Why the Indianapolis 500 is called 'the greatest spectacle in racing'

This weekend in the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend -- popularly known as "the greatest spectacle in racing." Like the Kentucky Derby, a heavyweight title bout or Wimbledon, the Indy 500 puts a huge spotlight on a sport that doesn't always get the bulk of the sporting world's attention. After all these years, though, how does this race still capture the tagline as the greatest spectacle in racing?

The Indy 500 combines three things America loves: speed, cars and tradition. When you are a kid, you always race to see who can run the fastest. Who can ride their bikes faster. Then you get a driver's license and at times try to explore the power of your vehicle. In the early 1900s, automobiles were new and owners wanted to see just how fast these things could go before overheating. People would flock to these racing exhibitions to view this great invention of power and speed and dream of its possibilities. Soon after, dirt tracks were used as a sort of competition to show off what these cars could do. The idea for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway formed and soon the thought of a grand race to be held at the venue was created.

From its inception, fans converged to the track to watch these races. The first Indianapolis 500 was run in 1911 and drew 80,000 spectators. In the beginning, it was a raw event where man and machine combined in sport and was a singular event like a boxing match. The endurance of America's inventiveness and the daring idea of man traveling at great speeds and risking their lives for sport. Those ideals have lasted in some form or fashion since then and the specter of the possible "big crash" -- morbid as that sounds -- brings added curiosity. When we think of the Super Bowl or March Madness, the Indianapolis 500 was all those things rolled into one. The exception is that the Indy 500 didn't built into its stature -- it began there and has held on to its "greatest spectacle" status.

The race endures. The track itself has gone through many renovations and the vehicles that compete in the race have truly changed so much that no one who was in Indianapolis in 1911 could have possibly imagined it. The sport and track nearly crumbled away and died during World War II but it came roaring back. Even as various other motorsport circuits rose up, the Indy 500 still lives at the top of the mountain. It truly is the first American sports spectacle. An event created and held in this great nation at this great venue that lies right in the heartland that has stood the test of time.

Of course the races are safer now and technology has made cars and races so precise. Thankfully, casualties don't occur as much anymore (the last one during a race was a fan struck by a tire 30 years ago). Drivers from all over the globe compete on those sacred bricks and the sporting world stops to hear the noise of those engines and see cars fly around that beautiful track at great speeds. Even people who aren't into racing will get into it a bit. It truly takes Americans back to their roots of sport, ingenuity and to the core of our own imagination.