Brickyard Rises to Atlanta Challenge

The November race meet at the two-mile crushed stone and clay Atlanta Speedway erased records established at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway three months earlier in August. Pride and commercial considerations in terms of auto manufacturer support and fan interest were at the center of a competition across venues for claims as the fastest motor racing facility in America. The deadly, tragic accidents at Indianapolis and Atlanta's fast pace gave the southern venue the edge.
 
Speedway management correctly believed that their massive brick paving project in the autumn of 1909 would yield superior speed. The work was well underway by the time the November 10, 1909, Indianapolis News article in attachment IMSNews11109 was published.
 
The article predicts then unheard of speeds approaching 100 mph. Also, it references a new automobile manufacturer, Star Motorcar Company, and the possibility of Indianapolis displacing Detroit as the top producer of automobiles in America. The addition of Star, the article says, brought the number of car factories in the city to eleven. If you Google Star, you will see both a British manufacturer and one of William Crapo Durant's companies in Detroit. There is little mention of Star in reference material. I suspect the company's lack of success and the brand confusion with other manufacturers noted here obfuscates its place in history.