National "60" & "70" - 1910

The attached article 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. Because this article was previewing the May 1910 "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. In this case the National Motor Vehicle Company used the race meet to debut its two latest models, the National "60" & "70" cars.
 
National's two star drivers Johnny Aitken and Tom Kincaid were assigned the cars. Aitken drove the "60," Kincaid the "70." The article describes the "70" as "five x five" and the "60" as "five x five and one-half" which I assume is a reference to the bore and stroke of the engines. I believe the car model designations are a reference to horsepower.
 
The plan at the time of this article's publication was for the company to enter 20 races during the three day event. The cars were to compete in free-for-all, stock chassis 301-450 class, stock chassis 450-600 class, time trial and amateur contests. The "60" was to compete in the much-anticipated Wheeler-Schebler Trophy. Joining Aitken and Kincaid as a team driver was Charlie Merz who had taken a break from racing after his involvement in the tragic first auto races at IMS in August. Art Griener and W.B. Tousey are also noted as the pilots of older model private entry National "40s" for amateur races planned.