The Wheeler-Schebler Trophy Race was an automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in each of the two years prior to the first Indianapolis 500. The trophy was sponsored by the Wheeler-Schebler Carburetor Company. Frank Wheeler, one of the four co-founders of the Speedway, was also the president and co-founder of Wheeler-Schebler. The 1909 race was originally scheduled for 300 miles, but was ended at 235 miles due to deteriorating track conditions.
| Year | Date | Winning Driver | Car | Race Distance | Time of Race | Winning Speed | Starting Cars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miles | Laps | |||||||
| 1909 | Aug 21 |  Leigh Lynch | Jackson | 235 | 94 | 04:13:31.40 | 57.907 mph | 19 |
| 1910 | May 28 | Ray Harroun | Marmon | 200 | 80 | 02:46:31.00 | 72.065 mph | 19 |
In 1911, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway management ceased holding multiple racing events per year, in favor of a single major race annually – the Indianapolis 500. As a result, the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy race was discontinued.
In 1914 the trophy reappeared, now as an award given to the owner of the car leading the Indianapolis 500 at the 400-mile mark (lap 160). On numerous occasions, the leader at lap 160 went on to win the race. For the 1916 race only, the trophy was presented to the leader at lap 100 (250 miles) since the race was scheduled for only 300 miles.
The trophy was retired and given permanently to car owner Harry Hartz after his cars claimed the trophy in three consecutive years (1930, 1931, 1932). [1] The original rules in 1909 stipulated that the trophy became the permanent possession of the individual to win it three times. Many years later, in 1956, the trophy was re-acquired by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Ray Wade Harroun was an American racing driver and pioneering race car constructor. He is most famous for winning the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911.
Raffaele "Ralph" DePalma was an American racing driver who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500. His entry at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame estimates that he won about 2,000 races. DePalma won the 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911 American AAA national dirt track championships and is credited with winning 25 American Championship car races. He won the Canadian national championship in 1929. DePalma estimated that he had earned $1.5 million by 1934 after racing for 27 years. He is inducted in numerous halls of fame. He competed on boards and dirt road courses and ovals.
Thomas Willard Milton was an American racing driver best known as the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. In spite of having only one functional eye, Milton came to be known as one of the finest racers of his generation.
This article discusses the year-by-year history of the Indianapolis 500 race.
The 7th Liberty 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 31, 1919.
The 17th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 30, 1929. Ray Keech, who finished fourth a year earlier, took the lead for the final time on lap 158 and won his first Indianapolis 500. Keech won for car owner Maude A. Yagle, the first and to-date, only female winning owner in Indy history. Only two weeks after winning the race, Ray Keech was fatally injured in a crash at Altoona Speedway on June 15, 1929. The race was part of the 1929 AAA Championship Car season.
The 4th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1914.
John Donald Aitken was an American racing driver from Indianapolis, who was active in the years prior to World War I. Aitken competed in the Indianapolis 500 three times. He started the race twice, in 1911 and 1916. He led the first lap of the first race (1911). Aitken captured the pole position in 1916, but ended up in 15th place that year. In the 1915 Indianapolis 500, Aitken drove relief for two drivers, Gil Anderson and Earl Cooper.
The Astor Cup Race was an American auto racing event, first run in 1915 at the Sheepshead Bay Speedway at Sheepshead Bay, New York. The winner's trophy was donated by Vincent Astor, whose name and connections ensured the attendance of members of New York City's fashionable and wealthy elite.
Charles Cleveland Merz was an American racing driver, military officer, engineering entrepreneur, and racing official. Active in the early years of the Indianapolis 500, he later became Chief Steward of the Memorial Day Classic.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is an automotive museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, which houses the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. It is intrinsically linked to the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400, but it also includes exhibits reflecting other forms of motorsports, passenger cars, and general automotive history. In 2006, it celebrated its 50th anniversary. The museum foundation possesses several former Indianapolis 500 winning cars, and pace cars, and they are regularly rotated onto the display floor exhibits.
The 1915 Grand Prix season saw Grand Prix motor racing continue in the United States. Racing was suspended in Europe due to the outbreak of World War I. The American Grand Prize was held in San Francisco for the first time, in conjunction with the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. Several of the latest European cars had been imported to the USA before the war started. Briton Dario Resta had a Peugeot and Ralph DePalma raced one of the Mercedes GPs. While Resta won both races at San Francisco and DePalma won the Indianapolis 500, just ahead of Resta it was Earl Cooper, running a Stutz, whose consistency gave him the unofficial AAA national championship.
The 1916 Grand Prix season saw Grand Prix motor racing continue in the United States. Racing was suspended in Europe due to the World War I engulfing the continent. Once again European cars dominated Indianapolis with victory going to Briton Dario Resta in a Peugeot. With the organisers wanting to appeal to the spectators, this was the only year that the race was scheduled for a shorter length – to run only 300 miles. The Vanderbilt Cup and the American Grand Prize returned to Santa Monica, California at the end of the year. Resta repeated his victory from the year before, winning the Vanderbilt Cup. Then when he retired in the Grand Prize it was Howdy Wilcox and Johnny Aitken who won in another of the dominant Peugeots. Oval courses now dominated the AAA Championship with these two events being the only road-course races this year. It proved to be the final time these two formative American races were held in this format, as the Great War dragged the country into the global chaos in 1917.
The 1923 Grand Prix season was part of a watershed year for motor racing that saw significant advances in motor-racing engineering, design and events. Fiat's chief designer, Guido Fornaca, developed the 805, the first supercharged car to win a Grand Prix. Benz appeared with the first mid-engined racer and, along with Bugatti and Voisin, produced some of the first efforts at aerodynamics on racing cars. With the United States also adopting the 2-litre formula, Harry Miller could use the smaller engine size to design the first single-seater race-car, ideally suited to American oval racing.
The Harvest Auto Racing Classic was a series of three automobile races held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday September 9, 1916. The meet, held four months after the 1916 Indianapolis 500, featured a 20-mile race, a 50-mile race, and a 100-mile race. The main event, a 100-mile Championship Car race, paid points towards the 1916 AAA National Championship. Johnny Aitken won all three races, two of which had a margin of victory of less than a car length.
The 1919 Grand Prix season was the first season following the armistice that ended World War I in November 1918. European economies were struggling, and many automotive firms had to recover and retool from military production. So, there was very little racing activity as it took time for the companies and populations to recover. As the world rebuilt there were only two major races held in the year – the Indianapolis 500 and the Targa Florio.
The 1920 Grand Prix season saw further activity in motor-racing gradually increase. Europe was still recovering from the end of the war and the terrible pandemic that swept the continent. Automotive companies were gradually re-establishing themselves after re-tooling from a wartime footing and getting production lines rolling again.
The Fulford–Miami Speedway was a AAA Championship Car wood race track located in North Miami Beach, Florida. It was the first speedway built in South Florida. The 1.25 mi (2.01 km) track was built in 1925 by Indianapolis Motor Speedway co-founder Carl Fisher, who was also developing the city. To help build the track, Fisher hired 1911 Indianapolis 500 winner Ray Harroun, who also served as general manager of the track. The track's banking was at 50°, and as a result, cars had to drive at a speed of 110 mph (180 km/h) in order to remain on the track without sliding off. In comparison, the Daytona International Speedway's banking is 31°. Because of the speed the track's configuration produced, the track was considered as the fastest in the world.