Indy 500 posts first reserved sellout in decades

4:02 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time in at least 20 years, all reserved seats for the Indianapolis 500 have sold out.

The anchor race of the Verizon IndyCar Series has been experiencing a slow but steady growth in attendance since 2011, said Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles. But capitalizing on the publicity of this being the 100th running of the historic event, this is the first time that all of the nearly 250,000 grandstand seats were sold in advance since the early 1990s.

“Every Indianapolis 500 is special, but the buzz surrounding the 100th running has been building for nearly a year,” Boles stated from the steps of the Indiana Statehouse, where he was joined by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.

“The ability to talk about the 100th, and to talk about the year-long project of improvements we’re making to the venue, has really gotten a lot of support from the community,” he added. “We’ve gotten more community support than I can recall in my 25 years in the sport.”

Boles also confirmed that general admission tickets are selling at a much faster rate than in recent years. He said the increase over 2015 GA sales is “in excess of the capacity of Lucas Oil Stadium,” the 70,000-seat venue that plays home to the …

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