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Behind the scenes with longtime Indianapolis 500 ticket designer

Mandy Walsh details the process of designing the iconic Indianapolis 500 tickets.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis 500 is just two months away and in order to get into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, fans obviously have to have a ticket. 

Those tickets aren't just pieces of paper, they are historic keepsakes that one team works hard to design every year, and capture the perfect picture to put on it.

"As soon as that race is over and those pictures come in, everybody's like, 'what are you going to do on the ticket? What are you going to do?'" said Mandy Walsh, Senior Art Director for IMS and IndyCar.

It's a mission to find that one winning shot of the winners for the Indy 500 ticket. 

Credit: WTHR
Mandy Walsh looks through previous Indy 500 ticket designs at her desk at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"You just never know what's going to be the best picture for that year. Trying to find emotion, capture that," Walsh said. "If they [fans] find out I design the ticket, they're like, 'oh my gosh, I have that at home' because everybody keeps their tickets. This isn't a ticket that you throw out."

Credit: WTHR
Mandy Walsh, a longtime designer of Indianapolis 500 tickets, talks with 13News during an interview.

Fans might have a keepsake box at home, but the IMS has a vault. 

"It's got the '89 winner on it. It's got Emerson Fittipaldi," Walsh said as she looked through old tickets. "There's Will Power's ticket that I love."

She's designed the tickets for nearly two decades and says going through them is like looking through an old family album.

Credit: WTHR
A file cabinet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway holds past Indianapolis 500 tickets.

"With Helio, I said, 'you do your job and win. Then, I'll do my job and put you on the ticket again,'" Walsh said.

Just like Helio, her job takes a keen eye too. 

"Milk shots are always tough because sometimes their eyes are closed, or the milk is dripping weird or something. So, milk shots, you have to find just the right one," Walsh said.

This year's ticket, Walsh wanted to capture the moment everyone was talking about. "Here is, taking off for that hole in the fence. Look at that face. Love it," Walsh said.

Credit: WTHR
The design of the 2024 Indianapolis 500 ticket.

The shots just weren't the right fit, according to Walsh. 

"So then, there's the exact picture that I found," Walsh said. "He [photographer] took this shot. He was in the right place at the right time."

Walsh says the favorite part of her job is watching the driver see the ticket for the first time because they don't see it until that unveil.

Creating a piece of history for fans and drivers alike stands the test of time. Wlash's favorite ticket? Juan Pablo Montoya's. He won the 99th Indy 500 in 2015.

As for this year, there's a "19" in the ticket for Roger Penske's number of wins, but you have to look very closely to find it.

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