[2] Sportsmanship is a driver's relationship with fellow racers and fans, and media interaction is their availability to spectators and the press during the event.

[3][4] Competitors who outperform in their equipment during qualifying and the race, as well as those who led part of the event but retired for various reasons such as a mechanical failure or involved in an accident, can be given leeway by voters.

[12] In 1958, officials amended the regulations to make competitors who paid for or took part in prize money for one of the race's 33 starting spots eligible to compete for the award; this was done by redefining "appearance" in the rules following a two-car collision between Elmer George and Eddie Russo prior to the start of the 1957 race that resulted in differing opinions on whether the former was a rookie driver.

[11][15] Each year, after the race has ended, a small group of current and former media members, along with IndyCar Series and IMS officials, vote.

[26] A sterling bar in the shape of the IMS official emblem (wings sprouting from a racing tire) adorns the trophy's head.

[33] It is typically given to one driver per year, but on five occasions it was awarded to two racers for their performance in a single race: Parnelli Jones and Bobby Marshman for 1961, Rick Mears and Larry Rice for 1978, Michael Andretti and Roberto Guerrero for 1984, Bernard Jourdain and Scott Pruett for 1989, and Alex Barron and Tomas Scheckter for 2002.

[36] Juan Pablo Montoya (2000), Hélio Castroneves (2001) and Alexander Rossi (2016) are the three drivers who have won both the rookie prize and the race in the same calendar year.