Author Description

A complete history of the first Indy 500 automobile race held at Indianapolis, Indiana on May 30, 1911. Includes information on all 40 cars and drivers in the race, activities and preparations leading up to the race, detailed account and analysis of the actual running of the race, biography of Fred Belcher and his driving of the fastest laps in the race, statistics on the first Indy 500 and Fred Belcher's racing career, and information on other races of the time period including the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup. 263 pages, 8 x 10 inches, hardcover, with over 190 photographs and images. Published by Belcher Foundation, 2008. Race car drivers featured in Fastest of the First include: Bert Adams, Johnny Aitken, Gil Anderson, Charles Basle, Ralph Beardsley, Fred Belcher, Charles Bigelow, Caleb Bragg, David Bruce-Brown, Bob Burman, Arthur Chevrolet, Fred Clemens, Harry Cobe, Joe Dawson, Ernest Delaney, Ralph DePalma, Louis Disbrow, Fred Ellis, Bill Endicott, Harry Endicott, Frank Fox, Lee Frayer, J. Franklin Gelnaw, Arthur Gibbons, Harry Grant, Arthur Greiner, Howard Hall, Ray Harroun, Eddie Hearne, Hughie Hughes, Joe Jagersberger, Johnny Jenkins, Will Jones, Harry Knight, Billy Knipper, Herbert Lytle, Charles Merz, Ralph Mulford, Billy Pearce, Eddie Rickenbacker, Lewis Strang, Teddy Tetzlaff, Jack Tower, William H. Turner, Harold Van Gorder, Howdy Wilcox, and Spencer Wishart. Other automobile races of the time period featured in Fastest of the First include: 1909, 1910, and 1911 Shingle Hill Climb (Connecticut); 1909 Porter Hill Climb (Ohio); 1909 Galveston Cotton Carnival races (Texas); 1909 Lowell Automobile Carnival (Massachusetts); 1910 Giants' Despair Hill Climb (Pennsylvania); 1910 & 1911 Port Jefferson Hill Climb (New York); 1910 Vanderbilt Cup race (New York); 1911 Thurlow Hill Climb (Maine); 1911 Dead Horse Hill Climb (Massachusetts); and 1911 New York State Fair auto races.