Every May, more than 300,000 people pour into the world’s largest sports venue for a race that has been running for over 100 years. The Indianapolis 500 is not just a race — it is a national tradition, a once-a-year pilgrimage for motorsports fans from every corner of the globe. But behind every roaring engine and every lap around that famous 2.5-mile oval, there is a fascinating ownership story — one that has passed through just four owners in the speedway’s entire 117-year history.
Right now in 2026, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is owned by Penske Entertainment Corp. — with a significant new partner that joined just last year. Here is the full story.
What Is Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
Penske Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of Penske Corporation, owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and IMS Productions. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has hosted the world’s largest single-day sporting event — the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race — for more than 100 years.
The speedway sits on the corner of Sixteenth Street and Georgetown Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana, and its sheer physical scale is difficult to comprehend. The infield alone could fit Churchill Downs, Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Vatican, and Disneyland — all at the same time. It is not just the biggest motorsports venue in America. It is the largest sporting venue on the planet.
Who Owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway Right Now in 2026?
The current ownership of Indianapolis Motor Speedway breaks down into two parties following a landmark deal completed in July 2025:
Penske Entertainment, the Roger Penske-owned entity that holds Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar among its assets, sold a one-third interest in the company to FOX on July 31, 2025. The sale was described as a strategic investment and partnership designed to launch new growth for IndyCar, and it includes a multi-year contract extension for Fox Sports’ media rights deal with the open-wheel series.
So the ownership picture in 2026 looks like this: Roger Penske and Penske Corporation still control the majority — roughly two-thirds of Penske Entertainment. Fox Corporation — parent of Fox Sports — now owns the remaining one-third.
Ownership and Key Stakeholders Table
| Owner / Party | Role | Ownership Stake | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Penske / Penske Corporation | Controlling Owner | ~Two-thirds of Penske Entertainment | Purchased IMS from Hulman family in January 2020; fourth owner in IMS history |
| Fox Corporation (Fox Sports) | Strategic Partner & Co-Owner | One-third of Penske Entertainment | Acquired stake on July 31, 2025; valued between $125–$135 million |
| Penske Entertainment Corp. | Operating Subsidiary | Owns IMS, IndyCar & IMS Productions | Wholly owned by Penske Corp. before Fox stake; now a shared entity |
| Hulman & Co. (Historical) | Former Owner | Sold 100% in January 2020 | Owned IMS from 1945 to 2020 — a 74-year family ownership run |
| Tony Hulman (Historical) | Former Owner | Purchased IMS in 1945 | Saved the speedway after World War II for $750,000 |
| Eddie Rickenbacker (Historical) | Former Owner | Owned IMS 1927–1945 | World War I flying ace; sold to Hulman for $750,000 |
| Carl Fisher (Historical) | Original Builder & Owner | Built IMS in 1909 | Paved the track with bricks in 1909 — origin of “The Brickyard” nickname |
The History: Only Four Owners in 117 Years
One of the most remarkable facts about Indianapolis Motor Speedway is how few hands it has passed through in over a century of existence.
Penske joins Carl Fisher, who built the track in 1909; Eddie Rickenbacker, who purchased IMS in 1927; and Tony Hulman and Hulman & Company, which owned and managed the Speedway since 1945. Penske Corporation becomes just the fourth owner in the history of the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Carl Fisher was the visionary who built it all from nothing in 1909. He originally paved the track surface with crushed stone and tar — which turned out to be dangerously rough — and then replaced it with 3.2 million bricks, giving birth to the legendary nickname “The Brickyard.”
Eddie Rickenbacker — a World War I flying ace and one of America’s greatest war heroes — bought the speedway in 1927 and ran it until the chaos of World War II forced him to shut it down.
Tony Hulman stepped in when the speedway was a crumbling, overgrown mess after four years of wartime closure. The speedway was a dilapidated mess in 1945 when Tony Hulman bought it and brought racing back to the corner of Sixteenth Street and Georgetown Avenue after a four-year absence following World War II. Hulman paid $750,000 for a wreck — and turned it into the most famous racing venue in the world. His family held it for 74 years.
How Roger Penske Came to Own IMS
The story of how Roger Penske ended up buying the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the most personal and emotional in all of American sports business.
Roger Penske was a car-loving 14-year-old who regularly listened to the Indianapolis 500 on the radio when his father landed tickets to the 1951 race. They made the trek from Cleveland, and when Penske saw the cars zipping around Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 200 mph, he instantly fell in love.
Decades later, Penske became the most successful car owner in Indianapolis 500 history — winning the race a record 18 times with his racing teams. And then, in 2019, came the call that changed everything.
Tony George, grandson of Tony Hulman, approached Penske before the season-ending race in California in September 2019. George wished Penske luck in the championship battle, then asked “The Captain” if they could have a conversation about the speedway. “We as a family agreed we all needed to have a conversation with Roger Penske,” George said.
The deal came together in just six weeks. Penske Corporation completed its acquisition of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on January 6, 2020, becoming just the fourth owner of the historic facility and subsidiaries that include the IndyCar Series. The speedway had been owned by Tony Hulman and Hulman & Co. since 1945, but the family approached Penske in September for advice when Tony George and his three sisters decided to sell.
The Fox Deal: A New Partner Enters in 2025
The biggest ownership news at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in recent years came not at the track — but in a boardroom announcement on July 31, 2025.
FOX took its relationship as the broadcast partner of IndyCar to a true business partnership by acquiring a one-third interest in Penske Entertainment, including the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Since November 4, 2019, Penske Entertainment owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar, and IMS Productions.
Financial terms were not disclosed. A Wall Street Journal report valued the stake at between $125 and $135 million. The announcement also included a multi-year extension of IndyCar’s media rights deal with Fox.
“This partnership is built on long-standing trust and a shared vision for the future,” Roger Penske said. “Fox sees the incredible potential across our sport and wants to play an active role in building our growth trajectory.”
The deal also carries a personal dimension. Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks is an Indiana native who grew up attending the Indianapolis 500 and has a deep personal affinity for IndyCar racing.
The comparison to Formula One is worth noting. The deal between a media company and its racing partner is similar to Liberty Media’s purchase of a controlling interest in Formula One in 2017 — a model that transformed F1 from a niche sport into a global entertainment phenomenon.
Who Is Roger Penske?
No article about Indianapolis Motor Speedway is complete without a proper introduction to the man who owns it.
Roger S. Penske is the founder and chairman of Penske Corporation, a closely held, diversified, on-highway transportation services company whose subsidiaries operate in a variety of industry segments, including retail automotive, truck leasing, transportation logistics, and professional motorsports. Penske Corporation manages businesses which have consolidated revenues of more than $43 billion, operating in over 3,300 locations and employing more than 73,000 people.
Penske, who is 88, still runs the day-to-day operations of all of his businesses — which includes racing teams in NASCAR, IndyCar, and IMSA and WEC sports car racing, as well as his billion-dollar transportation empire at Penske Corp.
Beyond racing, Penske received the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor in the United States — from President Trump. He is one of the most decorated figures in American business and motorsports history.
What Does Penske Entertainment Own?
Understanding who owns IMS also means understanding the full portfolio that sits inside Penske Entertainment Corp.
Penske Entertainment Corp. owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and IMS Productions. The venue has also hosted NASCAR, Formula One, and other racing series events throughout its storied history.
IMS Productions is a professional video services and production company that handles broadcasting, content creation, and media production for the speedway and IndyCar. It is a significant business in its own right — and now Fox Corporation has a one-third stake in that too.
The 2025 Indianapolis 500 drew a crowd of more than 300,000 people and averaged 7.01 million viewers on Fox — a remarkable 41% increase over the previous year. That viewership surge helped seal the Fox ownership deal and signals that IndyCar is on a genuine upward trajectory under its current ownership structure.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2026?
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is owned by Penske Entertainment Corp. — roughly two-thirds by Roger Penske’s Penske Corporation and one-third by Fox Corporation, which acquired its stake on July 31, 2025.
Q2. When did Roger Penske buy Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
Roger Penske completed the purchase of Indianapolis Motor Speedway on January 6, 2020, buying it from the Hulman-George family who had owned it since 1945.
Q3. How many owners has Indianapolis Motor Speedway had?
IMS has had only four owners in its entire 117-year history — Carl Fisher (1909), Eddie Rickenbacker (1927), Tony Hulman (1945), and Roger Penske (2020).
Q4. Why did Fox Corporation buy a stake in Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
Fox Corporation bought a one-third interest in Penske Entertainment on July 31, 2025, to deepen its investment in IndyCar after acquiring the series’ media rights in 2024, turning a broadcast partnership into full co-ownership.
Q5. How much did Fox pay for its stake in Penske Entertainment?
Financial terms were not officially disclosed, but a Wall Street Journal report valued the Fox stake at between $125 million and $135 million.
Q6. Who built Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
Carl Fisher built Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909, originally surfacing it with crushed stone before repaving it with 3.2 million bricks — earning the track its famous nickname “The Brickyard.”
Q7. What else does Penske Entertainment own besides IMS?
Penske Entertainment Corp. also owns the NTT INDYCAR SERIES — North America’s premier open-wheel racing series — and IMS Productions, a professional video and media production company.
Q8. How big is the Indianapolis 500 crowd? The 2025 Indianapolis 500 drew a crowd of more than 300,000 people — making it the world’s largest single-day spectator sporting event — and averaged 7.01 million television viewers on Fox, a 41% increase over the prior year.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is owned by Penske Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of Roger Penske’s Penske Corporation. Penske bought the speedway from the Hulman-George family in January 2020, becoming only the fourth owner in the track’s 117-year history. On July 31, 2025, Fox Corporation — parent of Fox Sports — acquired a one-third interest in Penske Entertainment in a deal valued between $125 and $135 million, making Fox a genuine ownership partner alongside Penske.
The ownership structure today: Roger Penske controls roughly two-thirds, Fox Corporation owns one-third, and together they are steering IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway into what both parties are calling a new era of growth. With 300,000+ fans in the grandstands every May and IndyCar’s television audience growing 41% year over year, the speedway that Carl Fisher built with 3.2 million bricks in 1909 is in better shape than it has been in decades.
