Nothing screams ham radio quite like NASCAR, right? Okay, maybe not. But that doesn’t mean the two can’t share the same road together (pun intended), and we can prove it to you.
W9IMS will be hosting a special operating event running July 20 through July 26, 2026 (0000Z-2359Z, 3.840, 7.245, 14.245, 18.140) to honor the Brickyard 400 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Participation will get you a custom QSL card, something W9IMS does for every race held at the track. Make a QSO during each event and you’ll receive a certificate.
If this is your first time participating in W9IMS events, you sadly won’t be able to get the certificate this year since the IndyCar Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 operating events took place in May 2026.
All the more reason to come back next year and get into the action, right?
About W9IMS
Formed by a group of hams who love the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, W9IMS became the track’s official amateur radio club in 2004. President and founder, David, K9RU, a former turn captain for the Associated Press on Turn 3, jumpstarted the group to merge his passion for motorsports and amateur radio.
Over the course of their more than 20-year existence, W9IMS has conducted special events for these races:
- Indianapolis 500
- Brickyard 400
- IndyCar Grand Prix
- United States Grand Prix (2000-2007)
- Indianapolis MotoGP (2008-2015)
- Indianapolis Balloon Race (2009-2010)
About the Brickyard 400
The Brickyard 400 initially waved the checkered flag on August 6, 1994, marking the first time the Indianapolis Motor Speedway let stock car racing onto its historic track.
Before that, the speedway almost exclusively hosted IndyCar racing. Its most prestigious race–the Indianapolis 500–has been held there every year since 1911. The track’s then-president, Tony George, was looking for a second premier race to host, and NASCAR wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the track to bring in new viewers.
The event got its name from the track’s nickname “The Brickyard.” This is in honor of its original racing surface, which was made of more than three million bricks. While it’s primarily asphalt now, the 2.5-mile track still features a small strip of bricks past the finish line. The first Brickyard 400 drew more than 300,000 fans, with 86 drivers trying to qualify for the 43-car field.
In almost no time, the race became one of NASCAR’s crown jewels, with one of the largest purses at just over $11 million. Even the qualifying races, which determined starting position in the actual race, drew large numbers of spectators.
Future NASCAR Hall-of Famer Jeff Gordon was the first driver to take home the gold at the Brickyard 400. What’s more interesting is that of the 32 runs, 30 of them have been won by NASCAR Hall of Fame team owners. The exceptions were Ricky Rudd, who drove for his own independent team in 1997, and Jamie McMurray, who won for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in 2010.
The Brickyard 400 consistently drew hundreds of thousands of spectators until 2008, when controversy struck the track, marking what would become a slow decline in popularity for the event and stock car racing as a whole. This is when NASCAR introduced the “Car of Tomorrow,” which drastically changed car dynamics, shifting weight distribution and putting heavier loads on the right-side tires. Goodyear also developed a tire with compounds that, many racers felt, wore too easily and would break down much faster with the heavier stress put on them. The result was a longer race, as no driver wanted to push themselves and risk losing.
Attendance began to decline, hitting its lowest point in 2017, when only 35,000 people showed up to watch the race. Fortunately, though, the event has started to rebound. Last year, 70,000 peopled watched from the grandstands. While that’s a far cry from its glory days, it’s a start in the right direction.
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