Indianapolis Motor Speedway Seating Guide

Our Indianapolis Motor Speedway Seating Guide is designed to help race fans choose their seats for one of the Speedway’s three great races. With a few hundred thousand choices, picking the best seat is not always an easy task!

We need your help! Have you attended a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? You can help build this resource by contributing comments and photos for the stands from which you’ve watched a race! Each grandstand page accepts comments, and you can send your photos here.

Seating Charts

Stand Details

Each grandstand has its own page for detailed seating information and photos.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Links


TicketsNow	Indy 500	Allstate 400	Indy GP
StubHub	Indy 500	Allstate 400	Indy GP
eBay	Indy 500	Allstate 400	Indy GP
Classifieds	Indy 500	Allstate 400	Indy GP

Got tickets to sell? Post a classified ad.

General Seating Tips and Advice

First let’s get this out of the way: You will have a GREAT time no matter where you happen to be sitting! The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is unique because it is so huge. Different sections of the Speedway develop their own identities due to the loyal fans that return to them year after year. There are seats that are better than others, but there really are no “best” seats. It all depends on what kind of experience you’re looking for.

General Admission

For the Indianapolis 500 and US Grand Prix, the first seating decision to make is “Do I actually want a seat?” Both of those races offer the choice of general admission, grass-covered infield viewing mounds. They are an excellent choice if you’re looking for a relaxed, “day at the park” experience (a very LOUD park!). It’s very common to see race fans with lawn chairs, blankets, coolers, small grills, etc. (even beer kegs for those so inclined). People will be tossing footballs or frisbees, and generally just having a good time.

Take a look at the General Admission details page for more info. General Admission tickets are not available for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, but fans are free to leave their assigned seats and watch the race from the viewing mounds.

Reserved Seats

Everyone has their personal preference, but it’s almost universally accepted that seats on the outside of the track are better than the inside, higher seats are better than lower seats, and the corners are better than the straightaways. So in general, the best seats are up high on an outside corner.

For the Indianapolis 500 and Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, seats high in E Stand on the outside of turn 1 are arguably the best in the house for viewing the race and festivities. For the US Grand Prix, seats high in H Stand and J Stand are considered excellent seats and sell out quickly. But remember that there can be a lot of other determining factors such as cost, big screen TV locations, weather, parking, walking distance, etc. that would make certain seats the “best” for you.

Quick Tips

You will not be able to see the entire track no matter where your seats are located. If seeing the entire track is important, choose a seat with a good view of a video screen (their locations are indicated on our seating charts).
Seats with a penthouse above them offer cover from the sun and rain. However if the seats are too close to the top (especially in the Paddock), they can make you feel like you’re watching the race from inside a tunnel.
Remember that IndyCars and Formula One cars are very small and low to the ground. If you sit too close to the track, you will not be able to see the cars because they will be blocked by the concrete retaining wall.
Many seats are simple bench seats, but some have backs on them. Those that do are located in the stands with Penthouses (A, B, E, Paddock) and in Tower Terrace. Note that the seats in B Stand Penthouse are actually folding chairs.

Sources

In addition to personal research, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Seating Guide was compiled with help from the following sources:

Cavin, Curt, “And the number is… 257,325*”, Indianapolis Star, May 27, 2004, Race Day Preview.

Cavin, Curt, “At capacity, IMS could seat 207,401 USGP Fans”, Indianapolis Star, June 20, 2004, USGP Qualifying Section.

Davidson, Donald, “Indianapolis Motor Speedway: A History”, Brochure, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2005.

Image Atlas, July 2000, GlobeXplorer LLC, http://imageatlas.globexplorer.com (April 6, 2004).

Vandele, Arthur, “Unofficial Indy Seating Map and Information”, Art Vandele’s Unofficial Seating Map and Guide for the 2 1/2 Mile Race Track In Indianapolis, IN, May 20, 2003. http://www.geocities.com/arthurvandele/ (September 9, 2004).

Comments

There are 8 comments for “Indianapolis Motor Speedway Seating Guide”. You may add a comment or trackback from your own site.

#1 - Bruce Hunter (April 20th, 2007 at 7:49 pm)

Without a doubt the this is the most accurate and useful seating guide to the speedway. Many thanks and a great resource.

#2 - Anonymous (April 29th, 2007 at 5:49 pm)

Thank you for the information on the various sections around the track. It will be very helpful in purchasing tickets from a vendor. I would suggest that additional information on the rows (i.e. rows A at front to row WW at the top)in each section would also be helpful.

Tahnks again,
Dennis Janocik

#3 - MashTheGasMike (May 23rd, 2007 at 5:59 pm)

GREAT and pretty darn acurate info. I have sat all over the place(26+yrs) at IMS and have never had a “bad” seat, some are just better than others. I appreciate your site, you’ve done a good job. Best info I’ve found out there. Thank you! Mike

#4 - hey (May 24th, 2007 at 1:43 am)

from canada someone who knows nothing present for somebody that does hard to pick seat package or do on own cant wait until 2008 great site wii make decision in next day tank you

#5 - scheff17 (July 8th, 2008 at 7:10 pm)

So how are the rows numbered, I would assume a is at the bottom and go up from there, or is it the other way around?

#6 - Paul Woods (July 8th, 2008 at 7:47 pm)

Yes, most of the rows start at row A and go to B, C, etc. as they go higher. There are some cases where the rows do not start at A, but these are indicated in the text on each individual stand’s page here at IndianaRacing.net. Also, some stands have no row I or O, if I recall correctly.

#7 - Notenoughroom (July 28th, 2008 at 8:51 am)

I had the worst time of my 15 years at the Brickyard 400 yesterday. The Speedway must think that people are only 19″ wide (have you seen an average hoosier?). We were scrunched in like sardines. I’m small-framed, but there were 5 people in the row with large “frames” (to put it nicely) who forced the rest of us to be squeezed, taking away any enjoyment of the race. It was similar last year. My son was hanging off the end of the row. Enough is enough. I’m done with it.

#8 - 40yearfan (August 8th, 2008 at 5:35 pm)

The seats are designed to be fairly roomy. I’ve been going to the track since ‘68, anf or 25-30 f those years, been my prenet size or bigger - 6′2″ 230+.

I’d bet that there were more people in your row that there were actual “seats.” I have had that problem,surprisingly, more often at the NASCAR event than at the Indy 500.

People tend to take a more “family” approach to where they sit, and after about the first 30 laps, the gate security guys just kind of disappear. So where JimBob, Cousin Frank and Little Eddie have tickets, Uncle Bo, Grandma and Steve the Wonder Drunk now cram themselves in.

At Indy, I’ve never felt crowded, even in the heyday when each & every seat was filled. Go figure.