Nothing like a self-imposed deadline to get one typing. My contribution is below.
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The Birth of Modern Racing
The inaugural Indianapolis 500 was held on May 30th, 1911. The brickyard had actually opened two years prior, but had only held host to much shorter races. The record purse of $27,550 for the first 500 miler drew 46 competitors, among them Ray Harroun in a single-seater Marmon Wasp. Without a riding mechanic to serve as a spotter, Harroun relied on a cowl-mounted “rear view mirror”, a feature that would become ubiquitous on race cars and street cars alike. Harroun held off second place finisher Ralph Mulford to claim the $10,000 first-place prize.
Or so the record says. Mulford contended that he had lapped Harroun while the Marmon was changing a flat tire, and filed a protest. Harroun’s victory was upheld.
The 1912 Indy 500 saw neither Harroun nor his Wasp. The rules now required a riding mechanic, obsolescing the single seat Marmon; and Harroun had immediately retired after his 1911 win. The race was won by Joe Dawson in a National, at an average speed of 78.72 mph. Our friend Mulford finished 10th out of 24 starters, and was the last car running…by a good margin. Race rules required contestants to finish out the full 500 miles to receive prize money, regardless of their position when Dawson took the checker. With no running cars behind him, Mulford took his sweet time, allegedly stopping once for fried chicken and ice cream, and again to change to softer shocks. Just under 9 hours after he started, Mulford finished with an average speed of 56.3 miles per hour. Not surprisingly, Mulford still holds the record for slowest finishing speed.
In 1913 the maximum engine displacement dropped from 600 cubic inches to 450, in part to attract more European competitors. Peugeot responded with a pair of factory cars sporting four valve engines and a tremendous power advantage. In the 90 degree race day heat, Peugeot driver Jules Goux preserves his tires by coasting through turns, then blasting by competitors on the straights. He keeps himself cool by taking on champagne at each of six pit stops, and coasts to victory 13 minutes ahead of the second place finisher, the largest margin of victory to date.
So why is this article about Indy’s early history entitled “The birth of modern racing”? In the first three years, Indy witnessed:
A disputed finish,
A safety innovation that found its way to passenger cars,
A rules change that outlawed the previous year’s winner,
A bit of gamesmanship from a backmarker,
A displacement reduction to limit speed and enlarge the field,
Utter domination of privateers by a factory team, and
Allegations of substance abuse
So there you have it.
Oh, and for the record, just a few years later Indy saw the first race finish spoiled by team rules.
-Stephen M
* This article draws heavily from "Indianapolis 500 Chronicles" by Rick Popely, an excellent and detailed history of the brickyard
