New Seating Arrangements for Indianapolis Motor Speeday
Close-Up of Main Grandstand Seating
Cross Section-Main GrandstandThe Indianapolis Motor Speedway is packed with history and the 500 is still the greatest auto race in the world (despite the opinion of the NASCAR fanatics). I had the pleasure of attending the race in 2006, and while I enjoyed it greatly, the setup of the grandstand is absolutely TERRIBLE! The view of the NASCAR race I attended at Michigan Speedway was far superior. The grandstand construction at Indianapolis is outdated and haphazard; nothing seems coherent about it. So this is where the idea for a new seating scheme at Indianapolis Motor Speedway came from. This is the first race track design I have ever done.
There are several problems with the seating layout at Indianapolis.
1. Infield seats: While it may seem like a good idea to pack people around the pits and start/finish line, it actually destroys the view of nearly the entire grandstand for most of the track. Most of the grandstand can only see about 1/3 of the track at a time. Even if the grandstand is reconstructed, the lower seats won't be great, but the seats higher in the stand will be vastly improved. The balcony and suites would see nearly the entire track.
2. The pitch of the stands: The pitch of the existing stands are far too shallow in the front stretch. The grandstand needs to sit higher off the ground and be steeper, to give fans a better view. This will help make up for the lack of a tri-oval.
3. Poles: I'm not generally opposed to pole seats, but the farther down the front stretch you try to look coming off of turn four, or back from turn one, more and more poles restrict the view. The new stand would still have some poles out of necessity, but they would be farther back in the main stand and pose fewer problems.
4. Incoherence: Nearly every section of the stands around the track seemed to be built differently at a different time in a different way. The whole main grandstand is complicated to get around and inelegantly constructed.
So now for the particulars. The seating capacity of this plan is about 204,000, which is 46,000 less than the current setup. Much of this is a result of allowances for larger seats, more leg room, and the elimination of the infield stands. The depth of the stands are limited to about 33 rows due to surrounding streets, so stands should be as steep as possible to get fans higher above the track, providing better views. The main grandstand on the front stretch would have about 88,000 seats, including 67,000 in the main front stand, 17,000 in the balcony club, and 175 suites, each for 20 people. Stands for 126,000 would surround each of the two short chutes. I didn't get too detailed with all the buildings and golf course in the infield, that could take weeks, and I think you should get the idea from the diagrams provided. Would love to hear what you think!
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