Episode
The Bloody Madness of the First Indy 500 — (1911)
- Podcast
- It's Not the Car
- Published
- Sep 24, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 3720
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/its-not-the-car/episodes/The-Bloody-Madness-of-the-First-Indy-500--1911-e38ksn9
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Summary
Little ditty... 'bout a race and a Speedway! Two Indy names, growin’ up in the heartland. Race gonna make the front page of the Indy Star? Speedway gonna something something… uh... museum... race... car! Yeah, sure, that makes sense! Don't tell me if it doesn't? The story of the first Indy 500 holds a lot of things—death, sand, smoke, around a million blown tires—but it does not hold John Mellencamp lyrics. Still, I hear Mellencamp in my head every time I meet Indiana, so that’s what I'm puttin' here. (If you squint, that first paragraph almost fits the rhythm of "Jack and Diane." With apologies to the ol' Cougar himself.) This show’s format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This episode is our monthly deep dive into an epic moment from racing history. In this case, that means the time a quiet little American city kicked off one of the world's greatest speed traditions. Risk, blood, guts, bricks… and the first year was flat-out bonkers. This episode was produced by Sam Smith. ** Who We Are + Spicy Merch: www.ItsNotTheCar.com ** Support It’s Not the Car: Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar ** Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think! [email protected] ** Check out Sam's book! Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023 ** Where to find us: https://www.instagram.com/intcpod https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/ https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/ https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/ https://rossbentley.substack.com/ …