--- title: "New IMS Museum Displays Open for Indy 500 Month" description: "The Speedway museum has refreshed its Month of May exhibits, led by historic cars in Gasoline Alley Gallery." url: https://sportopod.com/en-US/cluster/new-ims-museum-displays-for-may-now-open-to-the-public-moudbzv9 published: 2026-05-16T04:32:27.33186+00:00 updated: 2026-05-16T14:03:16.481087+00:00 author: "Kostadin Stamboliev" publisher: "Pineido" site: "Sportopod" language: en topics: ["indycar"] --- # New IMS Museum Displays Open for Indy 500 Month > The Speedway museum has refreshed its Month of May exhibits, led by historic cars in Gasoline Alley Gallery. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has opened several refreshed displays for Indianapolis 500 month, giving visitors new material to see around the Speedway before race day. Racer Magazine reports that the update centers on The Heritage Group Gasoline Alley Gallery, where six of the seven displayed cars have been switched out for May. The change is best understood as a visitor-service update, not a competitive IndyCar development. It gives Indianapolis 500 visitors, local fans, and motorsports history regulars a fresh reason to stop inside the museum during the busiest stretch on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway calendar. The Month of May brings practice, qualifying, traditions, reunions, and a heavy flow of out-of-town fans. Museum programming sits naturally inside that traffic. It does not decide the race. It shapes the trip around it. According to Racer Magazine, the museum’s new Month of May displays allow more stories to be told, with the Gasoline Alley Gallery carrying the most visible refresh. The report says six of the seven cars in that gallery have changed. That is the core news. For visitors, it means the familiar museum route now includes a different set of machines and histories than it did before the May update. The list of cars now on display begins with the 1914 Isotta Fraschini Tipo IM, identified by Racer Magazine as a car driven by Ray Gilhooly. That detail matters because the museum’s value during Indy 500 month is not only the presence of old race cars. It is the way those cars connect spectators to individual drivers, eras, mechanical ideas, and the longer life of the Speedway. A car from 1914 is not a prop. It points visitors back to the early decades of the race, when the event was still defining its machinery, its audience, and its place in American sport. Racer Magazine’s report does not frame the refresh as a wholesale relaunch of the museum or as a sweeping new exhibition with a separate curatorial thesis. It describes several new displays for May, led by the Gasoline Alley Gallery switch-outs. That makes the practical takeaway simple: fans already planning a Speedway visit during Indianapolis 500 month may find new material on the museum floor, especially if they have been there before. That distinction is important. The Indianapolis 500 creates a flood of adjacent news every May, and not all of it carries the same weight. This one sits in the useful-not-urgent category. It does not change the field, the qualifying order, the race strategy, or the championship picture. It does improve the information landscape for people building an Indy 500 weekend or a Month of May itinerary around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Heritage Group Gasoline Alley Gallery is also an apt place for this kind of refresh. Gasoline Alley is one of the Speedway’s most recognizable phrases, tied to the garage area and the working culture around the event. In museum form, that setting gives historic cars a context beyond static display. Visitors can connect the object in front of them with the larger ecosystem that has always made the Indianapolis 500 more than a single Sunday race: mechanics, entrants, drivers, innovations, failures, restorations, and memory. For local motorsports fans, the timing also helps. May in Indianapolis is a habit as much as a schedule. Fans may visit IMS more than once across the month, or bring relatives and friends who are in town for race activities. A refreshed display gives repeat visitors a reason to add the museum back into the loop. For first-timers, it adds another layer to the Speedway visit beyond the track itself. Key facts: - The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has opened several refreshed displays for the Month of May, according to Racer Magazine. - The Heritage Group Gasoline Alley Gallery is the main focus of the update, with six of seven cars switched out. - One listed car now on display is the 1914 Isotta Fraschini Tipo IM, which Racer Magazine identifies as driven by Ray Gilhooly. - The update is aimed at telling more stories during Indianapolis 500 month, when visitor interest around IMS rises sharply. - This is a museum programming note from a single source, not a broader IndyCar competition development. The implications are practical. The museum has made its May offering more relevant for race-month visitors, especially those who want history around the Indianapolis 500 rather than only current-session track activity. For fans who care about the Speedway’s long memory, a gallery refresh can change the texture of a visit. For casual visitors, it gives the museum a clearer hook during a crowded month of events. The news does not need to be inflated beyond that. It is a useful update tied to the biggest annual window for the venue. What's next: Visitors planning a Month of May stop at Indianapolis Motor Speedway should check the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum’s current hours, ticketing details, and any race-week access changes before going. Racer Magazine’s report establishes that the displays are now open to the public, but schedules around IMS can shift during Indianapolis 500 activities. The clean move is to treat the refreshed Gasoline Alley Gallery as part of a broader Speedway visit, especially for fans who want a stronger historical layer around race month. ## Why this matters This matters because Indianapolis 500 month turns the Speedway into more than a racetrack. Visitors build full days around IMS, and museum updates can shape where they spend time before or after on-track sessions. Still, the scale should stay honest: this is a programming refresh reported by Racer Magazine, not a major IndyCar news event. Its value is practical. It helps fans, tourists, and locals know that the museum has new historic material on display during May. ## Frequently asked ### What changed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum? Racer Magazine reports that the museum has opened several new displays for the Month of May. The main change is in The Heritage Group Gasoline Alley Gallery, where six of the seven cars have been switched out. The update gives visitors fresh historic material to see during Indianapolis 500 month. ### Is this a major IndyCar competition story? No. This is a museum programming update, not a competitive IndyCar development. It does not affect the Indianapolis 500 field, practice, qualifying, race strategy, or championship points. Its importance is mainly practical for visitors and local fans planning time around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May. ### Which historic car was specifically mentioned? Racer Magazine specifically mentioned the 1914 Isotta Fraschini Tipo IM, identified in the report as driven by Ray Gilhooly. The source excerpt does not provide a full inventory of every refreshed display, so the article should not assume additional cars beyond what the source states. ### Who should care about the new displays? The update is most useful for Indianapolis 500 visitors, local motorsports fans, and repeat museum guests. If someone is already planning to visit IMS during the Month of May, the refreshed Gasoline Alley Gallery gives them a stronger reason to include the museum in that trip. ## Sources & Citations - [New IMS Museum displays for May now open to the public](https://racer.com/2026/05/06/new-ims-museum-displays-for-may-now-open-to-the-public) — Racer Magazine (2026-05-06) --- Cite: New IMS Museum Displays Open for Indy 500 Month. Sportopod, 2026-05-16. https://sportopod.com/en-US/cluster/new-ims-museum-displays-for-may-now-open-to-the-public-moudbzv9