Unfulfilled Promise

Events have consequences and in the early days of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the tragedies of five deaths and several additional injuries were no exception. In the face of community leaders and even the lieutenant governor of Indiana calling for the end of motor racing, the track's founding fathers made an abrupt course correction to invest at least as much as their initial expenditure for the creation of the facility in what amounted to a total makeover. Most important was the signature paving of the running surface with 3.2 million bricks.
 

Carl Fisher, undeniably the visionary behind the facility, dreamed of a massive multi-purpose complex just about as focused on advancing air travel as the automobile. Among the structures on the grounds were an Aero Clubhouse and an "aerodrome," which was effectively a hangar for airplanes and deflated passenger balloons.
 
Prior to the fateful August 1909 auto races Fisher and the team had planned a 24-hour auto race, a second balloon race and an aviation show featuring the emerging breakthrough that was the airplane. Fisher had a habit of overextending himself, firing off ideas and expecting others to catch them or pick them off the ground to see them through to fruition.
 
In the face of the massive brick-paving project it all was too much. One-by-one the autumnal plans died on the vine. Perhaps most notable was a Fall airshow as no such event had been held in America up to that time.
 
We have to wonder if the August races had been a big success if the future of the Speedway and even Indianapolis would have been altered and today we could be looking at a different facility. Without the preoccupation of transforming the race track, could air races have been a success and spawned an airport and cottage industry in the Hoosier capital?
 
Granted, it's fanciful speculation, but here is one thing you can do. Read about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's failed airshow of 1909. You know where to go...