The town of Speedway, Indiana, an enclave of Indianapolis, contains the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Although the race is commonly called the Indianapolis 500, the circuit is not inside Indianapolis’s consolidated municipal boundaries; it sits in the separate town immediately west of the city.
Speedway began as a planned residential suburb associated with the new racetrack and nearby industrial plants. The community was laid out in 1912, three years after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built, and incorporated as a town in 1926. Its name came directly from the track, which was founded in 1909.
The town’s identity remains closely tied to the race. Speedway is known by nicknames including “Home of the 500” and “Racing Capital of the World,” and the track is its defining landmark. The oval’s famous address is therefore in Speedway, even though visitors, broadcasters, and the event’s name usually emphasize Indianapolis.
Avon, Fishers, and Carmel are separate Indiana communities and do not contain the circuit.