By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio
Indianapolis Motor Speedway fans were treated to a special race on Friday called the Wienie 500.
The event featured a fleet of Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobiles racing around the 2.5-mile superspeedway. It was held to kick off the 2025 Hot Dog season, a period of time during the summer months where sports fans typically eat more hot dogs at sporting events and backyard barbecues than any other time of the year
The Wienie 500 marked the first “meat-up” of all six Wienermobiles in over a decade and the first competitive race for the fleet, each sporting an all-new look. The drivers wore custom Hotdogger racing suits and there was even a trophy presentation in the ‘Wiener’s Circle’, complete with a condiment spray and a hot dog for the wiener’s enjoyment.
Each Wienermobile represented a different regional dog, including the Chi Dog (Midwest), New York Dog (East), Slaw Dog (Southeast), Sonoran Dog (Southwest), Chili Dog (South) and Seattle Dog (Northwest).
The race was steamed live on Friday on the FOX Sports app and across @INDYCARonFOX social accounts. Fans can catch highlights from the race during Sunday’s Indy 500 pre-race show on FOX.
“The Indy 500 marks the unofficial kickoff of summer and the start of hot dog season,” said Kelsey Rice, brand communications director at Oscar Mayer. “As a brand known for sparking smiles in disarmingly delightful ways, it’s only fitting that we bring a race of epic proportions to the Speedway and celebrate a timeless tradition: delicious meats and a little friendly competition to kick off a summer of wieners.”
The Wienie 500 was part of a partnership between Oscar Mayer and IMS. Oscar Mayer is the “Official Hot Dog” of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500.
Photo Gallery:
(Photos from Friday’s Wienie 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All photos provided courtesy of Michael C. Johnson. Click on the photo below and then click the arrows to see all of the pictures).
