Ray Harroun

Ray Harroun (January 12, 1879 – January 19, 1968) was an American racecar driver and pioneering constructor most famous for winning the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Biography He was born on January 12, 1879, in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania to Russell LaFayette Harroun and Lucy A. Halliday. His father was a carpenter. Ray was their youngest child. Harroun served on a U.S. Navy coaler during the Spanish American War. He participated in the original setting of the land speed record driving from Chicago to New York in 1903, and the re-taking of that record in 1904. He and four others drove in shifts non-stop to establish the record of 76 hours at the end of September, 1903. That time was bested by another team nearly a year later, and in October 1904, the Columbia team re-set the record at 58 hrs, 35 min. That record stood for nearly two years. Other drivers in both years included Bert Holcomb (who was in charge of the runs), Lawrence Duffie (Demonstrator of the Gasoline Dept of Electric Vehicle Company, which manufactured Columbia cars), and Harry Sandol. In 1903, the fifth driver was David R. Adams; in 1904 it was Eddie Bald.