As a complement to the video featured on my home page, I thought it appropriate to call attention to the two articles I have archived on the first French Grand Prix in 1906. As noted in the video it was a brutally hot affair and the tar used on the roads to hold crushed stones in place melted. The toxic chemicals in the adhesive carried by the billowing clouds of dust kicked up burned the drivers eyes and made them nauseous. This first French GP was the first Grand Prix, period.

In posting articles about the September 1910 race meet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I came across a small item on Ray Harroun riding in Carl Fisher's balloon, the "Indiana." Harroun, like many of the early racers, was fascinated by aviation and at the time ballooning was a big part of the scene. At one point in his career Harroun designed aircraft and served as a flight instructor. I enjoy presenting material that presents these multi-dimensional characters in a different light.

Here's another shot from my trip last week to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500. This car is such a neat story and you can read the details in my photo gallery. Bottom line, this was a white elephant that Indianapolis Motor Speedway founder Carl Fisher commissioned to tackle the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup, at that time the biggest race in America. With patriotic flair, Fisher dreamed of getting the best of the world conquering European teams but he didn't make it to tech inspection.

I thought I'd share a few links that I have found very useful in motor sport historical writing. The first is called "Gazza," and, among many things, they have a handy Time/Speed/Distance calculator. Another is "Measuring Worth," which calculates the value of money in the United States (or colonies) from the 1600's into the 21st Century.