First IMS Lap

This image was published in the May 24, 1909 Indianapolis Star and shows Speedway Founder and President Carl G. Fisher driving a Stoddard-Dayton, one of the automobile brands sold at his dealership - the Fisher Automobile Company - and a future pace car of the Indianapolis 500. The significance is that this image was captured as Fisher turned the first laps ever completed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which was still under construction at the time. Another image of the same event was published in the same paper two days earlier and complemented an article reporting on the historic event. That article explains the circumstances and details of what occurred.