One of the most cherished automotive events next year of any kind will be the centennial of the first Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day. Among a slew of commemorative events in the pipeline for that landmark anniversary is the creation of a U.S. Postal Service stamp honoring the first 500 in 1911, unveiled this week and set to go on sale in May 2011.

It’s a USPS “forever” stamp, with its imagery of Ray Harroun’s winning Marmon Wasp of 1911 created in Art Deco fashion by John Mattos. The 2011 issue will mark the second time that the Wasp has a appeared on a U.S. stamp, the first being as a 17.5-cent postal commemorative that was part of a series on transportation. To provide some context, that was in 1987.