Welcome back to "30 Over 30," a series celebrating the staying power of Indianapolis landmarks that have endured for 30 years or more.

It'd be impossible to do a series about the places that have shaped this city over decades without including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The big picture: If someone knows nothing else about Indianapolis, they're probably familiar with the largest single-day sporting event held at the nation's oldest continually operating racetrack.

By the numbers: Sold out for the second consecutive year, the 500 is expected to draw roughly 350,000 people — enough to make the Speedway the state's second-largest city on race day.

Flashback: Built in 1909, the track was originally a testing facility for the rapidly growing local automobile industry and hosted the occasional race.

• When the first 500-mile race was held two years later, it drew a massive crowd estimated at 85,000.
• It's run annually ever since, except for a two-year period during World War I and four years during World War II.
• "We've been here for 117 years and when this place was first built, it was farmland," IMS and IndyCar president Doug Boles said. "The city has grown up around us."

State of play: Most people know the legend of Tony Hulman — the Terre Haute businessman who purchased the dilapidated track after WWII, saving it from almost certain demolition.

• It was this post-war period when the race became the spectacle we know and love today — and truly became embedded in the fabric of the city.

What he's saying: "I think we look like a completely different city without the Indianapolis 500 and who knows if sports would have even become a thing here," Boles said.

Zoom in: There's another special thing about IMS and the 500.

• It's the way checkered flags pop up all over the city starting on May 1, the traditions that started before living memory and the personal connections to the race running through generations of Hoosier families.

💭 Arika's thought bubble: My first Indy 500 memories are spending the weekend playing Tekken with my cousins who lived in Noblesville, while our parents made their annual pilgrimage to the track. I went to my first race while attending Butler and am now making annual attendance a tradition of my own.

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Empty nesters are sitting on Indianapolis' family-size homes.

Why it matters: The people who have the space aren't necessarily the ones who need it — and that's making a tight housing market even tighter.

By the numbers: Compared to millennials with kids, boomer empty nesters nationwide own nearly twice the share of homes with three-plus bedrooms (28%).

• Millennial parents own 16% and Gen Z parents own less than 1% of large homes, according to a Redfin analysis of the latest census data, from 2024.

Zoom in: In Indianapolis, empty nest boomers own roughly 29% of large homes, while millennials with children own about 19%.

Zoom out: The highest shares of millennial families who own large homes are in Austin, Texas, Columbus, Ohio, and Minneapolis, at roughly 19%.

• The lowest are in Los Angeles (11%), Miami (13%) and San Jose, California (13%).

The big picture: Older Hoosier homeowners have plenty of reasons to age in place.

• Many are mortgage-free or locked into low mortgage rates.
• Boomers may also want to stay put to remain near family, keep their routines or avoid packing up decades of belongings.

Meanwhile, millennial families face both supply and affordability challenges when trying to move into larger homes, according to Redfin.

Go deeper

🏎️ Alexander Rossi was hospitalized but in good spirits after crashing into the outside wall of Turn 2 during yesterday's rain-soaked Indianapolis 500 practice.

• The crash also involved Pato O'Ward and Romain Grosjean, who both lost control while trying to avoid the 2016 Indy 500 champ's car. (IndyCar)

🔎 An update to the Indiana Transparency Portal allows Hoosiers to track how the state spends federal funds. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

🏗️ Work on the $24 million Heartland BioWorks headquarters at the 16 Tech Innovation District downtown started yesterday and should be complete by mid-2027. (IBJ)

🐍 Four-time Super Bowl champ Rob Gronkowski will serve as grand marshal of the Indy 500 Snake Pit for the second consecutive year. (WTHR)

Guess it was Illinois' turn to steal something from Indiana.

Driving the news: Purdue University president Mung Chiang is leaving West Lafayette to become the next president of Northwestern University, effective July 1.

• Purdue's first lady, YingKei Hui, meanwhile, is taking a role as an internal medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Flashback: Chiang joined Purdue in 2017, serving as dean of the College of Engineering and the executive vice president for strategic initiatives before succeeding former Gov. Mitch Daniels as president in January 2023.

What they're saying: In a statement released Monday, Chiang called his time as a Boilermaker an "incredible honor."

• "There truly is something special at Purdue: not just the projects and programs, but also the people, who time after time set the standard for excellence at scale," he said.

What's next: An interim president will be named in the coming weeks and the search for a new president will begin shortly after, per Board of Trustees chair Gary Lehman.

The era of Oliver and Charlotte continues in Indiana.

Driving the news: Of Hoosier babies born last year, 428 were named Oliver and 351 were named Charlotte, representing the top boy and girl names of the year, per Social Security Administration data.

By the numbers: Liam (393) and Theodore (366) rounded out the boys' top three, while Amelia (331) and Eleanor (265) took silver and gold for the girls.

• Oliver has been the most popular boys name in Indiana five of the last 10 years, tied with Liam.
• Charlotte has been number one six times over the past decade.

Fun fact: Emma will go down as the most popular Indiana baby name of a generation, taking No. 1 from 2005-2012, and again from 2014-2018.

Zoom out: On the national top 10 rankings, Liam and Olivia are the most common for another year.

See the fastest-rising names