Records Melt @ IMS - 1909

The Indianapolis News article in attachment IMSNews082109 below provides colorful detail about the final day of the first weekend of auto racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The evening paper's deadline to publish preceded the finish of the tragic Wheeler-Schebler Trophy race and therefore presents a much more upbeat tone than the articles that covered the full day of disastrous carnage.
You must soak in this excerpt that paints the scene just prior to the start of the feature race.
"Another large crowd of excited spectators wedged its way into every available foot of grandstand and bleacher space at the new motor speedway this afternoon. When starter Fred Wagner fired the pistol that started nineteen high powered automobiles on their three-hundred-mile race for the Wheeler-Schebler $10,000 trophy the big grandstand was a mass of humanity and the crowd was lined four deep along the fence in the paddock in front. The bleachers and boxes were completely filled and several thousand lined the stretch above the stands. Hundreds of autos that carried spectators to the course were parked on both sides of the track."
Consider that the race started with the field organized into two rows - ten in the first, nine in the second - for a standing start. The field was sent away at 1:20 pm with a marching band playing in the background. Of course, the fans were going nuts cheering. The article lists the starting field of 19 cars:

  1. Apperson, Herb Lytle
  2. Apperson, McCulla
  3. National, Johnny Aitken
  4. National, Barney Oldfield
  5. National, Charlie Merz
  6. Marmon, Bruce Keene
  7. Marmon, Harry Stillman
  8. Stoddard-Dayton, "Jap" Clemens
  9. Stoddard-Dayton, Bert Miller
  10. Stoddard-Dayton, Tobin De Hymel
  11. Fiat, Ralph De Palma
  12. Buick, Lewis Strang
  13. Buick, Louis Chevrolet
  14. Buick, George De Witt
  15. Marion, Charles Stutz
  16. Jackson, Ellis
  17. Jackson, Leigh Lynch
  18. American, Drech  
  19. Marmon, Ray Harroun

The article does report on the race up to the point the paper had to go to press. We learn that Aitken led from the start to lead the first 25 miles or ten laps. It isn't clear in the article if he was eclipsed at some point, but he was back in the lead at 40 miles. He covered the first 25 miles in 21:27.6 and completed 40 miles in 35:28.4. Lytle was second at 40 miles with De Witt next up in third. The article notes that Lytle had a mishap that took him out of contention, but the reporting ends there.
Next, the article covers Barney Oldfield's domination of the Remy Grand Brassard, a ten-lap, 25-mile "free-for-all" competition. Oldfield asserted himself from the start, steadily pulling away to set new world speed records for five, ten, 15, 20 and 25-miles. This was the fourth race of the afternoon. Oldfield was awarded $75 a week for his efforts until the next run for the prize. 
The previous record for 25-miles was held by De Palma (Fiat) at 23:25 at Boston on June 11. Oldfield's records are reported as:

  • Five miles, 4:11.3
  • Ten miles, 8:15.9
  • 15 miles, 12:33.1
  • 20 miles, 16:53.8
  • 25 miles, 21:21.7

De Palma, Oldfield's nemesis, finished second in the race. Len Zengle brought his Chadwick home third. Oldfield reportedly won by three-quarters of a lap.
The article then reports on the day's first race, a 15-mile free-for-all handicap won by De Palma, again in his Fiat. He started from scratch, recording a time of 13:23.5. Tom Kincaid with his National finished second with a 1:15-second handicap. Harry Stillman was allowed a one minute handicap with his Marmon was third, with De Witt in his Buick fourth after a head start of 2:15.
This race was reported to be a crowd favorite as there was lots of passing. De Palma passed all the other cars except Kincaid but covered the distance in the least time.
There were only four starters in the second race. This was the ten-mile amateur championship. These drivers were Art Greiner in a Thomas, Ryall for Buick, Cameron in a Stearns and Eddie Hearne in a Fiat. Hearne won with a time of 9:44.3 with Ryall the only other finisher in second. Ryall led the first two laps while Greiner's car failed after two laps and Cameron struggled to start and could not complete the first lap.
The day kicked off with kilometer time trials at 11:45 am. J. Walter Christie in his Christie car was first on track. Note that his car had to be towed to the line because it was not geared to operate at below racing speeds. He recorded a time of 28.7 seconds or 79 mph. Zengle and Oldfield also made runs with times of 29.9 seconds and 26.2 seconds respectively. Oldfield's time was 85.5 mph.
None of these efforts broke a reported record of 19.4 seconds set by Louis Chevrolet in a Darracq on Ormond Beach in 1906. I believe Chevrolet's record was for gasoline-fueled cars and was actually slower than the Stanley Steamer racer of Fred Marriott - but this is not mentioned in the article.
Also included here in attachment RecordsNews082309 is a brief article published in the Indianapolis News after the weekend which attempts to evaluate the track and the economic success of the weekend. The records discussed here focus on the number of spectators at the track. 
Speedway management claimed that the weekend attracted more attendees than any other event in history. Taken literally, this is not true as Vanderbilt Cup races attracted crowds well north of 100,000. However, only about five percent of those purchased tickets. Most simply parked or stood at the edge of the public roads and took in the show.
In terms of paid attendance, the Speedway claim was almost certainly true. The article estimates 75,000 spectators for the weekend. Estimates for the first day was 15,000, with 22,000 attending on the second, and another 37,000 on the third. The numbers for the first two days - if we believe them - are more impressive when you consider they were week days, Thursday and Friday.
Interestingly, the article reports that spectators were "always orderly," leaving little cause for intervention by soldiers or police. This commentary comes in spite of the fact that people crowded into restricted areas in their quest for superior vantage points. This was at least partially the cause of spectator deaths of James West and Homer Jolliff. In fact, this article omits any reference to the incredible carnage created by the race weekend.
The speeds attained, sufficient to erase most American track records, was evidence that the track was "all that has been said of it, the fastest in the world other than Brooklands." The claim is made that 13 world's records were broken.
In other news, the track had reconsidered a previously announced air show for Labor Day. The reason offered for the cancellation was that there were simply not enough airplane entries. Also, track management feared competition from the Indiana State Fair, which was scheduled for the same weekend. The article reports that plans still called for a 24-hour race, but that would be canceled as well at a later date.

IMSNews082109.pdf10.4 MB
RecordsNews082309.pdf3.39 MB