Deep trivia time. John Newby, the father of Indianapolis Motor Speedway founder Arthur C. Newby, suffered a fatal stroke while attending the May 1910 race meet at the Speedway. John was born in 1840 in North Carolina and moved to Indiana where son Arthur was born in 1865. The family moved to Kansas where they spent 12 years there before returning to Indiana. From John's obituary, note that his daughter was Mrs. Bruce M. Wylie, 3119 North Illinois Street. This is who Arthur was living with when he passed away September 11, 1933.

Most people are not aware that Indianapolis hosted a huge auto show from March 27 through April 2 1910. This show was organized by the leaders of the automobile industry, especially those in Indianapolis that included such companies as Marmon, Marion, Premier and Empire.

Over the weekend I loaded the latest collection of articles about the early days of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This package covers the Speedway's July 1910 race meet. This was a turning point for the Speedway when management realized they needed to look at a different entertainment proposition as they saw precipitous declines in attendance. The races were controversial too, as the Buick team dominated only to be disqualified before the month was out over violations of stock car regulations.

When I first started researching pre-WWI auto racing history several years ago, I came across this picture (at the bottom of this post) in a microfilm record of Horseless Age and it really caught my eye. The car was so sleek, so lightweight, it was a huge departure from the big, blunt, brutish race cars you typically see in photos of the era.