SPEEDWAY — The monstrous effort of moving more than 300 historic vehicles began Monday morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum as the site prepares for massive renovations. 

The cars, which signify more than 100 years of motorsports history, must be painstakingly pushed from the museum’s basement, outdoors, up a ramp, and onto trucks, where they will be kept at an offsite storage facility. There, they will remain until their museum space is ready for their return.

Museum Curators say the big move of IMS Museum’s priceless car collection will start Monday, Sept. 18th, and will likely last several days following. It’s a laborious job since the vehicles have been drained of all fluids for preservation purposes and, hence, must be pushed.

The 89-million-dollar transformative plans for the IMS Museum were announced in July and will include a completely reimagined space with new galleries, a racing simulator, and big plans for the vehicles on their way out the door. 

The museum will close in November and reopen in April of 2025, ahead of the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.