Indy Speedway Re-Opens: Dec. 1909

After its disastrous month of August which resulted in five deaths and several other injuries in its inaugural motorcycle and automobile race events, the newly paved Indianapolis Motor Speedway re-opened just before Christmas. Bizarre as it may sound, Speedway management decided to stage speed trials on December 17 and 18 (Friday and Saturday) 1909. As luck would have it, the weather was exceptionally cold making for a pretty miserable experience for drivers and crews.
 
One hundred years ago today Speedway management was preparing the "Brickyard" for its opening act in the automotive competition. With snow on the ground, general manager Ernie Moross considered pouring gasoline on the track and setting fire to it in order to melt the ice. Moross and his bosses, the founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were a pretty determined group of men. More on this historic event later this week.