Browsing by Subject "Indianapolis 500"

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    The Indy Racing League and the Indianapolis 500: Increasing Competition in Open-Wheeled Automobile Racing in the United States
    (http://www.americanpopularculture.com/archive/sports/racing.htm, 2012-05) White, Robert W.; Baker, Andrew J.
    Over the course of its lengthy history, the popularity of open-wheeled automobile racing in the United States has waxed and waned. This is especially evident in recent years. The 1996 “split” between the Indy Racing League (IRL; later, the IndyCar Series) and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART; later the Champ Car World Series) severely hurt the sport. Following the split there was a well-documented decline in fan interest from which the sport has not recovered. Less understood, however, is that under the Indy Racing League the Indianapolis 500, the premier event in open-wheeled racing in the United States, became more competitive. Ironically, while fan interest decreased in the Indy Racing League era, the quality of racing increased. The increased competition associated with the Indy Racing League is a historically significant development that bodes well for the future of the sport.
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    Kindling the Fires of Patriotism: The Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Indiana, 1866-1949
    (2014) Sacco, Nicholas W.; Labode, Modupe; Morgan, Anita A.; Towne, Stephen E., 1961-
    Following the end of the American Civil War in 1865, thousands of Union veterans joined the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the largest Union veterans' fraternal organization in the United States. Upwards of 25,000 Hoosier veterans were members in the Department of Indiana by 1890, including President Benjamin Harrison and General Lew Wallace. This thesis argues that Indiana GAR members met in fraternity to share and construct memories of the Civil War that helped make sense of the past and the present. Indiana GAR members took it upon themselves after the war to act as gatekeepers of Civil War memory in the Hoosier state, publicly arguing that important values they acquired through armed conflict—obedience to authority, duty, selflessness, honor, and love of country—were losing relevance in an increasingly industrialized society that seemingly valued selfishness, materialism, and political radicalism. This thesis explores the creation of Civil War memories and GAR identity, the historical origins of Memorial Day in Indiana, and the Indiana GAR's struggle to incorporate ideals of "patriotic instruction" in public school history classrooms throughout the state.
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    Residents` Perceptions Towards the Social Impacts of the Indianapolis 500 And factors Influencing Residents` Support of the Hallmark Event
    (2024-11) Baqaain, Jumana Basem; Lee, Soonhwan; Wang, Suosheng; Krohn, Brian D.
    The aim of the study is to identify the major social benefits and costs associated with hosting the Indianapolis 500 in Indianapolis, Indiana as perceived by the residents. How residents’ perceptions toward this sport event are formed, what other antecedents’ factors helped in shaping residents’ perceptions, as well as how the perceived social impacts affected their support towards the future of hosting this event. As the theoretical framework the paper used the social exchange theory to examine residents’ perceptions of the event impacts. The paper employed qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews with 12 residents of Indianapolis, Indiana. The result of the qualitative study revealed that the sense of community, enhancing city image and the sense of pride are among the positive social impacts as perceived by the residents. Further analysis demonstrates that resident support for the Indy 500 is influenced by the perceived benefits in accordance with the social exchange theory. Perceptions are aligned with groups of factors, the attachment to the event, personal experience, and the attachment to the community as well.