Ray Harroun at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (First Race)

ID: 1721 ~ Source: Indiana Historical Society ~ Date: Picture taken at the end of the first Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 1911.

This file appears in: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Ray Harroun at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (First Race)

Nicknamed the "Little Professor," Ray Harroun is pictured here in his Marmon Wasp winning the first Indianpolis 500 on May 30, 1911. His car was named the Wasp because of its black and yellow color scheme.
Photo Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society.

This file appears in: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

By Elena Rippel, Kaelynn Hayes, Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology

It took Ray Harroun 6 hours and 42 minutes to win the first Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 1911. Speeding past the checkered flag in his bright yellow Marmon “Wasp,” Harroun had driven the five hundred miles at an average speed of 74.6 mph. Today’s…