Indy 500 Tradition: The balloons

‘Back Home Again in Indiana’ is traditionally sung before the grid of the Indianapolis 500 start their engines. It has been a tradition since 1946 although it is reported that the song was played by a track-side brass band as Hoosier driver Howdy Wilcox ran out his final laps on the way to winning the 1919 Indy 500.

It is believed that 1947 was the first year for the release of multi-colored balloons on race morning and that it was Tony Hulman’s mother, Grace Smith Hulman, who made the suggestion. By 1950, the release had been timed to coincide, as it does to this day, with the final notes of “Back Home Again In Indiana.”