Last year's race drew 300,000 fans, the largest crowd in the past 20 years outside of the running in '16Getty Images
Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles said that ticket sales for the Indy 500 are "booming" -- and not only "ahead of where they were at this time last year, but they're ahead by a considerable margin," according to a front-page piece by Jim Ayello of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Boles "didn't share specifics," as IMS "never reveals its ticket sales or attendance figures." Last year's race drew 300,000 fans, the "largest crowd IMS has welcomed in the past 20 years" outside of the 100th running in '16 (350,000 fans). Last year's mark also was a "significant increase" from '15, which had an estimated attendance of 220,000. Boles and his staff have "worked tirelessly since the 100th running to maintain the gains they made that year." Boles also revealed Thursday that IMS has "begun crafting its strategy to promote Danica Patrick," who will end her racing career at the Indy 500. He concurred with Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles, who recently said that he "expects Patrick's appearance to deliver a bigger boost in ticket sales and TV ratings" than did F1 star Fernando Alonso last year (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/23).
