INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has been named the recipient of a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The grant will be used to improve the Museum’s high-polish metal trophy storage environment, allowing the IMS Museum staff to better preserve the nearly 400 trophies in the Museum’s collection. The funding originates from the National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation Assistance Grants program.

Some of these trophies will be part of the IMS Museum’s newest exhibit, which will be announced soon.

The Museum curatorial staff will utilize the funding to purchase storage cabinets and shelving, and preservation supplies to properly store and care for trophies dating from 1903 to 2017, including Indianapolis 500 trophies predating the famed Borg-Warner Trophy, to the complete collection of pre-World War II trophies won by Grand Prix racing legend Rudolf Caracciola.

The NEH is an independent federal agency, established in 1965, which supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from across the United States. Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, was the other Indiana entity to receive NEH funding in this round of grants.

Congressman Andre Carson, of Indianapolis, said he’s pleased to see a central Indiana community asset like the IMS Museum receiving NEH funding, given the many educational  opportunities for all ages through the Speedway’s legacies in design, innovation, competition and entrepreneurship.

“The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is a living tribute to the racing industry’s contributions to our city and state,” said Carson. “Hoosiers are fortunate to have the museum’s achievements recognized by the National Endowment for the Humanities to aid in historic preservation efforts that will help preserve racing history for future generations.”