Joe Dawson 1910 Wheeler-Schebler Marmon

This image of driver Joe Dawson's yellow Marmon race car orginally appeared as a photo in the May 30, 1910 Indianapolis Sun. The photo supported an article reporting on the race results for the second day of racing (May 28) for the May 1910 race meet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. These races were part of the Memorial Day Weekend that included "national championships," a newly-announced distinction by the American Automobile Association (AAA) for select race meets. Car manufacturers were keen to make a great showing. 
 
Check out other articles that provide additional summaries on the results of the races staged the previous day (May 27). You can also find an article published May 28 that set the stage for the day's program elsewhere on First Super Speedway.
 
The Indianapolis Star ran several articles on racing at the new Brickyard the previous day. I suggest you reference them to attain a more complete picture of this incredible day of racing.

• C.E. Shuart's report focusing on the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy.
• H.G. Deupree's report on record-breaking speed.
• May 28 Weather Report.
• Event card for May 28.

 
The fifth, final and feature race of the day was the $10,000 Wheeler-Schebler Trophy. The first three finishers were: Ray Harroun (Marmon "Wasp"); Leigh Lynch (Jackson); Johnny Aitken (National "60"). Winning time: 2:46.31.00. This was a new American speedway record for the distance. Dawson, Harroun's teammate, worked his way to second place only to be undone by an accident, I believe exiting turn two. There was a tall plank fence lining the track at that point and the Marmon crashed through it.
 
The cutline accompanying the photo you see here read, "The Marmon car driven by Dawson was a big figure in the opening day's events. It was leading in the Prest-O-Lite Trophy until compelled to drop back because of an accident to its engine, and Saturday was going well when it went into the fence."
 
Note that in the head associated with the photo the car is referred to as "Marmon 31." This is a curiosity as the car's actual number was 30. I am not aware of Marmon product known as "Model 31." The top model they were promoting at this time was the Model 32, which the Marmon Wasp was based on. I suspect this is a simple mistake by the person who authored the heading. Because of the angle of the image it does appear as though the number is 31, but it was not. I can confirm it was 30 which is plainly visible in the photo the Indianapolis Star published of the machine after its accident.