In its 115-year history, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has hosted a race over the July 4 holiday weekend only once. After resurfacing the Speedway with brick, the owners planned four events for the 1910 racing season—races on Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Labor Day weekends, and a 24-hour race in mid-August.
The three days of racing over the Fourth of July holiday weekend started off with a bang when “Wild” Bob Burman drove a Buick over a quarter-mile at an astonishing 105.87 mph establishing a new speed record. Buick dominated the races on the first day. On Friday, July 1, Buick pilot Burman broke eight of the ten speed records while his teammate, Louis Chevrolet, broke the five mile speed record in a race for cars with between 161 and 230 cubic inches of displacement with an average speed of 64.1 mph. A Herreshoff racer established a new record for cars with under 160 cubic inches of displacement at an average speed of 55.44 mph for five miles.
The G & J trophy race of 50 miles was the feature race on July 1. Bob Burman set five of his eight new speed records in this race. His average speed for the race was 74.89 mph, two minutes faster than the record Ray Harroun set at IMS in the May races.
That night, the four Speedway owners decided to cancel the 24-hour race to be held on August 12-13. This decision was made for fear that there might be a fatality which would mar the race. They also canceled the balloon race scheduled for August 13 to be held in conjunction with the 24-hour race.
The featured race the next day was the 100-mile Remy Brassard. Undoubtedly, the Indianapolis spectators were pulling for their hometown teams—National with three entries (Howdy Wilcox, Tom Kincaid, and Johnny Aitken) and Marmon with two (Ray Harroun and Dawson). They would be disappointed. It was a close race but at the end, “Wild” Bob Burman won. The field was fast and nine new speed records were established including the 100-mile mark by more than three minutes over the record established by Kincaid in the Memorial Day speed contest. It was a close battle throughout with multiple lead changes. In the end, Burman beat Dawson by eight seconds and Harroun finished third.
In the small engine displacement category, a Herreshoff beat Indianapolis manufacturer Empire in a ten-mile race. Empire was owned by three of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway founders (Carl Fisher, Jim Allison, and Arthur Newby) and shock absorber manufacturer Robert Hassler. Louis Chevrolet won the ten-mile race for cars in the 161-230 cubic inch category, and the five-mile race for cars with a displacement between 230 and 300. It wasn’t until the eighth race, which was a ten-mile amateur event, that an Indianapolis manufacturer won. A National piloted by Greiner won followed closely by a second National piloted by Tousey. In the ninth event, Johnny Aitken, piloting a National ,won the five-mile free-for-all.
The July 4 feature race was the Cobe Trophy Race, a 200-mile endurance test of nineteen racers. It was to be the conclusion of a day with eight races. The Indianapolis Star predicted that one of the largest crowds in the history of IMS would be at the race. Unfortunately, rainy weather kept the crowds down. Joe Dawson, piloting a Marmon, won the race with an average speed of 73.423 mph. He was lucky to have won…and not to have his car “turn turtle.” With two laps remaining, Dawson, who took the lead at the 190-mile mark, signaled to his pit crew that he needed to come in for new tires. His request was denied During the race, three American track records were lowered. Arthur Chevrolet in a Buick set a new record for 100 miles by 25 seconds. Bob Burman, also in a Buick, established a new record at 150 miles while Dawson established a new record at 200 miles by 10 minutes, 28 seconds. For his efforts, Dawson received $500 in gold from IMS, $400 from the Michelin Tire Company, and $300 from the Bosch Magneto Company. Marquette-Buick driver Bob Burman finished second. Due to the uncertain weather, instead of being the final race of the day, the race was after the first three races and before the final two races. Two races were canceled.
Estimated attendance at the Speedway for the three days of racing was estimated at 20,000. Speedway management decided to only have two days of racing over the Labor Day weekend. This foretold a change in strategy by the Speedway owners. While the racing season was profitable at the Speedway, the owners were concerned about declining interest in the auto races. In evaluating the 1910 season, Fisher, Allison, Newby, and Frank Wheeler discussed potential causes. Ultimately, they decided that there was nothing to differentiate the racing at the Speedway from races at other tracks. Given the proliferation of tracks offering short races, unless there was an overarching reason to be in attendance, many people wouldn’t journey a long distance to see the races in Indianapolis. Thus began the quest of the partners to find a different formula to attract racers and spectators to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Their decision was to run a single 500-mile race annually which began in May 1911.