2018 Indy 500 ticket sales strong

Indy 500 pre-race activities

While helping unveil the ticket for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles revealed some other interesting news: Ticket sales for May's "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" are booming.

The track president said not only are sales ahead of where they were at this time last year, but they're ahead by a considerable margin.

"Where we are right now, it’s really good," Boles told the Indy Star newspaper after unveiling the ticket Thursday with Gov. Eric Holcomb, IndyCar CEO Mark Miles and reigning champion Takuma Sato in the Indiana Statehouse rotunda.

"And it’s not just a small growth. It’s looking very good for 2018."

Last year's attendance was 300,000, the largest crowd IMS has welcomed in the past 20 years with 2016's 100th running (350,000) the only exception.

Last year's mark also served as a significant increase from 2015, which had an estimated attendance of 220,000.