A writer interviewed me the other day for some perspective on early American auto racing and events that led up to the development of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He was particularly interested in the Speedway's founding fathers, their motivations, contributions and personalities. For example, he told me that someone else had indicated that it was probably Arthur C. Newby that led the charge on developing the giant facility, even more so than Carl Fisher.

Jerry Fisher is not only a relative of Indianapolis Motor Speedway founder Carl Graham Fisher, but his premier biographer as well. Jerry will soon be releasing an updated paperback edition of his 1998 biography: "The Pacesetter, The Untold Story of Carl Graham Fisher." I have developed a page dedicated to Jerry's work under the articles section of firstsuperspeedway.com. Jerry's own story is intriguing and has painful parallels to Carl's. Both were abandoned by their fathers at an early age.

I recently came across an article circa 1905-1906 (from Barney Oldfield's personal scrapbook, which was very poorly sourced and organized) that focuses on the great barnstorming driver and his daring deeds. There are actually two articles in the package and they serve to illustrate the relationship between the two men and how they stirred up local interest within towns they visited for the daredevil shows.

A reader of this blog recently approached me about a terrific historical artifact she has - an excellent condition copy of the cover of the souvenir program for the 1915 Astor Cup at the Sheepshead Bay board track. The cup was named after Vincent Astor, the son of John Jacob Astor IV of the extraordinarily wealthy Astor family. It is interesting to note that the initial president of the Sheepshead Bay Speedway was Carl Fisher, founder and first president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.