 | |||||
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | AAA | ||||
| Date | May 30, 1911 | ||||
| Winner | Ray Harroun | ||||
| Winning Entrant | Nordyke & Marmon Company | ||||
| Average speed | 74.602 mph (120.060 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | Lewis Strang | ||||
| Pole speed | N/A | ||||
| Most laps led | Ray Harroun (88) | ||||
| Pre-race | |||||
| Pace car | Stoddard-Dayton | ||||
| Pace car driver | Carl G. Fisher | ||||
| Starter | Fred J. Wagner[1] | ||||
| Honorary referee | R. P. Hooper[1] | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 85,000[2] | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
| |||||
The 1911 International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1911. It was the inaugural running of the Indianapolis 500, which is the most prestigious automobile race in the world. Ray Harroun, an engineer with the Marmon Motor Car Company, came out of retirement to drive, and won the inaugural event before re-retiring for good in the winner's circle.
Over the previous two seasons (1909 and 1910), the Speedway had scheduled numerous smaller races during a series of meets over the two years. In a departure from that policy, for 1911 the management decided to instead schedule a single, large-scale event attracting widespread attention from both American and European racing teams and manufacturers. It proved to be a successful event, immediately establishing itself as both the premier motorsports competition in the US and one of the most prestigious in the world.
- ^ a b Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-915088-05-3.
- ^ Willis, Paul W. (May 31, 1911). "Harroun In 'Wasp' Wins: One Death Is Race Toll". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
