The historic 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil deserves an epic reminder for everyone to see. Beginning today, it gets one.
Visitors looking to the downtown Indianapolis sky will be greeted by a massive rendering of the iconic Borg-Warner Trophy throughout this epic month of May. The 100th Running Host Committee has commissioned a 74,538-square-foot graphic celebrating the 100th Running of the Indy 500 that will adorn the exterior of the JW Marriott Indianapolis, greeting guests from across the globe traveling to Indianapolis for this year’s legendary race.
“I can’t think of a better way to build anticipation for the 100th running and celebrate this city’s unique capacity to successfully host marquee sporting events,” said Patty Martin, member of the 100th Running Host Committee’s executive committee and the 2016 chair of the 500 Festival Board of Directors. “The 100th Running Host Committee, with its many wonderful volunteers and generous donors, is extremely proud of this effort that will inspire pride amongst Hoosiers and awe from onlookers across the globe.”
The full graphic features the Borg-Warner Trophy, the iconic sterling silver prize adorned with the likeness of every past Indianapolis 500 winner, as well as an Indy car, racing stripes and the phrase “Epic Race. Epic Place.” It also includes the host committee logo lockup, composed of the 100th running logo and the 500 Festival logo. It will be installed by local company Sport Graphics.
In total, the graphic will be 246 feet wide by 303 feet tall. If all panels were laid end to end, they would cover 13,200 feet, the 2.5-mile length of the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval where the 100th running will take place. The 501 panels that compose the project will be installed by hand beginning today, with full installation complete for most of the month of May.
Sport Graphics has adorned the JW Marriott twice before with high-profile graphics celebrating other marquee events, first for the 2012 Super Bowl and also for the 2015 NCAA men’s basketball Final Four. The 100th Running graphic is more than twice the imprint of the Super Bowl image and a third larger than the imprint of the Final Four bracket.