You have to start with a good foundation

It really does’t matter what you are building, a good foundation is imperative, and racing is no different. If you look back at the history of our sport, there were founding fathers that set the standard for the direction that the sport was heading and still is to this day. There are currently, and hopefully always will be, adjustments and improvements being made along the way, and there are still pioneers charting new courses. But the foundation laid back in the early dawn of automobile racing, is still where we all build from going forward.

Even in the biggest and best known series around the world, like F1 and Moto GP we still strive to build a better mousetrap, so to speak. In the two major American series that require the use of standardize parts, NASCAR and IndyCar, where everyone runs pretty much the exact same engines and chassis combinations, there are still gray areas of the rulebook that get exploited. It’s what we do, build better, build faster, and outrun your competition.

Obviously, my own bias toward the best racing left on our planet is in the grass roots dirt series, and even at some of the completely unsanctioned tracks throughout the country. That is the foundation of pure innovation and design and it still takes place, even on the lowest imaginable levels.

When it all got started, you have to know it was just two guys seeing who had the fastest horse, bicycle, car, boat, airplane or whatever it was, it was the thrill of competition. It caused the loser to go home and work harder on his stuff to make it even faster. That is what racing is all about.

As the sport of racing evolved into where we are today, who knows where it would be without great men such as Carl Fisher, James A. Allison, Arthur Newby, and Frank W. Wheeler who originally conceived and built the Indianapolis Motor Speedway back in 1905. Those men along with a few others you may have heard of from the early days like Louis Chevrolet, Henry Ford, Enzo Ferrari, and others, who at the time were laying down the very foundations of our sport without even knowing it.

The sport of automobile racing is just over a hundred years old. While in human years that is more than most lifetimes, but in the big picture, it is still a young evolving and growing sport.

However, there have been times through history where the sport nearly came came to an end. It was all but completely stopped during both World Wars. There was the tragic and horrible events of 1955 at Le Mans, where 1 driver and 83 spectators were killed, and more than 120 others severely injured, when a car crashed into the grandstands. That tragedy did bring an end to a sanctioning body, the AAA, and caused a ban on all motorsports in France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and several other nations, until better safety standards for spectators could be instituted.

That all kinda brings us to where we are today, the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 has just been completed. While attending the race it was abundantly clear to me, the foundation laid by those early builders of the speedway, and those early pioneer drivers is still very evident.

Even though, some of those drivers made the ultimate sacrifice while pushing the barriers of their equipment in pursuit of speed, even today, they risk their own personal safety for the betterment of our sport, seeking the pure unabashed enjoyment of speed and competition that race car drivers crave. The sport of racing really is the same today as it was back when that foundation was first being laid.

Where is our sport headed, what will the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 be like, what will be the next big breakthrough for our sport be? Those are the answers we will always seek, and we are able to seek those answers, because of the rock solid foundation laid down by the brave men who first sought to see who was faster.

Chris Judah

Photo credit unkown, Bloomington Speedway 1923