This folder contains accounts of the races that occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the Memorial Day weekend in 1910. All the stars of the day attended, including Ray Harroun, Joe Dawson, Bob Burman and Barney Oldfield. Harroun won events for Marmon and Oldfield set a new track mile record in his world land speed racer, the “Lightning Benz,” otherwise known as the “Blitzen Benz.” This race also offered an obstacle course promoted by the Overland Motors Company. This entailed wooden ramps and a route that took cars off the Speedway’s course, into the infield and through the drainage ditch in the southwest turn. Ernie Moross was the Director of Contests and was responsible for developing the program of events.

May Race Meet Well Attended

This article reviews the events of the first day of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's May 1910 race meet. Despite ideal weather conditions, only one speed record was set when Tommy Kincaid won a five mile sprint for National. This was the official christening for the newly brick paved track as the only previous event at the Brickyard was a series of time trials with relatively few cars held in bitter cold the previous December. An excerpt from the article says, "The new brick track was as smooth and clean as a model houswife's floor.
Roy Beall Flips Knox in Practice Drive

This article appeared the morning of the first day of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's May 1910 races. There is much anticipation for the newly paved brick track. Also, there is an item on millionaire "amateur" Caleb Bragg and a table with the card of events for the day. The report includes an item on how Director of Speedway Contests Ernie Moross had completed the card of events only the night before the meet. One of his brainstorms was to create an obstacle course using wooden ramps. An image in this package illustrates that event.

This folder has three articles focusing on the fortunes of Indianapolis automobile companies in the summer of 1910. One article talks about Marmon as well as Moon Motor Company plans to enter the Elgin, Illinois road race. Another article reports on Marmon’s racing plans for the coming season in 1911. A third article focus on the Premier Automobile Company.

Marmon Racing Plans 1911

This article, published July 18, 1910, reports on the Marmon Automobile Company's plans for racing in 1911. It mentions their top drivers Ray Harroun and Joe Dawson - who would go on to become the first and second winners of the Indianapolis 500 respectively.

This folder has numerous articles on the inaugural auto races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. These races occurred only days after the Speedway hosted the Federation of American Motorcycles (FAM) race meet. The auto races were a blend of success and tragedy. Most of the major American drivers entered – Barney Oldfield, Ray Harroun, Bob Burman, Tom Kincaid, Lewis Strang, Louis Chevrolet, Jap Clemens, Charlie Merz, Eddie Hearne, Ralph De Palma and Tobin DeHymel among them. With the exception of a Fiat and a Benz, the entries were American, including: Marmon, Marion, Stearns, National, Jackson, Stoddard-Dayton, Buick and Apperson. Tragedy came in the loss of several lives, including Willfred Bourque, who became the first driver to die in a racing accident at the Speedway.

Indianapolis Advertisements - 1909

This collecgtion contains several newspaper ads appearing in the Indianapolis Star during the summer of 1909. Many of these ads trumpet the records set by automobile manufacturers such as Marmon, National and Jackson during the August 1909 race meet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Some of these ads provide quick references for the race results. The Jackson ad is particularly interesting in that it promotes its victory in the first race for the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy, the seven-foot sterling silver cup designed by Tiffany’s.

The road race in Lowell, Massachusetts only endured a couple of years but it attracted the major driving talents of the day. Expenses of staging the event proved to be an impossible business proposition. How the city may have prospered if the event could have surprised is impossible to know but it is fair to assume Lowell would have benefited from a healthy event.

Lowell Road Race - 1908

This is Motor Age coverage of the 1908 Lowell, Massachusetts road race won by Lewis Strang.

This category contains feature stories on auto racing history that have been published in Indianapolis Motor Speedway Programs and historical publications. Most of the articles pertain to per-WWI auto racing, but others cover more recent history. Among the subjects covered are: Barney Oldfield, the 1914 Cactus Derby; Jim Clark racing in NASCAR; Jim Hurtubise racing in NASCAR; an interview with John Surtees; the 1909 Motorcycle meet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the first French Grand Prix; the Vanderbilt Cup; the 1937 Indianapolis 500; Wilbur Shaw; Cannon Ball Baker; Holmon and Moody; Indianapolis 500 relief drivers; Ralph De Palma; Smokey Yunick; the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Harvest Classic; Rudolf Carraciola; Dan Gurney and Johnny Aitken. The articles are a mix of biographical pieces and stories of milestone events in auto racing history.

Oldfield Wins 1914 "Cactus Derby"

The great Los Angeles-to-Phoenix off-road race (more commonly known as "The Cactus Derby") was another of the terrific classics from the sport's early days. In its 1914 edition, track racing legend and barnstormer Barney Oldfield entered the same Stutz racer he had piloted to fifth place in that year's Indianapolis 500.
Dan Gurney Eagle Racer

This article chronicles the career of versatile Dan Gurney, one of the greatest race drivers the United States ever produced. A true force in Formula One's golden years, Gurney did something no other driver had ever done and likely never will do again - win a grand prix in an American-built car he designed. This was the Belgium GP in 1967. But there was much more to Dan Gurney. Like his contemporaries Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt, Gurney won races in IndyCar, NASCAR and sports cars. He won at Le Mans, in Can-Am and in NASCAR at his favorite track, Riverside, California.
Daytona Ormond Beach Speed Trials

This story chronicles the beginnings of the racing culture in the Daytona-Ormond community in Florida from 1903 through 1910. In a time when American roads were little more than craggy pathways, the unique sands of Daytona-Ormond at the edge of the shore were smooth as glass when tide receded. 
 
French Grand Prix 1906 - Szisz!!!

This is the story of not just the first French Grand Prix, but the first auto racing Grand Prix. In a controversial move, the French pulled back from the previously recognized greatest road race in the world, the James Gordon Bennett Cup. They resented the rules of the Bennett Cup that only allowed three representatives from each car producing nation to participate.
The Brickyard's Busiest Year

This is the story of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's busiest year for events - 1910. Carl Fisher and his partners A.C.