Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
356013771
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
4632442680
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$22,026,626
Expenses
$11,893,704
Assets
$180,203,397
Liabilities
$1,030,908

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KIRK HENDRIX (DIRECTOR AND INTERIM PRESIDENT (JUL - DEC 2025))
  • John Joseph Hale (President (ENDED JUNE 2025))

Highest reported compensation

  • John Joseph Hale (President (ENDED JUNE 2025)): $302,019 total reported compensation
  • PHIL FOSTER (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $162,789 total reported compensation
  • JASON VANSICKLE (VP OF CURATION AND EDUCATION): $155,998 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum brings to life the innovation, thrill, and cultural significance of motor racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

What it reported doing in 2025

The indianapolis motor speedway foundation, inc. Manages a museum, its collection and public programs. The museum's collection consists of historically and culturally significant items that include vehicles, race cars, racing artifacts, artwork, and publications. The museum offers a combination of rotating and permanent exhibits that focus on the history and impact of the indianapolis motor speedway, indycar racing, and motorsports. In addition, the museum offers unique tours of the speedway track and facilities. Educational and information programming for the public ranging from students on a field trip to lifelong learning opportunities, is at the heart of the work of the museum.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50.6%; rating input score 51
  • Program expense ratio: 69%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $22.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 46%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.15; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.9%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 30.5% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50.6% of revenue deployed · 69% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $8.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $302K · 23 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $18.9M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 51/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.