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| The start of the Wheeler Schebler Trophy race on August 21, 1909 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway [colorized]. This was on the final day of racing during the first auto meet at the now historic track. The image shows National Motor Vehicle Company driver Johnny Aitken (#8) at his inside front row starting position with Bert Miller of Stoddard-Dayton (#17) beside him.This image was originally published in the August 22, 1909 Indianapolis Star - Colorized by Edmund Jenks via GEMINI (2026). |
On August 19, 1909, the very first automobile races ever held at what would become the Indianapolis Motor Speedway claimed lives before the day was out. Roughly 12,000 spectators gathered to watch Austrian engineer Louis Schwitzer claim a five-mile dash at an average of 57.4 mph on the brand-new 2.5-mile oval. The surface - crushed rock packed with tar - began to disintegrate almost at once, flinging stones into the air and carving deep ruts that grew worse with every lap.
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| The Remy Grand Brassard race was one of the top contests held on the final day of racing during the first auto meet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This race featured prizes of a unique silver arm band and a weekly salary of $75 until the next competition for the award could be presented. The incomparable Barney Oldfield, in his Benz, dominated the event from start to finish. These races were conducted on Saturday, August 21, 1909. This image was originally published in the August 22, 1909 Indianapolis Star - Colorized by Edmund Jenks via GEMINI (2026). |
The three-day meet, contested on that crumbling track, turned deadly. Two drivers, two riding mechanics, and two spectators were lost. Coverage in the August 22 Indianapolis Star captured the chaos: veteran Herb Lytle’s Apperson Jack Rabbit spun in the first turn of the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy, his riding mechanic thrown clear before the car was dug free and returned to the race far down. Barney Oldfield, in his Benz, dominated the Remy Grand Brassard from the start, rewriting distance marks while the surface continued to fail beneath the field. Bruce Keene’s Marmon No. 17 struck a bridge abutment; his mechanic, James Schiller, was thrown clear with a scalp wound.
The worst moment came in the final contest of the meet, the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy, called short after 235 of a scheduled 300 miles. Charlie Merz’s National burst a tire, punched through the fencing, and launched into the crowd. Riding mechanic Claude Kellum died of his injuries; spectators James West and Homer Jolliff (also rendered Joliff or Omer Joliffe in reports) were killed where the car came to rest near a muddy creek. Merz himself crawled free unhurt. One of those lost, Homer Jolliff, lies buried in Nineveh.
Enter EDJE Music inspired through a concept of a FB/META posting that had an interesting SI/AI developed image that needed correcting. The cars should have been travelling counter-clockwise on the IMS track and this was just the beginning. After some research, the image was corrected and a song was created because the story of the first year of competitions at IMS were so dangerous and captivating.
Image & Caption Resourcing via First Super Speedway.
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| Indiana Untold - the host of the inspiration through story and AI imagery however not quite right. Image Credit Edmund Jenks via GEMINI (2026) |
Before the Bricks
LYRICS
*(Verse 1)*
Carl Fisher bought the farmland in the cold December rain
Laid out a two-and-a-half-mile oval on the Indiana plain
Nine degrees of banking, crushed rock packed with tar
They called it the first super speedway under the August stars
Balloon men and motorcycles had already scarred the ground
Then the automobiles came rolling and the rock began to drown
Louis Schwitzer took the five-mile dash at fifty-seven-four
While twelve thousand watched the surface start to tear and roar
*(Chorus)*
Before the bricks, before the wall
The track was chewing tires and throwing stones at all
Two drivers, two mechanics, two in the stands that day
Died on the crushed-rock oval that was washing clean away
Before the bricks… before the bricks could save the day
*(Verse 2)*
William Bourque and Harry Holcomb never made the turn
Herb Lytle’s Jack Rabbit spun and the grandstand held its breath and learned
Barney Oldfield in the Benz was lowering every mark
While the binder dust burned in their eyes and the ruts grew dark
Charlie Merz blew a tire in the Wheeler-Schebler fight
Punched the fence and catapulted into the crowd that night
Claude Kellum never walked away, James West and Homer fell
Merz crawled out from under and said, “Tell my folks I’m well”
*(Chorus)*
Before the bricks, before the wall
The track was chewing tires and throwing stones at all
Two drivers, two mechanics, two in the stands that day
Died on the crushed-rock oval that was washing clean away
Before the bricks… before the bricks could save the day
*(Bridge)*
They stopped the race at two-thirty-five with Lynch still out in front
Half an hour later Keene’s Marmon hit the bridge support
Schiller thrown, the scalp wound bleeding, the surface finally dead
So they tore the rock and tar away and laid the brick instead
Three-point-two million Culver Blocks in sixty-three autumn days
Set in sand and mortar while the cold November haze
A low concrete wall for the people who’d come to see
And when the track reopened in December they named it what it’d be
*(Final Chorus)*
After the bricks, after the wall
The Brickyard rose where the crushed rock used to fall
From the blood on the binder to the roar that still remains
They paved the first super speedway and it never lost its name
After the bricks… after the bricks they paved the way
*(Outro – soft, fading)*
Before the bricks…
Just rock and tar and names still carved in stone
Before the bricks…
The Brickyard was born.
ENDS**Style Prompts:**
- Americana / folk-rock storytelling ballad, mid-tempo (~85–95 BPM), building to a driving groove.
- Acoustic guitar and fiddle (or lap steel) in the verses; electric guitar, bass, and restrained drums enter on the choruses.
- Raw, weathered male vocal with a slightly rough edge (think early Springsteen or modern Americana). Light harmonica or distant trumpet accents for period grit.
- Mood: somber and tense at first, then resilient and forward-looking. Dust, danger, and the weight of early speed.
- Alternative lean: blues-rock with a gritty, “broken road” feel, or a cinematic folk-epic with subtle orchestral swells under the final chorus.
MUSIC LINKS:
RUMBLE
YouTube
REELS
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1803966387417362
.. notes from The EDJE
TAGS: #BeforeTheBricks, #IndianapolisMotorSpeedway, #IMS, #Brickyard, #1909, #AutoRacingHistory, #WheelerScheblerTrophy, #LouisSchwitzer, #BarneyOldfield, #CharlieMerz, #CarlFisher, #FirstSuperSpeedway, #MotorsportsJournal, #TheEDJE
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1803966387417362
.. notes from The EDJE
TAGS: #BeforeTheBricks, #IndianapolisMotorSpeedway, #IMS, #Brickyard, #1909, #AutoRacingHistory, #WheelerScheblerTrophy, #LouisSchwitzer, #BarneyOldfield, #CharlieMerz, #CarlFisher, #FirstSuperSpeedway, #MotorsportsJournal, #TheEDJE
