The Marmon Wasp

The 1910 Marmon Wasp, the car that won the very first International 500-mile Sweepstakes is typically displayed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Hall of Fame and Museum on a raised platform.  However, during the author's May 2019 visit to the Museum, visitors had a treat as they were allowed up close access to the historic machine.

For the 1911 ‘500,’ there were no time trial runs to set the order of the starting field, rather the starting order and the car numbers were set in the order in which the entries were received.  For example, the pole-position starter, Lewis Strang, drove in the #1 Case, while the Wasp the 32^nd entry received race number 32.   

To qualify for the 40-car field, a car had to run a minimum required speed of 75 miles per hour (MPH) from a rolling start on a 1/4-mile section of the main straightaway. Those qualifying runs were conducted on May 27 and 28, and three cars entered before the Marmon, which included a pair of F-A-L-cars (Fauntleroy, Averill and Lowe from Chicago) and a McFarlan (from Connersville) driven by Fred “Skinny” Clemons were too slow, and the 29^th entry, a Lozier was destroyed in a practice crash, so the Wasp, the 32^nd entry started the race in 28^th position.   

The Wasp was entered by the Indianapolis-based Marmon Motor Car Company factory (a division of Nordyke & Marmon), with Ray Harroun, a Marmon engineer at the wheel. Harroun, "the King of the Speedways," the defending AAA (American Automobile Association) national champion behind the wheel of the Wasp, who had won seven previous races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, had retired from race driving after the 1910 season, but came out of retirement to drive the Wasp in the first 500-mile race.

Compared to its contemporaries, the Marmon Wasp was lightweight, estimated to weigh 2,800 pounds, compared to the minimum weight of 2,200 pounds, and was narrow and streamlined compared to other entries, as it carried only the driver, the only car in the race to not utilize a riding mechanic.

1911 '500' starting field was arrayed in rows of five, with the Stoddard-Dayton Pace Car on the inside of the first row, which left the last starter, the Benz (with the smallest engine in the field at 444 cubic inches) driven by "Billy" Knipper alone in the ninth and final row.

Harroun received relief driving help from lap 71 to lap 102, and his relief driver Cyrus Patschke drove the Wasp up through the field, as Harroun took the race lead for the first time on lap 103 one lap after he resumed the driving duties.

From that point forward, the race lead traded back and forth between Harroun and Ralph Mulford in the Lozier who had started 33rd. Harroun took the lead for good on lap 182 and won by one minute and 43 seconds over Mulford. 

Harroun led three times for a total of 88 laps in a race that took over 6-1/2 hours to complete. By comparison, 2019 '500' winner Simon Pagenaud completed the same distance in less than three hours.  Harroun who promptly retired again in victory lane, won $10,000 from IMS and earned an additional $4,250 in accessory prizes in addition to the race purse.

The Wasp rode on Firestone tires on Dorain de-mountable rims, while the spark for the inline engine was provided by a Remy magneto from Anderson Indiana that fired Bosch spark plugs that ignited the fuel/air mixture fed through a single Schebler carburetor, with lubrication by Monogram oil produced by the New York Lubricating Oil Company. 

Contemporary legend, primarily fueled by Charles Leerhsen's book Blood and Smoke, is that the finish of the first '500' was mired in controversy, but IMS historian Donald Davidson states unequivocally that IMS records indicate that there were no protests filed.

Second place finisher Mulford stated in a June 4 wire story datelined Detroit that he was "more than satisfied with the outcome of the race and gives full credit to Ray Harroun and Cyrus Patschke for their great victory."

Mulford, who drove the race without relief, stated that his actual running time for the 500 miles in the Lozier was fourteen minutes less than the Marmon's, but that due to the weight of his Lozier (reported as 3,240 pounds) he suffered repeated tire failures and stopped eleven times to Harroun's four stops.

Mulford went on the state that he did not believe that any one of the 40 cars entered could have beaten this combination, as the Marmon "was built for this kind of work." Mulford admitted that if a similar race were run again, the result would be the same.

Ray Harroun spent the rest of his life working in the automotive industry. He later started his own eponymous albeit short-lived car company, patented many inventions and even attempted to develop a midget auto racing engine. He died at age 89 on his farm near Anderson Indiana in 1968. 

Cyrus Patschke is sadly a forgotten man, seldom mentioned as the co-winner of the first Indianapolis 500-mile. He also drove relief in the 1911 '500' for the second Marmon entry driven by Joe Dawson.

Cyrus drove in three more races for Marmon in 1911, retired from racing, and briefly returned for a single race in Sioux City Iowa in 1914, after which his wife prevailed upon him to retire from racing permanently. Patschke returned to his hometown of Lebanon Pennsylvania and ran a service station until he died in his hometown in 1951 of heart attack at age 63.

As for the Marmon Wasp, it remained in the hands of the Marmon family and made occasional public appearances until it was sold to Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Anton “Tony” Hulman during the nineteen fifties and has been a centerpiece in the IMS Museum since the original museum opened in 1956.

1963 Indianapolis '500' winner Parnelli Jones had the honor of driving the Wasp in parade laps prior to the 100th anniversary running of the '500' in 2011. A connecting rod broke and severely damaged the six-cylinder 447-cubic inch engine block which was later repaired.