Pilots Confront Death

This article is yet another item from a special Sunday edition of the Indianapolis Star that touted the excitement of the upcoming first automobile races at the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The date was August 15, 1909.
 
The headline, "Pilots Confront Death," is sensationalist style. While the article starts as a commentary on how dangerous the sport was and how daring its participants were what follows is a series of brief biographical sketches about key drivers that yield some good information that can prompt additional research.
 
Drivers profiled include:
 

• George Robertson was one of the most heralded drivers of the day well known for his success as the winner of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup but also the big stock car road race at Fairmount Park and a champion of 24 hour "grinder" races at Brighton Beach. There was no brighter star at the time but interestingly despite this promotion he did not compete at the Speedway races.
• Herb Lytle was frequently called "the dean" of American race drivers as his career extended back to the very dawn of the sport in the 1890's. He was also known American-born driver to ever race in the James Gordon Bennett Cup, once for Pope-Toledo in 1905. One of Lytle's biggest moments came when he won the 1908 Long Island Motor Parkway Sweepstakes, the support event to the Vanderbilt Cup. His little-known teammate, M.J. Seymour is mentioned.
• The Buick team was the super team of the era when it came to driving talent. Three of their four drivers remain fairly familiar among those acquainted with racing history: Louis Chevrolet, Lewis Strang and Bob Burman. This article focuses on Strang and for good reason as he was the driver of the year in 1908 with victories in three major races: Savannah, Briarcliff and Lowell. A fourth driver, George DeWitt, was apparently a young man just starting his career.
• The Knox team also had a pair of aces in Al Dennison and the ill-fated William "Billy" Bourque who would lose his life in just four days to become the first fatality in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history. According to the article both men experienced success at the Jamaica, Long Island speed trials but specifics are not provided.
• Stoddard-Dayton apparently planned to bring four drivers, Bert Miller, C.A. Engelbeck, Fred Wiseman and Carl Wright. Miller is flagged for a strong showing at the Long Island Motor Parkway Sweepstakes. Wiseman is noted for winning a 13 mile hill climb at Redlands, California during the spring of 1909.
• Edward A. "Eddie" Hearne is called out as a threat with his privately owned Fiat. Art Greiner and his Renault is referred to as the only amateur at the event but exactly what criteria was applied to determine that is not shared. He is credited with winning the Algonquin hill climb anateur state championship and holding the American five mile amateur track record.
• Chalmers-Detroit is noted for bring another very strong team of drivers: William "Billy" Knipper; Joe Matson and Al Poole who had served Joe Tracy as his riding mechanic in the Vanderbilt Cup. Matson had won the Indiana Trophy just a few weeks prior in June.