Former Local Speedway Promoter Heads Indy 500 Appraisal Expo

Ted Knorr of Speedway, IN is the project director for the National Indy 500 Collectors Club's first at any speedway "Antique Roadshow" type of program on May 26th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway The former promoter of the Rensselaer Fairgrounds Raceway, Henry's Speedway and Illiana Clay Racing Club of the 70's and 80's came up with the idea of a Memorabilia Appraisers Expo for Indy 500 memorabilia in May of 2008.

Knorr recently said " I have been a collector/vendor of auto racing memorabilia for much of my life." My wife and I have over 300 racing items on display in the IMS Hall of Fame Museum and other rare racing items in racing museums in Daytona Beach, Fl., Mooresville, NC, and Auburn, IN. We have sold race related items to many sports restaurants and bars over the past twenty years including "Applebee's". In fact if you go into an Applebee's anyplace in the country and they have vintage auto racing items displayed....we may have been the source" Knorr added.

Knorr continued " We promoted 276 stock car racing programs over a 15 year period back in the late 70's and early 80's and now have been a vendor/collector at well over 300 national automotive swap meets and shows over the past 35 years." With this background the former racer has about seen it all in auto racing collectibles. Based on this knowledge and that of a half-dozen other vendor/collectors, Knorr thought he could put together a group of appraisers for auto racing items and that is the premise of this Expo. "We had a trial run in January of 2009 at the Indiana State Museum in downtown Indy and it was very successful." Several Indianapolis Motor Speedway staff members attended this event and the thought of doing it during the Centennial Era (2009-2011) at IMS seemed like a perfect fit for vintage Indy 500 items.

The National Indy 500 Collectors Club has over 300 members in 46 states and six foreign countries. Members have items such as Knorr's A.J. Foyt's 1963 season racing helmet (purchased at a Indy yard sale in 1987) on up to members owning actual restored Indy 500 speedway racecars. Indy 500 tickets, programs, pit badges, autographed photos, and parts of wrecked Indycars are just some of the vintage items from the Indy 500 that fans have collected thru the years. Knorr concluded "this will be the opportunity for Indy 500 fans to have their treasures evaluated by knowledgeable appraisers with decades of experience in collecting." There is no charge for this "approximation of value" on Wednesday, May 26 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Fans will be limited to two items each and sorry...no Nascar items.

The May 26 "Community Day at the Track" is sponsored by the Indy 500 Festival Committee. For a small charge you are allowed to drive your personal car around the 2.5 mile track and pretend you are a Indycar driver (at a controlled much slower speed - note bring your camera). The garage area is open to the public and you will be able to see the qualified 33 cars for the Indy 500 and get autographs from the starting field of drivers. The HOF Museum will be open and a lot of former 500 winners will be available for autographs and photos. It truly is an inside look at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that continues to have the largest single day attended sporting event in the world.