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THE GREAT MOTORCYCLE INVASION OF 1909
On Aug. 1, 1909 The Indianapolis Star predicted thousands of motorcyclists would soon “invade Indianapolis.”
03/23/2020
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03/23/2020
IMS DIGITAL ARCHIVE
1910
THE BLAH BLAH BLAH ERA
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1910
1909
On March 20, 1909, founders Carl G. Fisher, James A. Allison, Arthur C. Newby and Frank H. Wheeler officially formed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company. The four men pooled together their resources and purchased the land in December 1908. Fisher’s vision was to build an automobile testing ground to support Indiana’s growing automotive industry.
June 5, 1909
AUG. 14, 1909
The first motorized races—using motorcycles—took place on the IMS oval, which had a racing surface composed of crushed stone sprayed with tar. A.G. Chapple won the first race, a five-mile handicapped race with seven competitors, on an Indian motorcycle.
Donalds Speaks on the 1909 year.
DIGITAL DONALD
The first competitive event took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—a gas-filled balloon race. In the handicap division, Dr. Goethe Link and Russ Irvin’s “Indianapolis” won. John Berry and Paul McCullough won the National Championship race with the “University City.”
THE STORY OF HOW IT ALL BEGAN AT THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
THE FOUR FOUNDING FATHERS OF
THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
“No record, no pay,” was the mantra of rugged Erwin George “Cannon Ball” Baker, best known for traversing the country coast-to-coast on the...
03/03/2020
“CANNON BALL” BAKER
ARTICLE
IMS HISTORIAN DONALD DAVIDSON
1909 ALMANAC
3/9
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The original vision of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s four founders in 1909 called for a giant, 5-mile track...
02/18/2020
A VISION AHEAD OF ITS TIME
ARTICLE
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall-of-Fame driver Johnny Aitken could be the answer to a number of Trivial Pursuit questions...
02/11/2020
THE SPEEDWAY’S WINNINGEST DRIVER
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ARTICLE
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in the spring of 1909, the result of a creative vision of Carl G. Fisher...
03/20/2020
THE STORY OF HOW IT ALL BEGAN AT THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
ARTICLE
CARL G. FISHER (Jan 12, 1874-July 15, 1939) was an energetic impresario who overcame poor eyesight...
03/20/2020
THE FOUR FOUNDING FATHERS OF THE
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
ARTICLE
The original vision of
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s four founders
in 1909 called for a giant,
5-mile track...
02/18/2020
A VISION
AHEAD OF ITS TIME
ARTICLE
On Aug. 1, 1909 The Indianapolis Star predicted thousands of motorcyclists would soon “invade Indianapolis.”
03/23/2020
THE GREAT MOTORCYCLE INVASION OF 1909
ARTICLE
“No record, no pay,” was the mantra of rugged Erwin
George “Cannon Ball” Baker, best known for traversing the country coast-to-coast...
03/03/2020
READ MORE
“CANNON BALL” BAKER
ARTICLE
03/23/2020
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
VIDEO
03/23/2020
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
VIDEO
1909
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1909
On March 20, 1909, founders Carl G. Fisher, James A. Allison, Arthur C. Newby and Frank H. Wheeler officially formed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company. The four men pooled together their resources and purchased the land in December 1908. Fisher’s vision was to build an automobile testing ground to support Indiana’s growing automotive industry.
JUNE 5, 1909
The first competitive event took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—a gas-filled balloon race. In the handicap division, Dr. Goethe Link and Russ Irvin’s “Indianapolis” won. John Berry and Paul McCullough won the National Championship race with the “University City.”
The first motorized races—using motorcycles—took place on the IMS oval, which had a racing surface composed of crushed stone sprayed with tar. A.G. Chapple won the first race, a five-mile handicapped race with seven competitors, on an Indian motorcycle.
AUG. 14, 1909
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1909
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2020
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall-of-Fame driver Johnny Aitken could be the answer to a number of Trivial Pursuit questions...
02/11/2020
READ MORE
THE SPEEDWAY’S WINNINGEST DRIVER
ARTICLE
At 111-years-old, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the oldest continually operating racetrack in the United States and is known as The Greatest Race Course in the World. With more than 250,000 permanent seats, it is the world's largest sports seating facility and hosts the largest single-day sporting event in the world, the Indianapolis 500.
“I have reflected on how Mr. Andrews could never have imagined the impact his drawings would have on the American automobile and motorsports. I have placed my hands on the very spot where a laborer laid some of the most historic brick on record. They had a job to get done - never realizing they were setting 3.2 million pieces of history.” –Kevin Forbes
Check back next week to learn about the 1910s, including the shortest scheduled Indy 500.
The only known photograph of the four original owners together, very likely taken on the morning of the inaugural “500” on
May 30, 1911, shows, left to right, Arthur Newby, Frank Wheeler, Carl Fisher and James Allison.
One of the first photos from on-track action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. Louis Chevrolet, in his No. 31 machine, joins the lineup of cars organized on the frontstrech before the race begins.
Although frequently identified as Carl Fisher, this is, in fact, Lewis Strang, who was destined to start from the pole in the first Indianapolis 500, held more than two years after this photograph was taken in March 1909. The scale model of the track Strang is looking at was displayed outside Turn 2.
A photo of one of the first known grandstand tickets to an event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909.
Check back next week to learn about the 1910s, including the shortest scheduled Indy 500.
5/9
Spectators line up for a view during a 250-mile race at IMS in 1909. Notice how close spectators could get to the racing surface in 1909 as drivers raced by at speeds near 75 mph.
6/9
The drivers participating in the first automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909 line up on the frontstretch to form the starting grid on what would soon become The Greatest Race Course in the World.
7/9
The start of the “marathon” 300 mile race for the Wheeler-Schebler trophy at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909, which was the feature race on the last day of a three-day period of automobile racing.
8/9
Dust-filled on-track action in 1909 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Dust was a problem in the Speedway’s early days, and at times it was so dusty drivers struggled seeing where
to go.
9/9
Two drivers race past the original scoring tower during one of many short “dashes” that filled the racing schedule at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909, a time
“Where America Learned to Race.”
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