The winningest driver at IMS isn’t one of the four-time Indianapolis 500 winners or Jeff Gordon, who won five Brickyard 400 races. Rather, it is Johnny Aitken who amassed fifteen victories on the fabled track. Known as “Happy Johnny,” he started racing in 1905 as a member of the National ...
Ray Harroun
The Fulford-Miami Speedway
In 1925, Carl Fisher was busy developing and promoting Miami Beach. It was at the peak of the Roaring Twenties development in south Florida. Miami Beach had 56 hotels with 4,000 rooms, 178 apartment buildings, and 858 private residences. Some of the wealthy residents included Harvey Firestone, J. C. Penney, ...
Book Review: Blood and Smoke, A True Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and the Birth of the Indy 500 by Charles Leerhsen
If you enjoy conspiracy theories, this book raises the question as to who actually won the first Indianapolis 500. The race was a full field with eight rows of five cars each lined up at the starting line. The Marmon Wasp, piloted by Ray Harroun, would cross the finish line ...
The Marmon Wasp
One of my favorite things about the pre-race festivities at the Indianapolis 500 is seeing the Marmon Wasp, which won the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911, on the track leading the group of historic racers. This is a short story of how the Marmon Wasp came to be.
The Marmon ...