INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — One week before the green flag drops on the 110th Indianapolis 500, Mandy Walsh is doing what she has done for a quarter century — making sure the race looks as good as it feels.

Walsh, the senior art director for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, leads a nine-person design team responsible for the visual identity of IMS and IndyCar. That work spans 17 races on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule, the INDY NXT by Firestone development series, and the crown jewel of them all — the Indy 500 ticket and official program.

It was not always her world. Walsh arrived 25 years ago with no background in racing — she drove to the Speedway the day before her first interview just to make sure she could find it. Her then-boss, Dawn DeBellis, told her that was exactly the poi...