Q 01/05

Ray Harroun won the first 500 in 1911 driving which car, named for its sharp-pointed tail?

A) Case Hornet

B) Lozier Special

C) National Forty

D) Marmon Wasp

Answer · why

D) Marmon Wasp

Harroun, a Marmon engineer, came out of retirement to drive it and never raced again after collecting the $10,000 first prize.

Q 02/05

What device did the 1911 winner famously bolt onto his car, believed to be a first on a racing machine?

A) A rear-view mirror

B) A seat belt

C) A roll bar

D) A windscreen wiper

Answer · why

A) A rear-view mirror

In an era of two-man cars he drove solo without a riding mechanic to watch behind him, and the mirror was his answer to complaints about safety.

Q 03/05

Which Speedway founder went on to conceive the Lincoln Highway and develop Miami Beach?

A) James Allison

B) Arthur Newby

C) Carl Fisher

D) Frank Wheeler

Answer · why

C) Carl Fisher

Fisher made his fortune with Prest-O-Lite headlights before turning a swampy stretch of Florida coast into a resort.

Q 04/05

What was the very first event held at the Speedway, in June 1909?

A) A motorcycle race

B) A gas-balloon race

C) An aeroplane show

D) A bicycle race

Answer · why

B) A gas-balloon race

The first car races followed in August 1909, and the crumbling stone-and-tar surface caused fatal crashes that led straight to the brick repaving.

Q 05/05

Roughly how many bricks were laid to pave the track in the autumn of 1909?

A) 1.2 million

B) 1.8 million

C) 2.5 million

D) 3.2 million

Answer · why

D) 3.2 million

Five Indiana manufacturers supplied the 10-pound bricks, and most of them are still there, buried under layers of asphalt.