Indianapolis 500
Great Moments by Donald Davidson
After two seasons of two- and three-day multi-event programs, Speedway management decides for 1911 to present just one major event paying a huge purse. Seeking something lasting around seven hours, they calculate that an attractive-sounding 500 miles could be run off in that time. On the morning of May 30, 1911 Memorial Day 40 cars line up for the start of the very first Indianapolis 500. Virtually all of them are stripped-down versions of passenger cars currently being sold to the public. The eventual winner, however, has been built strictly for competition. Following complaints that the locally built, single-seat streamlined Marmon Wasp has no provision for carrying the generally accepted riding mechanic, driver/engineer Ray Harroun finds a solution. Above the cowling, he rigs up a 3 X 8-inch mirror, believed to be the very first rearview mirror ever used on an automobile. Near the race's halfway point, he turns the wheel over to a relief driver, Cyrus Patschke, but returns for the final half and wins the very first Indianapolis 500 in a time of 6 hours, 42 minutes, at an average speed of 74.602 mph.
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