Will Higgins | IndyStar

Donald Devine

A weird and unwieldy chunk of Indy 500 history went up for sale this week for $25,000.

It is 6 feet by 4 feet by 1 foot. It weighs 3,000 pounds.

It's a mosaic of Indianapolis Motor Speedway's familiar "winged tire" logo that was salvaged from the bottom of the swimming pool at the storied Speedway Motel.

The 96-room motel, built in 1963 on the Speedway grounds near Turn 2 and later torn down, was the home away from home for an array of racers and other celebrities.

Most notably the Beatles, in Indianapolis for two shows at the 1964 Indiana State Fair, stayed two nights at the motel. Paul Newman stayed there during the filming of the racing movie "Winning," as did co-stars Joanne Woodward and Robert Wagner.

Indianapolis Star

Jim Nabors stayed there and also Linda Vaughn. Many race drivers stayed there as well, including the widely revered Unsers and Andrettis.

Jeff Gordon, the night after his historic win of the inaugural Brickyard 400 NASCAR race in 1994, declined a party invitation to instead chill in his motel room with Brooke Sealey, his girlfriend, later his wife and after that his ex-wife. They had a pizza delivered to the room from Pizza Hut.

{{props.notification}} {{props.tag}} {{props.expression}} {{props.linkSubscribe.text}} {{#modules.acquisition.inline}}{{/modules.acquisition.inline}} ... Our reporting. Your stories. Get unlimited digital access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now

► Weird-but-true Speedway history: That time Indy 500 drivers were pot smugglers

► David Letterman and the Indy 500: He grew up loving the race but freaked out after '73 — and stayed turned off for 13 years

The motel, built in the now-prized midcentury modern style, was allowed to fall into disrepair and was torn down in January 2009.

Among its amenities was an outdoor swimming pool. It's unclear which guests actually swam in the pool and therefore it's impossible to tell exactly which famous people might have touched their toes to the mosaic on the pool's floor.

But consider: The Beatles stayed at the motel in early September when temperatures routinely reach into the 80s — good swimming weather; Newman, Woodward and Wagner filmed at the Speedway in 1968 during June and July, two of Indianapolis' hottest months; and Memorial Day, when many racers would have stayed there, is also often a logical time for a cooling plunge.

Frank H. Fisse/The Star

The mosaic, which can be seen and bid on via the Facebook page of Vintage Indy Registry, "still has the drain pipe from the pool across the bottom," said Don Devine, a Chicago real estate developer and longtime racing fan who bought it from the demolitionists.

Devine, 77, had it transported to his home in Chicago where he had planned to use it as a design element in the construction of a building to house his collection of race cars. He owns several significant cars, including the 1971 McClaren that Peter Revson drove in the 1971 Indianapolis 500 and a storied 1968 Carroll Shelby-built turbine-powered Indy car.

He decided against the construction, however, and lately has sold off a few of his cars, including the one Johnny Rutherford drove in the 1979 season.

The mosaic is in Devine's backyard in Chicago. The price does not include delivery.