Indianapolis is synonymous with racing, and on May 29 the 500-mile race at Indy will celebrate a century of speed and innovation.
It's the 100th anniversary, but the 95th race; the event was suspended during World Wars I and II.
For the auto industry, Indy is much more than four left turns at 200 mph.
The innovation started early: One hundred years ago, Ray Harroun entered the only single-seat car in the field, an Indianapolis-built Marmon Wasp, and won the first Indy 500 with a 3-by-8-inch mirror mounted on the car's hood. The mirror was a response to safety complaints voiced by competitors, all of whom rode with a passenger who kept a lookout for possible collisions.
According to Popular Mechanics, Harroun got the idea from a mirror he saw on a horse-drawn vehicle. And the rearview mirror was born.
That's one of the many ways Indy has sparked change in the auto industry, from marketing campaigns to supplier innovations to safety technology.
"Those techniques used in labs and in testing these cars helped accelerate what we do in developing cars to sell," Chevrolet spokesman David Caldwell said.
What follows is a look at 100 years of innovation and industry-changing moments.
Pacing the field
Track founder Carl Fisher paced the first Indianapolis 500 -- in his personal car -- because he felt a rolling start would be safer than the traditional sprint. The pace laps that start the race have become a popular Indianapolis tradition.
While Chevrolet won't be racing in the 500 this year, one of its cars will be leading the pack. For the 10th straight year, Chevrolet is sponsoring the pace car -- this year a special edition Camaro SS Convertible. The car is white with orange racing stripes and has an orange leather interior. The design was based on the 1969 Camaro convertible that paced the 1969 running of the Indianapolis 500.
Innovations
The rearview mirror wasn't the only automotive technology to prove its worth on the Indy track. Here are some of the others.
- Lightweight materials: In 1914, Louis Chevrolet created Frontenac Motor Corp. and developed three cars for the 1916 race. To give the cars a weight advantage, he used a lot of aluminum in the engine and elsewhere in the vehicle.
- Front-wheel drive: Driver Jimmy Murphy raced a front-drive car in the 1920s. The configuration lowered the center of gravity and cut weight. The transverse-mounted transmission eliminated the rear differential and driver shaft.
- Alternative fuels: Methanol was used by at least one driver in the 1920s. Gasoline was abandoned after a fiery crash in the 1960s. Teams switched to less volatile alcohol fuels.
- Seat belts: Barney Oldfield ordered a harness for his car in 1922 that was developed by a parachute maker. By the early 1960s, front seat belts were mandatory in U.S. vehicles.
- Disc brakes: The first cars with four-wheel disc brakes appeared on Miller Specials in the 1930s, developed by noted racing engineer Harry Miller.
- All-wheel drive: Miller created an all-wheel-drive racer in the '30s, convinced the configuration would provide better traction and grip, especially around curves.
- Powerful diesel engines: Driver Freddie Agabashian shocked race fans in 1952 with a car powered by a Cummins turbodiesel.
- Tires: Racing has been used as a test lab for tire compounds, structure and tread design.
- Magnesium wheels: The wheels were created by Ted Halibrand after World War II and used on race cars into the early 1960s. Later they made their way onto hot rods and simply became known as "mags."
Car dealers have fared well at the Brickyard, as owners and drivers. Here are a few of the big names from the retail world who have won at Indianapolis.
- Roger Penske: Penske Racing has won the Indianapolis 500 15 times, including consecutive wins in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Its most recent win was in 2009 with driver Helio Castroneves. Penske Automotive Group is the second-largest U.S. dealership group.
- Parnelli Jones: Jones won in 1963. During much of the 1960s and 1970s, Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing Shop dominated open-wheel racing. Vel Miletich, a car dealer, and Jones were partners in VPJ enterprises.
- Emerson Fittipaldi: He won in 1989 and 1993. He previously owned a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Brazil.
- Bobby Unser: He was a three-time winner -- in 1968, 1975 and 1981. He is one of only two drivers to have won the 500 in three different decades. He operated a Chevrolet dealership.
- Jim Rathmann: He drove to victory in 1960. According to the Legends of NASCAR Web site, he and former astronauts Gus Grissom and Gordon Cooper entered a car in the 1966 and 1967 Indy 500 races. Rathmann owned several dealerships in Florida.
- Bobby Rahal: He captured the checkered flag twice, as a driver in 1986 and as an owner in 2004. Bobby Rahal Automotive Group has several dealerships in Pennsylvania.
- Mario Andretti: He's a perennial fixture at the Brickyard and won in 1969. He owns a chain of gasoline stations, a Toyota dealership in Pennsylvania and several other auto-related businesses.
There are few auto brands with as rich an Indy history as Chevrolet.
In 1911, Arthur Chevrolet competed in the first Indianapolis 500, but the Chevrolet connection with the track's founder can be traced back to 1905.
That year Louis Chevrolet and Carl Fisher competed while touring the Midwest as daredevil drivers in racing exhibitions. In 1909, Fisher began building his brick-paved track near Indianapolis. At the same time, Louis Chevrolet became a national celebrity driving for Billy Durant's Buick racing team.
Impressed by Louis Chevrolet's engineering ability, Durant invited him to participate in several projects, including the design of a new car line that would bear the Chevrolet name.
Louis Chevrolet prepared a Buick for the inaugural 500-mile race, and on May 30, 1911, Arthur Chevrolet drove 30 laps in the first Indy 500 before mechanical problems sidelined his car. Five months later, Louis Chevrolet and Billy Durant incorporated Chevrolet Motor Car Co. in Detroit.
Louis Chevrolet competed in the 1915 Indianapolis race and returned in 1919 with his brother Gaston in cars from their own company, Frontenac Motor Corp. A year later Gaston Chevrolet won the Indy 500 in a Monroe-Frontenac, becoming the first driver to finish the race on one set of tires.
Chevrolet supplied engines for Indy cars from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2005. It plans a new Indy engine next year.
Honda power
Honda has been the sole engine provider for the IndyCar race series since 2006. Honda first competed in the IndyCar series, and the Indianapolis 500, in 1994. But from 1996 through 2002, Honda supplied engines to the rival CART racing series and didn't compete in the Indianapolis 500.
The company returned to IndyCar in 2003 largely because it wanted to compete in the Indianapolis 500, Honda spokesman T.E. McHale said.
While Honda doesn't directly transfer much of its racing technology to consumer vehicles, McHale said the company produces reliable engines for its race cars and street cars.
"In the broader sense, we're building reliable engines that survive the crucible that is open car racing," McHale said.
At least one engine failure occurred in every Indianapolis 500 from the race's inception in 1911 to 2005, McHale said. But since Honda took over as the sole provider in 2006, there hasn't been an engine failure in the race.
Honda uses its status as the sole engine provider as a way to market itself, McHale said. The company plans a large advertising campaign featuring the race winner.
Said McHale: "We've known months out that we're going to win the 500."