In 1911, Ray Harroun, in a streamlined Marmon, startled the auto-racing world by winning the first 500-mile Indianapolis auto race at an average speed of 74 m.p.h. More startling still was the fact that he drove around the two-and-a-half-mile, brick-&-asphalt oval without a mechanic at his siderelying on a mirror to inform him of what his opponents were doing behind his back. Since that day, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been the proving ground for many another automotive innovation: balloon tires, four-wheel brakes, Ethyl gasoline, straight-eight motors. But to auto-racing fans, the annual Indianapolis Memorial Day classic is just a gigantic...
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