An Automobile Ecosystem - 1910

With the advent of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the Hoosier capital was rapidly becoming the center of the auto racing world by 1910. Rivals included Atlanta with their two-mile speedway, the new, first-of-its-kind board track at SoCal's Playa Del Rey, the hard sands of Daytona Beach or road courses on Long Island and Savannah.
 
Understand that the massive undertaking to pave the Indianapolis oval with 3.2 million bricks that had just been completed was a huge statement. Locals and the press dubbed the place "the Brickyard," a reflection of their awe of such a durable, even invincible, speed plant. Combined with the vibrant hub of performance automobile manufacturers in and around town, momentum radiating out of the center of Indiana was undeniable.
 

Behind that hub was an ecosystem of leaders and influencers who ran companies and industry associations. They competed, they aligned, they cut deals and sometimes, they cut throats. Most were in Indianapolis, but the magnetic force of the what some called the vitrified oval drew a good number within the industry from far-flung centers such as Detroit, Chicago and New York.
 
Who were these people? Automobile, motorsports or Indianapolis history aficionados have heard some of the names - Howard and Walter Marmon, J.D. Maxwell, Carl Fisher, Frank Wheeler, Art Newby, Harry Stutz, Tom Taggart, Charles Bookwalter, Fred Wagner and Art Pardington are just some of the names.
 
As the Indianapolis Motor Speedway prepped for its first major auto race as the Brickyard the Indianapolis community, the automobile industry and the leadership of American motorsports pitched in. If you want a snapshot of the "who's who" in racing of the day, check an article in our archive. As you peruse the content it reveals you will find a lot of names, some linked to additional information on First Super Speedway or out into the wilds of the Worldwide Web.
 
We love connecting the dots for you and helping to reconstruct the context of a treasured bygone time. You'll note that many of the names have no such links to additional information. Over time we hope to fill in many of the blanks and maybe you can help.
 
The key thing to keep in mind is that in the day these people were involved to varying to degrees, many making contributions others posing and posturing through life. Who were the movers and who were the pretenders? Regardless, this was a mix of human beings in a world we're always striving to learn more about.