The First Indy 500... [PIC]

After a few years of smaller races 3 times a year, for 1911, they decided to have one big race of 500 miles with a purse big enough to attract international competition.

May 30 was chosen, because of all the races they had put on, the largest crowd was on the Memorial Day weekend. 47 cars showed up and 40 made the cut of a minimum 75 mph on the straight. Oversimplified, the race turned out to be the Battle of the Marmons. Established in 1902, The Marmon Motor Car Company were a builder of luxury motor cars lasting until 1933. Marmon prepared 2 cars for the event. The first was a conventional 2 seat, 4 cylinder racer driven by Joe Dawson:

The second was designed by Ray Harroun and built the year prior specifically for the upcoming Indy race giving him a year to "work all the bugs out". Unlike Dawson's car, the Wasp also employed a 6 cylinder engine. Besides the "wasp-like" aerodynamics, the key to his success was the invention of the rear view mirror which meant he didn't anyone to ride 'shot gun' to keep him aware of the goings on in his 270° blind spot. This allowed the whole body to be way more narrow than the competition. The Marmons were given the numbers 31 and 32 as they were placed, and the execs at Marmon had the #32 switched to the projected winner Wasp car because their luxury car was known as the Model 32. It was a crazy race filled with constant tire failures and Indy's first fatality, but Harroun's Wasp came first, and Dawson, 5th. Given the multiple tire failures, Harroun touted the success of Firestone's race tires and after that race, Firestones dominated the sport for decades. Ray Harroun retired from racing after the Indy and continued to work for Marmon and later the Maxwell race team. Here's pics of the Wasp I took at the Speedway Museum:

Here's the Replicarz model: