Iconic blue envelopes containing Indy 500 tickets mailed to fans across globe

Submitted by IMS

Indianapolis 500 fans will watch their mailboxes after the highly anticipated blue envelopes featuring Race Day tickets were mailed Wednesday from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Office.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Devlin DeFrancesco and Louis Foster and Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist were on hand to assist with the initial mailing, which included shipments to all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and 38 countries around the world as race fans eagerly await the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 25.

“I just like to do this to kind of amp myself up a bit for the ‘500,’” Rosenqvist said. “It feels like you’re actually kind of starting May when you’re here. I love it.

“It’s cool to see the manual processes. It gives you a good perspective when you see all the tickets and everything, and the logistics behind everything.”

DeFrancesco, Foster and Rosenqvist also took time to write notes and signatures on a few envelopes, with these special messages going to ticket buyers from their native countries. DeFrancesco hails from Canada, with Foster from Great Britain and Rosenqvist from Sweden.

“It’s hugely rewarding and very grateful to be here, helping loading the tickets for them to get shipped out,” DeFrancesco said. “So many fans from my country in Canada, to be able to see passes already going out today and people’s anticipation for this race in May is great.”

It takes approximately nine weeks to package all pre-ordered tickets for mailing, from orders the day after the previous year’s race up to current orders. Hard work from employees in the Ticket Office and other Penske Entertainment Corp. departments ensures the ticketing process runs smoothly and on schedule.

A few facts and figures about this year’s initial ticket mailing:

• Number of tickets sent: More than 215,000 items (includes 170,000 Indy 500 Race Day tickets, parking, qualification and practice tickets, concert tickets, etc.)
• Number of blue envelopes sent: More than 32,000
• Number of U.S. Postal Service trays to accommodate envelopes: More than 650
• Weight of all ticket envelopes and trays in first mailing: More than 6,600 pounds
• Hours needed to fill envelopes by hand: More than 1,000 person-hours
• Number of working days to package envelopes: 46
• Number of Penske Entertainment employees who fill envelopes: 56
• Number of states distributed: 50
• Number of countries distributed: 38 (including United States)

Federal postal inspectors came to IMS with a large truck for the first mailing. DeFrancesco, Foster and Rosenqvist joined several IMS employees in helping to load the trucks.

“It’s pretty impressive,” NTT INDYCAR SERIES and Indianapolis 500 rookie Foster said. “I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but it’s super cool to see all the guys and girls here working super hard and getting fans ready who have probably been waiting for this day since Monday after the ‘500’ last year. It’s a super-cool event, and I’m super happy that we’ve been invited to be here.”

Receiving an eagerly awaited blue envelope in the mail is a rite of spring for thousands of fans of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” But why are the envelopes blue?

In the 1970s, Indianapolis 500 tickets were mailed in brown envelopes with the IMS return address in the upper left corner. In the 1980s, a heavier-stock, gray-colored envelope was introduced to mail the tickets, with just the IMS Post Office box number in the upper left corner. A computerized printer also was used for the first time in the 1980s to print ticket customers’ name and address on each envelope.

When the NASCAR Cup Series was added to the IMS schedule in 1994, the Ticket Office needed a way to distinguish between the envelopes containing tickets for the Indianapolis 500 and the annual NASCAR race, especially if the Postal Service returned the envelope as non-deliverable.

So, the IMS Ticket Office decided to color-code the ticket envelopes for each event. Indianapolis 500 ticket envelopes became blue, Brickyard Weekend envelopes became purple, Sonsio Grand Prix envelopes became green, and ticket envelopes for other IMS events use a variety of colors, including red, cream, gray and yellow.

Tickets for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 25, the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday, May 10 and all other Month of May events are available at IMS.com/Tickets or via the IMS Ticket Office at 317-492-6700.