Herb Lytle in 1910

This image orginally appeared in the May 22, 1910 Indianapolis Star as part of the build-up to the May 1910 race meet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This was the Sunday edition of the paper just five days prior to the beginning of the meet and as such was packed with articles concerning the event in anticipation of subscribers spending more time with the paper over coffee on their day of rest. I lifted this image from the first page of a section devoted to previewing the May 1910 "national championships," a newly-announced distinction by the American Automobile Association (AAA) for select race meets.
 
Herb Lytle was considered the "Dean" of American race drivers by 1910. He had been racing cars since before the turn of the century. He remains the only driver to have driven in the first Vanderbilt Cup (1904) and the first Indianapolis 500. He drove on the boards of Playa Del Rey, the European roads of the James Gordon Bennett Cup and dirt horse tracks as well. Lytle is another one of those giant talents of the Heroic Age but with no biography and with the passing of everyone of the time he is all but forgotten. First Super Speedway is one of the best sources of information on his career. Below are some of the most relevant links on this site for information about one of the stars of the day...

AttachmentSize
HLytle_opt.jpg27.98 KB