IMS is Incorporated

This article marks a seminal moment in the history of not just the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but the history of auto racing and especially the first decade of the 20th Century. Published in the Indianapolis Star on February 7, 1909 this article discusses the incorporation of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company for $250,000 and the vision of a giant oval with a road course in the infield connected to the outer track. The article touts the track as "the safest in the world" especially it would be much easier to police than the big events held on public roads at Savannah or the Vanderbilt Cup.
 
Much of the article focused on the only announced event at the time, the June 5 Aero Club of America national championship balloon race. Carl Fisher, who in addition to being president of Prest-O-Lite and the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company was also president of the Indiana Aero Club, was an early entrant in the balloon race. Another entry was that of the Conqueror with pilots A. Holland Forbes and Augustus Post who had survived one of the most harrowing accidents in all of ballooning history when their balloon caught fire and the plummeted to Earth from 4,000 feet.
 
In addition to Fisher, the co-founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company are mentioned: James A. Allison, Arthur C. Newby and Frank Wheeler. Note that Speedway management planned to install four miles of six-inch pipe to the Indianapolis Gas Company in order for the teams to inflate their balloons. This infrastructure was crucial to Indianapolis and the Speedway winning the rights to stage the national championship balloon event.