Frigid Tests for the Young Brickyard

This week's feature article focuses on the December 17 & 18, 1909 time trials staged at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After a disastrous first auto racing meet on a running surface of crushed stone and "asphaltum oil" where five men were killed (including two spectators - Homer Joliff and James West), Speedway management had to take steps to make the track safer or there would be no track. After some deliberation they arrived at a brick surface as the most durable, fastest and safest paving material. Through October and November some 3.2 million bricks were laid and the Brickyard was born. And yes, the Speedway had the nickname "Brickyard" pinned  to it even before any racers took to the track.
 
Speedway management, led by President Carl Fisher, were anxious to stage an event to demonstrate the speed and safety of the improved facility and put to rest any rumblings that the place was too dangerous. Incredibly - given the Hoosier State's climate - they scheduled the first speed test for December 17 and 18. The weather was not kind as abnormally cold termperatures well below freezing prevailed. Still, numerous records were set, most notably the one mile mark as Lewis Strang in a Fiat eclipsed Barney Oldfield's August record set in the ex-Victor Hemery Grand Prix Benz. Walter Christie, driving his noteworthy front wheel drive "freak" creation, set a quarter mile record. Johnny Aitken, driving a National, also established a new mark for 20 miles.
 
The crews huddled around bonfires and the drivers donned homemade balaclavas of chamois material. Organizers reconsidered coming back for a second day, and most of the competitors, led by Speedway founder Arthur Newby's National team (News reports indicate Newby did not attend the meet), had had enough. But Strang and Christie insisted, leading to a second day where they both nailed down more speed records. In the end Carl Fisher had accomplished his objective of demonstrating the "vitrified" surface could deliver unparalleled speed and safety.