During its zenith, the Grateful Dead attracted legions of fans who arrived at sold-out concert venues without a ticket. The attraction of experiencing the magic inside the gates of a Grateful Dead show was so great, these thousands of fans would come anyway just hoping for a miracle.
As lore has it, occasionally a fan with an extra ticket would bestow the “the miracle” to a needy fan, free of charge.
Like the Grateful Dead, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 have generations of die-hard fans. They come from all over the world. For these Indy fans, unlike Dead fans however, getting a ticket into the massive speedway has never been an issue. A general admission ticket allows fans to roam from turn one to turn three and everywhere in between — except for one magical place.
The famed garage area at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is known as Gasoline Alley. It’s there the magic happens during the month of May. Crews work long, hard hours preparing the cars for The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. It’s where the drivers go to meet with engineers, sponsors and the media. Former drivers, dignitaries and celebrities also mingle in Gasoline Alley.
The attraction to walk through the gates and under the Gasoline Alley sign remains. Fans want to peer into the garages to see the cars, watch the crews work and rub elbows with motorsports elite.
For decades, not just anyone was allowed in Gasoline Alley during the month of May. If you didn’t belong in the garages, you were not getting in. Yet, just like Grateful Dead fans, people would line the fences and clog the gates of Gasoline Alley, hoping for the miracle of getting in.
That all changed in 1991.
When the speedway re-opened in 1946 after being closed during WWII, it issued two general types of credentials — a Bronze Badge and a Silver Badge — for the Indianapolis 500. Both badges offered gate admission and access to Gasoline Alley for the entire month. The only difference in the two was that a Silver Badge also allowed access to the pit area.
In 1991, Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials agreed to start allowing limited access to Gasoline Alley to the general public by selling Bronze Badges. The program was immediately popular and remains so today.
The Bronze Badge provides gate admission and Gasoline Alley access every day IMS is open during May, including the IndyCar Grand Prix. The badge is not good on race days for either event.
This year, a Bronze Badge could be purchased at IMS.com/BronzeBadge for $135 before March 31. The price increased to $150 on April 1. Because a legal waiver must be signed when purchased, each Bronze Badge holder must be 18 or older.