A Wild Night of Speed Led to So Much More - 1905

As the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 approaches in 2016 I suspect you'll see some pretty predictable and well-worn reflections on the race and the track's history. I like to consider the events that led up to the conception of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the context of the times.
Let's go back to November 1905 and a race event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds promoted by future Speedway founders Carl Fisher, Art Newby and James Allison. Fisher and Allison owned the burgeoning headlight product Prest-O-Lite and Newby was a top officer at the National Motor Vehicle Company. Also, Fisher had owned one of the first and largest automobile dealerships in America, the Fisher Automobile Company, where Newby's Nationals were sold along with other manufacturer's products.

The trio had attempted to stage a full card of auto races on the Fairgrounds horse track dirt oval on October 21 and again a week later but rainy weather had disrupted the show. Finally on November 5 they enjoyed a day good enough - if just a bit chilly - to pull off a card of events with the feature of the day a 100-mile go. This was supported by an assortment of three to five mile sprint races and timed runs.
The result of the 100-miler sparked an idea that would lead to - predictably, given these guys - even bigger ideas. The performance of Newby's stripped down stock Nationals in the more-than-capable hands of W.F. "Jap" Clemens and 17-year-old phenom Charlie Merz was nothing short of awesome. Each provided the only competition for the other as they lapped the mile track nose-to-tail or neck-and-neck for 95 miles. They passed their three other competitors regularly to extend their lead by miles.
Apparently, something had to give and it did in the form of one of Merz' tires. An explosion of worn rubber sent the teenager on a violent, errant run through the wood railing designed to keep horses in the right direction. It did nothing to retain a 1,200 pound automobile. Fortunately Merz escaped without injury.
Clemens almost certainly throttled back as uncontested he completed his run in just over one hour, 35 minutes - a full 42 minutes ahead of the new runner-up. It was a new world record for the distance. Fisher and Newby soon hatched another scheme.
As quickly as could be arranged they would stage a 24-hour run by the same two drivers in the same two cars with the goal of bringing the world record for the distance to the Hoosier capital. We'll save that story for another day.
The important point here is that this event gave birth to a second bold plan that created the platform that birthed the concept of a giant Speedway that transformed auto racing in America. Stay tuned to First Super Speedway for analysis you simply can't find anywhere else. For this moment soak in the rare image you see here of the two Nationals simply kicking ass.