Indianapolis 500 is here and this year with proper spectators allowed!
After last year’s hiatus in proper attendance at the Brickyard, the 105th edition of 2021 appears to be back in full force. This year’s qualifying was as exciting as ever, with only 0.03mph separating the pole sitter and 2008 winner Scott Dixon, who became the 5th driver in history to secure pole position 4 times, ahead of runner-up Colton Herta, who at 21 years old is 20 years younger than Scott and almost became the youngest Indy 500 pole sitter in history!
This marquee event is set to test people’s appetite for attending large-scale gatherings. And a large scale gathering it is, with 250,000 seats and attendance approaching 300,000 when counting the infield spectators and fans.
We could not resist sneaking a preview of this year’s attendance, by overlaying the occupancy during qualifying versus prior years. In 2019’s Sunday qualifying we measured 25 thousand spectators and crew members, versus 19,625 in 2021. Slightly less, following the unfortunate slight downward trend from 2017 to 2019, but certainly a healthy crowd to cheer the teams and drivers braving Turn 1.
If the trend holds, we should see around 100,000 attendees in the Last Row party this Friday; there were 100 thousand in 2019, 110 thousand in 2018 and 158 thousand(!) in 2017; and we should also see more than a quarter million fans on race day.
