Mystery Foto #36 Solved: Four Speed Merchants- Robertson, Christie, Strang and Oldfield at Atlanta Speedway in 1909
The Helck Family Collection challenged you to identify this weekend's Mystery Foto.
The photo was discovered in the Helck Archives by Greg O.
Mystery Foto questions:
- Identify the four drivers from left to right
George Robertson, J. Walter Christie, Lewis Strang, and Barney Oldfield
- Link the drivers to the Vanderbilt Cup Races
Robertson, Strang and Christie raced in the Long Island Vanderbilt Cup Race and Oldfield raced in the West Coast 1914 and 1915 Vanderbilt Cup Races.
Kudos questions:
- Where and when was the photo taken?
Atlanta Speedway races held from November 9-12, 1909.
- Identify the race car
Strang's FIAT
- Identify the logo worn by the driver on the right.
The 1909 insignia of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The sweater with the logo was given to participants in its opening races.
Comments (5)
Congrats and Kudos to Art Kleiner and Ariejan Bos who totally solved the Mystery Foto.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Close-Ups
Comments
George Robertson, Walter Christie, Louis Strang, Barney Oldfied
Robertson: 1905 Elimination Race, 1908 VCR (winner), 1910 VCR
Christie: 1905 VCR, 1906 Eliimination Race, 1906 VCR
Strang: 1908 Motor Parkway Sweepstakes, 1908 VCR, 1909 VCR
Oldfield: no LI VCRs, but did race in the 1914 and 1915 VCRs held elsewhere. Also entered the 1916 VCR but did not race
Altanta Speedway, Nov. 9-13, 1909
Strang in a FIAT
Oldfield’s logo is from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). The sweater with the logo was given to all participants of the first IMS race in 1909 to promote the speedway.
Photo with the drivers is from asabriarcliff.com, other photos from firstsuperspeedway.com; article is from The New York Times of November 11, 1909.
Sweaters with the IMS logo in these pictures belong to Charles Stutz and Guy Vaughn, other participants at the 1909 IMS.
Lots of guesses today, some educated some not so much. Left to right could be George Robertson, J. Walter Christie, Bob Burman, and Barney Oldfield. They all participated in at least one Vanderbilt Cup Race. Photo may have been taken at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 19, 1909 when Burman won the 250 mile Prest-O-Lite trophy driving the Buick he might be sitting in. The logo on Oldfield’s sweater is an early one for Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
On the photo we see from left to right George Robertson, John W. Christie, Louis Strang and Barney Oldfield, with Strang sitting in his Fiat racer. The photo was taken during the Atlanta Speedway races, held from 9 to 12 November 1909, and was published in The Automobile issue of 18 November 1909 p.862. In the caption they were called ‘Speed Merchants’, understandable as they all belonged to the fastest racing drivers of the day. They all have raced in one or more editions of the Vanderbilt Cup, although until 1909 Oldfield only had participated in the American Elimination trials of 1905. Other photos on that page show more nicknames, e.g. the Chalmerites Lorimer, Knipper, Dingley and Matson, daredevil Chevrolet and Marmonite Stillman. Interesting is the photo of Robertson indulging in Coca-Cola …
The logo on Oldfield’s sweater probably stands for Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he won the 25 Miles free for all on a Benz earlier that year (on the 21st of August).
Art, I guess Mark Dill might have missed this mystery photo!
Amazing details on the mystery photo by auto historians worldwide. Thank you for clarifying the events of the day.