# The Bloody Madness of the First Indy 500 — (1911)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/the-bloody-madness-of-the-first-indy-500-1911
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/the-bloody-madness-of-the-first-indy-500-1911.md
Podcast: [It's Not the Car](https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-not-the-car-6747786)
Published: 2025-09-24T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/its-not-the-car/episodes/The-Bloody-Madness-of-the-First-Indy-500--1911-e38ksn9
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/f02659d0/podcast/play/108736681/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-8-24%2Fdb2dc611-d02a-2990-172c-28a2d998baa3.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/episodes/the-bloody-madness-of-the-first-indy-500-1911
Duration seconds: 3720

## Resource

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! ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INTCPod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ ** 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/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/episodes/the-bloody-madness-of-the-first-indy-500-1911/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-not-the-car-6747786/the-bloody-madness-of-the-first-indy-500-1911.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.