Lazarnick—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4341550/indy-500-100-years/","name":"This Year's Indy 500 Is the 100th Race—Even Though It Started in 1911"}}]}] ```