First Batch of Indy 500 Blue Envelopes Sent out

INDIANAPOLIS — The first shipment of the iconic blue envelopes containing tickets for this year’s Indianapolis 500 has been sent out.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Office started mailing envelopes on Wednesday. The initial shipment included over 33,000 envelopes sent to fans in all 50 U.S. states and 32 countries, totaling more than 225,000 individual items, including 173,000 race day tickets.

IMS and INDYCAR President Doug Boles again helped prepare the tickets for delivery, along with 68 Penske Entertainment employees and AJ Foyt Racing driver Caio Collet. Collet included personal notes and signatures on envelopes on their way to IndyCar fans in Brazil, his native country.

“This is certainly one of the most important days of the year when our fans can expect to start seeing those tickets that they purchased over a year ago or right at a year ago,” Boles said on Wednesday inside the ticket office.

It took about 44 days for all of the tickets to be prepared by hand. Boles said that in a mainly digital world, most 500 fans still want that physical ticket.

“One of the things that we love so much about the Indianapolis 500 is the fact that you still get a paper ticket,” he said. “You have the option to go digital at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but most people want that ticket.”

The blue envelopes for the Indy 500 tickets are part of a tradition that dates back to 1994. Other events at the speedway include different colored packaging, such as purple for Brickyard Weekend and green envelopes for the Sonsio Grand Prix.

The 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 is Sunday, May 24.

First Batch of Indy 500 Blue Envelopes Sent out was originally published on wibc.com