FIRSTS at the INDIANAPOLIS 500:

http://www.indy500.com/

The track's first car race was a 300-mile event on August 19,1909; and the first 500-mile race took place on Memorial Day, May 30, 1911. RAY HARROUN won in his Marmon Wasp, inventing the rear view mirror so he didn't need the extra weight of a "riding mechanic" to help look for other cars. The race was held on Memorial Day every year (except for war years) until 1971, when Congress changed the holiday to the last Monday in May. The race is now the Sunday before.

Indianapolis automobile manufacturer and entrepreneur Carl Fisher founded the track in 1909. He acquired 300 acres northwest of Indianapolis and laid out his track in an era when most oval racetracks were one mile. The track was to be a proving ground for any manufacturer who wanted to test his vehicle against his competitors'.

More History:
http://www.roadking.com/article-archive/story804.php

RAY HARROUN  WON THE  FIRST AND INAUGURAL INDY 500 MAY 30, 1911

UNITED STATES

More History:
http://www.historicracing.com/drivers_alpha.cfm?start=21&page_no=2&driverID=2045
Born
12 /  1 / 1897       
Died
19 /  1 / 1968
After starting competing as a riding mechanic he switched to driving in 1906. He won the American National Championship in 1910 and the first Indy 500 the following year.
If RAY HARROUN is remembered at all, it's for winning the first Indy 500 in 1911. ... Harroun designed a light, streamlined, one-seater with a pointed tail and a stabilizer. To replace the mechanic, he added a rearview mirror. Whether or not the car actually finished first at Indy, it performed exceptionally well, averaging 74.602 mph.

That was his last race. HARROUN later invented a carburetor that was a forerunner of modern fuel-injection systems. He also developed a kerosene-burning Maxwell race car in 1914 that was running on tracks for nearly 15 years.

INTERESTING HISTORY, AND STATISTICS OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419100617


WOMEN IN RACING FIRSTS:

DANICA PATRICK
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/sports/othersports/21patrick.html?fta=y

When a 23-year-old rookie named DANICA PATRICK became the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500 three years ago, she raised the tantalizing possibility that in a male-dominated American sport, a woman might for the first time stand in victory lane.

PATRICK eventually finished fourth in that race, but she quickly became a phenomenon...But along with her celebrity came a question: When would she win?

It was answered Sunday in Motegi, Japan, where PATRICK, now 26, became the first woman to win an Indy car race. She defeated the two-time Indy 500 winner Hélio Castroneves by nearly six seconds in the Indy Japan 300.

“I feel way too young to be giving life advice, but this is a great platform to have,” PATRICK  said Sunday night in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where she had landed after a virtually sleepless flight from Japan. “This reaches outside racing. This is about finding something you love to do, and following through with it.”...

...There was a time when PATRICK could not have competed in Sunday’s race. A few years before JANET GUTHRIE, an aerospace engineer and road racer, became the FIRST WOMAN TO QUALIFY FOR THE INDY 500 in 1977, women were not allowed in the press box, the garage area or the pits.

As GUTHRIE wrote in “Life at Full Throttle,” an account of her career in racing, women were dismissed as lacking the strength, endurance and emotional stability to compete against men. Even a driver with GUTHRIE'S credentials as a road racer was seen as dangerous.

“A woman might be a reporter, a photographer, a timer/scorer, she might own the race car — but she couldn’t get near it at any time for any reason,” GUTHRIE wrote. “A woman on the track itself was unthinkable.”...


OLYMPIC CHAMPION YAMAGUCHI SERVING AS INDY 500 HONORARY STARTER

1992 Olympic gold medalist, popular professional figure skater and recent "Dancing with the Stars" winner KRISTI YAMAGUCHI  will wave the green flag to start the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 25.

As the first female honorary starter in Indianapolis 500 history, YAMAGUCHI will send the elite 33-car starting field into the quest for the checkered flag and racing immortality. The race will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. (ET) on ABC, the IMS Radio Network and XM Satellite Radio.

YAMAGUCHI replaces world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. as honorary starter after Mayweather was forced to relinquish his role due to a death in his family...

...In addition to her Olympic gold medal-winning performance at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, YAMAGUCHI  is a two-time World Figure Skating Champion (1991-92), a U.S. National Champion (1992) and a four-time World Professional Figure Skating Champion. She was one of the first U.S. women to compete in both pairs' events and ladies' singles. She won the 1988 World Junior Pairs title and the 1989 and 1990 U.S. national pairs title with partner Rudy Galindo.

YAMAGUCHI a native of Fremont, Calif., was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in December 2005.

She added to her championship resume May 20 when she was named overall champion of season six of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," in which she was paired with professional dancer Mark Ballas., a native of Fremont, Calif., was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in December 2005.


WE ARE  HOPING FOR A SAFE RACE AND A BEAUTIFUL SUNSHINY DAY! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN....

CAMELOT PORTRAITS

http://www. camelotportraits.com

YOUR FAMILY REUNION, PORTRAIT, AND WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER IN INDIANAPOLIS