Indy 500 can thank Columbus legend 'Fast Eddie' Rickenbacker for its name | Arace

Even though Eddie Rickenbacker is one of Columbus' most famous sons and one of the most famous Americans of the 20th century, he has an accomplishment that was unearthed by journalists only recently.

Rickenbacker gave the Indy 500 − or Indianapolis 500, if you like − its name.

At the very least, he streamlined a process that continues yet.

The 2025 edition of the Indy 500 is at 12:45 p.m. May 25. Officially speaking, the name of the race is the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. The naming-rights holders will presumably change over the years (PennGrade Motor Oil's three-year sponsorship has already been ceded to Gainbridge, after all). But change is nothing new in this case.

Two years ago, the Indianapolis Star (more commonly known as IndyStar, part of the USA Today Network) did a deep dive into 100-plus years of its archives. The goal: To learn how the world's best-known race became the Indy 500?

The conclusion is "a funky, winding, 112-year path that leads to no clear answer."

The names over the years include:

  • The International 500-Mile Sweepstakes
  • The 500
  • The 500-Mile Sweepstakes
  • The Liberty 500-Mile Sweepstakes
  • The Indianapolis 500-mile race
  • The Indianapolis 500

Rickenbacker owned Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1927 to 1945. It was in 1936 when he introduced the iconic Borg-Warner Trophy, which he said would be the annual prize for the Indy 500. According to the Indianapolis Star, "On that trophy, it proclaimed the event as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, with no reference to the name International Sweepstakes."

And there it was. Although the funky path will continue to wind (imagine: the end of internal-combustion engines), the die was cast. And there was no better man to cast it than Rickenbacker, with the possible exception of Tony Hulman, who bought the track from Rickenbacker and, after the speedway's dark years during World War II, saved the Brickyard and built the Indy 500 into the world's best-known race.

Rickenbacker was born and raised on the South Side of Columbus, at 1334 Livingston Ave. His boyhood home is on the National Register of Historic Places. The story of his life has been well-chronicled, including at the National Veterans Memorial Museum in Columbus.

He dropped out of school at 13, became fascinated with newfangled automobiles and was taken under the wing of some prominent Columbus manufacturers who dabbled in the burgeoning sport of racing. Driving Park, a few blocks from Rickenbacker's childhood home, got its name because it was a race track at the turn of the previous century. There, in 1910, Rickenbacker, in his Firestone-Columbus car, helped Lee Frayer, in his Red Wing Special, defeat the legendary Barney Oldfield. (That same year, Oldfield raced against an airplane at Driving Park.)

In 1911, Rickenbacker, serving as riding mechanic and relief driver in Frayer's Firestone-Columbus car, raced in the first Indy 500 (The International 500-Mile Sweepstakes). His team finished 13th among 40 competitors.

During World War I, Rickenbacker served as General John "Blackjack" Pershing's personal driver before he became a fighter pilot. How'd he do? This is from a National Veterans Memorial Museum text:

"His 26 confirmed kills during WWI, a result of repeatedly attacking enemy aircraft alone or outnumbered, was a record that stood until the later part of WWII. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor and a record eight Distinguished Service Crosses, as well as the Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre by France."

Columbus Evening Dispatch front page from Feb. 17, 1919. Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker returns to Columbus.

Rickenbacker went on to start a car company, go bust, own an aircraft-engine plant, sell it and buy and run Indianapolis Motor Speedway — he’s the one who paved over the bricks and put in the golf course. He founded Eastern Air Lines and operated the company until he retired in the 1960s.

Somewhere in there, the man known as "Fast Eddie," the "Ace of Aces," and "Captain Eddie" gave the Indianapolis 500 its name. Which is Indy 500.

Happy Memorial Day.

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