Marmom Wasp at 1911 Indy 500
Marmom Wasp at 1911 Indy 500
Indianapolis 500

History of the Indianapolis 500 – Part One

Avatar photoLeigh Dorrington

Story by Leigh Dorrington

The story of the Indianapolis 500 is the story of America in a pivotal century—the beginning of the American Century. A rural nation rushing to embrace industrialization. Farm boys, fairgrounds and big city promoters. Seat of the pants courage and genuine genius. Foreign invasions—so to speak—and homeland traditions.

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Leigh Dorrington
Leigh Dorrington is an automotive historian and contributor to automotive publications in the U.S. and Europe including AutoWeek, Vintage Motorsport, Classic and Sports Car, MotorSport, Gasoline for Swedish hot rodders and Automobile Quarterly. The common denominators in his widespread interests and subjects are automotive design and competition. Leigh is actively engaged as a concours judge and consultant and is a director of the Saratoga Fall Ferrari Festival in Saratoga Springs, New York. He lives in a 1771 Connecticut farmhouse, where he channels a rich tradition of earlier automotive journalists and drives a Proteus Jaguar C-type.
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