Brickyard Plans for 1910

The article in attachment IMS1910plans112109 first appeared in the Indianapolis Star on November 21, 1909. It discusses plans for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1910 as well as providing an update on progress toward completing the giant brick-paving project that was underway. The article also assesses the recent auto race meet at Atlanta Speedway and insists the the Indianapolis track is (was) superior.
 
Ernie Moross, director of Speedway contests, announced that the track would host six event weekends. Four of those were planned as auto racing weekends with the other two "aeronautic and aviation" events. Interestingly this announcement assured anyone concerned that the 1910 plans would not "interfere" with upcoming time trials previously announced for December 10 and 11, 1909. In an interview Moross seemed to raise expectations for community support for the Speedway by noting the backing Atlanta gave their new track.
 
"The thing that really impressed me at the Atlanta meet was the local support that the Speedway received. The city gave a $10,000 trophy and $10,000 in cash; all the stores were decorated with the Speedway colors, and Friday, November 12 was Atlanta day. Every place of business in teh city was closed on this day, and it was the best attended day of the meet..."
 
Moross admitted that while the racing surface at Atlanta was in better shape for its first races than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was, the overall facility at Indianapolis was superior.
 
"The track was much smoother than our course on the opening day, through the grounds and equipment can not compare with the grounds and equipment can not compare with the grounds and equipment at Indianapolis, while the time made next month will demonstrate the real worth of the two courses."
 
Moross also underscored that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's first auto race meet attracted more entries than Atlanta by a score of 64 to 34. It is ironic, perhaps, that Moross also stressed that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a superior location for an aviation field. While the Atlanta Speedway would have a short life as an auto racing facility the grounds are now part of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The Brickyard very much wanted to position itself as America's aviation capital. There was talk of an aviation element to the December time trials with a potential appearance of an Henri Farman plane and Carl Fisher's Indianapolis Star dirigible. Neither played a part.
 
Moross provided an update on the brick paving project saying, "Less than three-eighths of a mile of brick remain to be laid, when the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway will again be opened to the public. The seating capacity has been doubled, while the graded space each side of the track has been widened to decrease the possibility of accident."
 
There was also a lot of market buzz at the time that new speedway construction projects were planned for Detroit, Cleveland and New York. The consensus opinion was that these speedways would obsolete racing on public roads. While these tracks never materialized a different kind of speedway emerged in the form of board tracks that eventually proved untenable due to the heavy maintenance required because of the construction materials. Still they had a big influence on the state of auto racing through the roaring twenties and played a role in the sharp decline of road racing.