Hairpin Turns and Va-Rooms Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ray Harroun

The first Indianapolis 500 race was run on Memorial Day in 1911. It took six hours, 42 minutes and 8 seconds. Ray Herroun's average speed was 74.59 miles per hour. His nickname was "The Little Professor" because of his skill at designing and creating single seat race cars.

Answer: Utah

The Bonneville Salt Flats are located in Tooele County, Utah. The track, sometimes called the "Bonneville Speedway", is a quarter mile straight track. It has been the site of several annual racing events where the drivers race against the clock and not each other.

Answer: John Cobb

John R. Cobb was born in 1899 Surrey County England. Although he competed in several track races he is best known for setting and breaking speed records, both land and water. His land speed records were set at the Bonneville Salt Flats. On September 16, 1947 he broke his own record, which had stood for eight years, by going 394.19 miles per hour.

He made two runs that day and on the second one he was clocked at 403 miles per hour, making him the first driver to exceed 400 miles per hour. Craig Breedlove would later exceed 500 and 600 miles per hour.

Answer: National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing

William France, Sr., a driver and mechanic, saw the need for some structure in the increasingly popular sport of stock car racing. Beginning in December 1947, he reached out to other drivers and began a series of meetings which culminated in the formation of NASCAR at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach Florida. NASCAR sanctions over 1500 racing events annually worldwide.

Answer: 999

Barney Oldfield was a pioneer of motor sports. His birth name was Berna Eli Oldfield. He transitioned from being a successful bicycle racer to auto racing in 1902. The Ford 999 was one of two race cars built by Henry Ford. He sold the car to Barney Oldfield who had no experience driving a car but he learned and raced it in October of 1902.

Answer: 1965

His first win was the 1965 Italian Grand Prix (and his last was the 1973 German Grand Prix). Jackie Stewart was dyslexic, a condition that wasn't diagnosed in his childhood. Because of that he dropped out of school at age 16 to work as an apprentice mechanic for his father.

His oldest son was diagnosed with the same condition in 1980 and that was when Jackie learned of his own condition as the gene was passed on genetically. Jackie's first Formula One car was a Lotus.

Answer: False

Mario Andretti was born in Italy in 1949. He and his twin brother Aldo moved with their parents to the United States in 1955. The family settled in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. After he graduated high school in 1959 he planned to become a welder but his passion for racing to falsify his age so he could enter his first amateur race.

Answer: 200

The track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was originally gravel and tar. It was paved in 1910, a year prior to the first Indianapolis 500.

Answer: Cannon Ball

After breaking and setting several motorcycle and automobile records Erwin Baker was given the nickname "Cannonball" by a reporter for a New York newspaper, comparing him to the "Cannonball Express" train of the Illinois Central railroad. He was hired by several motorcycle and car manufacturers to promote their products through record setting cross-country runs.

He died in 1960 at age 78.

Answer: Craig Breedlove

Craig Breedlove held the world land speed record five times, driving cars he built himself. He was the first driver to go in excess of 500 miles per hour and then 600 miles per hour. Those cars were named "Spirit of America" and he built more cars incorporating the "Spirit" name.

In interviews Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, co-writrers of the song, confirmed that it was a tribute to Breedlove.