Indy 24 Hour Record

"Jap" Clemens and 17 year-old Charlie Merz pose in their record-setting National Motor Vehicle Company stock at the Indiana State Fairgrounds mile dirt oval on November 17, 1905. The duo braved frigid weather to set a new 24-hour speed world record. The event was organized by future Indianapolis Motor Speedway founders Carl Fisher and Arthur Newby. Legend has it that Fisher first approached the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's future founders - Newby, James Allison and Frank Wheeler - about building what would become the Brickyard as they sat in front of a campfire in the dirt oval's infield during the early morning hours of this occasion.