This Saturday marks an historic day for the city of Indianapolis and for racing fans everywhere.
Now the home of the Indianapolis 500 and many other notable races, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was christened with its first race on August 19th, 1909.
The Speedway was initially built as a testing facility for the emergent automobile industry in Indiana, but after interest was piqued by the speed the cars could drive on this track, the first race was scheduled and spectators filled the stands.
The first track at the speedway caused several tragic accidents; because the original track was made from a mix of crushed rocks and tar, it broke extremely easily and ended up causing the death of 6 people in the first months of the speedway.
The track was shut down and repaved with 3.2 million paving bricks which were laid in a bed of sand and fixed firmly with mortar. The track soon reopened in December of 1909 and because of the new track surface, it was nicknamed the “brickyard”.
Since 1911, with the exception of the 2 World Wars the U.S. has been involved in, the Indianapolis 500 has been held at the Speedway every year. By 1961, the track was fully covered in asphalt pavement, with the exception of three feet of the exposed original bricks at the finish line.
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About the Author
Drew Yagodnik is Vice President of Classic Automobile Insurance Agency, Inc. Classic Automobile Insurance Agency has been protecting collector, classic and exotics since 1992.
