INDIANAPOLIS — The Brickyard 400 is fast approaching.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles installed the first Brickyard street sign downtown Wednesday.
It's a big year for the race, the 30th anniversary of the inaugural event back in 1994.
You'll also see banners around the city, leading up to race day on July 21, which is less than three weeks from now.
Boles talked about what's new this year.
"Well, it's back on the oval, which is really great. It's obviously the 30th anniversary since Jeff Gordon won that first one in 1994, so having a lot of fun with that, but being back on the oval, that iconic oval, that means an awful lot to the drivers, I think, pretty excited about it," Boles said.
Boles said the race is another chance for Indianapolis to shine in the national — and international — spotlight.
"We started it off this year with the NBA All-Star Game. Just finished up swimming. Obviously had the Indy 500. Caitlin Clark. Now the Brickyard 400. It's what Indianapolis does best. We put on huge events and we love doing them," said Boles
Boles said the 30th anniversary Brickyard 400 is a chance to celebrate the history of the race at IMS.
"It's no longer in its infancy. This will be the 31st race, the 30th anniversary. It's hard to believe that there have been that many Brickyard 400s. It's no longer a young event. So I think that's one of the things just to have a lot of pride that it continues to be here," he said. "We're actually going to camp in the infield for people that want to camp, which we've not ever done before. So that's something that's a little bit new.
"But the biggest thing for us is just celebrating all those iconic wins. The kissing of the bricks tradition started at the Speedway. And so to be as part of the Brickyard, so to be able to celebrate, that's kind of cool as well."