National's Indigo Twins - 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. 
 
The attached article is a human interest story about the relationship between the National Motor Vehicle Company's two star drivers Johnny Aitken and Tom Kincaid. The two men are reported to have had an unusually close relationship, even to the point of living together and sharing clothing. They are presented as inseparable friends, so much so they earned the nickname, "Indigo Twins." Although the reason for the color reference is not explained in the article most reading it at the time understood the midnight Navy blue color scheme of the National cars they drove.
 
The duo are also referred to as "Jack" and "Tom," this not being the first time I have seen Johnny referred to as "Jack," so I think we can assume he was frequently greeted in that manner by friends and acquaintances.  Another extremely interesting aspect of this story is that it reports that the two men shared driving duties during their recent Atlanta Automobile Association Trophy race. Other articles did not note that Kincaid drove the first 100 miles and then dutifully surrendered the machine to Aitken as it began to rain. From the reports it was a downpour, making the red clay track quite messy. Anyway, this article shares that it was actually Aitken at the wheel of the National, not Kincaid.
 
Kincaid reportedly greeted his friend after Aitken brought the car home first with enthusiasm, saying, "Johnny, there isn't another fellow in the world for whom I would have given up the chance to win a race like that, but I'm proud of you, old partner."