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Inaugural 1911 Indianapolis 500 winner driven round track by Parnelli
Jones during Pre-race festivities a
hundred years later. (The Tomaso
Collection)
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As the Kansas song says; “We’re
only Dust in the Wind!”
And thus in the midst of learning about the
Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials, which were previously unknown to Mwah, my curiosity
was further sparked towards “Ye days ‘O Yesteryear after my extensive story
chronicling said three-times Indy 500 winning Blue Crown Spark Plug racers...
1900-09Pre-Quil:: Indy’s beginnings
It
has been written by Donald Davidson, (IMS Official Historian) that without Carl
Graham Fisher, there simply may have not been the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway.
Fisher was a self taught man and amazingly began his business life at the age
of 17, when he and his two younger brothers started a bicycle shop in downtown Indianapolis in 1891.
This was during the height of the nation’s
bicycling craze and Fisher joined the Zig Zag Cycle Club, which had been
founded in 1890 by Arthur Newby, who later would become partners in the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway project.
The Zig Zag Cycle Club ran from 1890-96 and
it was here that Carl Fisher met James Allison and raced bicycles against Barney
Oldfield, later becoming part of a traveling troupe, Barnstorming the
countryside with automobile match races.
As the bicycling craze was fading, in 1900,
Carl rode a train to New York’s Madison Square Garden to attend an automobile
show, where he befriended Ransom E. Olds and returned home with a contract as
Olds agent (dealer) for the Indianapolis
market and would quickly divest himself of bicycles to concentrate solely upon
the selling of automobiles.
With his Automobile empire growing, while the
city of Indianapolis was taking the automobile firmly into its consciousness,
Fisher and many of his “chums” could be caught frequently discussing the future
at a downtown “watering hole” where it came to light that some sort of new
automotive testing facility was needed, as the current day automobiles were
simply becoming too fast for the various
dirt roads.
Although its believed that Fisher was
dismayed how badly the American automobiles were being trounced by their
European rivals when he participated in the Gordon Bennett races in 1905 as a
relief driver. Carl also attempted competing in that year’s Vanderbilt Cup, yet
his attempt was soon aborted and Fisher subsequently retired as a racing driver
due to his poor eyesight.
Although Great Britain's famed Brooklands circuit
debuted in June, 1907, beating Indianapolis by over two years, with its
inaugural race meeting being held in early July of the same year. According to
Davidson, Carl Fisher had long considered the idea of his own testing facility
before the development of Brooklands, reportedly as early as 1903.
Lem Trottle, a real estate man found the
property; 4 80 acre tracts, with 3 being sold for $200 per acre and the 4th
eventually being obtained for $300 per acre, with the purchase being completed
on December 12, 1908. As Fisher initially determines that $250,000 will be
needed and he and four friends agree to put up $50,000 apiece: Newby, Allison,
Frank Wheeler and Stoughton Fletcher, were the initial five partners, but
Fletcher didn’t remain long as his Banking family persuaded him to not be
involved with such a frivolous matter.
Fisher then determined the project could be
completed for the sum of $220,000, with Fletcher’s bank financing $36,000 for
the land, the remaining partners would now need to only come up with $46,000
apiece. Newby was hesitant and wished to only invest $25,000 and so Fisher and
Allison split his remaining portion and became the major shareholders of the
project.
Carl Fisher envisioned a three mile Oval with
a two mile infield Road Course to make up his desired five mile test track, yet the three mile Oval
would have clung to the outskirts of the properties edges and left no room for
grandstands and hence a 2 ½ mile rectangular oval was suggested instead...
The infield road course was abandoned during
construction as the creek on the property presented a major engineering challenge
to the building of the course, yet two bridges were built and the creek still
flows today, albeit underground. And
although fisher’s overly optimistic inaugural racing event planned for July 4th,
1909 wouldn’t occur,
Having outbid several cities, The Aero Club
of America’s US National Balloon Championships was to become the tracks very
first event held on June 5th, 1909, with a total of nine balloons
taking part. The July 4th date was cancelled as work continued on
the track’s tricky surface, a combination of crushed rock and tar that would ultimately
prove unreliable, with new dates of August being announced for a series of
motorcycle and car races.
A major Federation of American Motorcycles
event was scheduled at the track for August 13-14, 1909 and a week prior, while
on their way to a contest in nearby Ohio,
several motorcycle riders and officials dropped by the Indianapolis Speedway to
reconnoiter the race track. But the riders were not at all impressed with the
track’s surface, with Fisher assuring them improvements would be made.
Friday the 13th arrived and
shortly became something known to us masses as a Rainout! Thus the competition was
rescheduled for that Saturday and Sunday. When practice did occur the following
day, the riders immediately returned completely covered head to toe in a white
chalky dust from the tracks surface. In an attempt to cure this the entire
track was coated in oil! To which the riders soon were covered in also... And
as the track surface begins to break up, the event is cancelled early and the
FAM pronounces it will never race there again.
A scant week later, the first Automobile
races were held and many of these same problems occurred for all 65 entrants,
as once again dust and oil obscure the drivers vision, while riding mechanics
complain of having their goggles broken by flying stones.
After a series of short four lap dashes,
tragedy strikes in the Prest-O-Lite trophy race, scheduled for a distance of
250 miles. Yet, approximately half way thru, Willfred Bourque’s car spins out
of control, flipping thru the infield and finally collecting a fence post,
killing both Bourque and his riding mechanic. On Sunday another riding mechanic
plus two spectators would lose their lives and after the AAA Contest Board
cancels the remaining events, vows not to return until substantial repairs are
made.
Hence, the subsequent laying 'O Culver City
"Pavers," i.e.; bricks, for which Thy Speedway gets its fabled
moniker the Brickyard from, and the rest as they say is History!
If you enjoyed this story, and wish to read more
about the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, then you'll wish to find yourself
a copy of Donald Davidson's wonderful book titled Autocourse: The Official
History of the Indianapolis 500
- Having bought my first edition copy 'Wayback in
'08; YIKES! Which has subsequently sold out, yet I believe Y'all can still find
its second edition available? As I'm still lethargically racing' thru my first
edition copy of, whilst you can read a 'lil ditty 'bout Mr. Davidson in;
(Photo Courtesy of No Fenders ‘Offical Photographer
‘CARPETS)