Does the Indy 500 or Kentucky Derby have the largest crowd?

Answer 1

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, by far. According to Wikipedia, crowds at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May can reach "up to 165,000" when the 52,000-capacity grandstand is combined with the luxury boxes and infield standing-room-only crowds. No one knows exactly how many seats are in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway grandstand, but they know it's well over 250,000 and today they'll all be full. That doesn't count the infield, which is larger at Indy (a 2-1/2 mile track) than at Churchill Downs (a 1-1/8 mile track). It's conceivable that 300,000 people will attend the Indianapolis 500. I also think a lot more people will watch it on television--Indy's a couple hours from flag to flag, while the Derby is two whole minutes long.