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of an 18-hole golf course on the site.
Louis Meyer became the first three-time winner of the 500 in 1936 and, in an interview many years later recalled the perils of racing on the circuit. The track was rough, and the bricks would buckle, on account of the heat.' There was also another unnecessary danger on the early version of the circuit. Meyer recalled,

We had a concrete wall at the top of the track which leaned the wrong way. It leaned outward instead of inward and when you hit it would just shoot you right over the top.'

Tarmac started to be laid in 1936 to replace the old bricks but it would be 1961 before it was finally completed.In recognition of the track's history and nickname a yard of bricks was left uncovered at the start/finish line. 1936 was also significant for other reason. It was the first year that the winner received the impressive Borg-Warner trophy. Standing over five feet tall it is engraved in bas-relief with the likeness of every winner since 1911. Louis Meyer also became the first driver to drink a pint of milk after winning the 500, a tradition which continues to this day.

After the end of the Second World War the circuit lay in disrepair. It was purchased by Anton Hulman Jr. in 1945 and quick work ensured it was ready to hold the first post-war 500 in 1946. The next few years came to be dominated by front-engined Indy Roadsters, large but elegant machines. While the average speeds rose steadily year after year, safety precautions did not advance at anywhere like the same rate. Following Pat O'Connor's death in 1958 roll bars and fireproof suits were made mandatory. Petrol was banned after two drivers burned to death in a first lap inferno in 1964. Less combustible methanol was used in its place.

In 1961 a strange little English car had turned up to race. It was a rear-engined Cooper driven by Formula 1 World Champion Jack Brabham. The Americans dubbed it, The Funny Car.' Very few realised that the rear-engined layout signalled the death of the roadsters. In the end it wasn't Cooper who dealt the fatal blow. In 1962 Dan Gurney invited Lotus boss Colin Chapman to Indy. What he saw shocked him;

I was horrified to see the way that the design of cars had stagnated over there in so far as they just hadn't had the spur of competition that we'd had in Europe to evolve newer and better cars.'

Gurney and Chapman persuaded Ford to supply an engine for a rear-engined car which Lotus would provide. Scotsman Jim Clark almost won his rookie race at Indy

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