Indianapolis 500 Speedway co-founder. Arthur C. Newby was born on a small farm in rural Indiana and went to Indianapolis in 1881 seeking employment. He was hired as the office boy by the Nordyke and Marmon Company, where he worked his way into management. He was captured by the cycling craze in the late 19th century and helped found the Zig-Zag Cycling Club. In the 1890s, he and others started the Indianapolis Chain and Stamping Company, which became the Diamond Chain Company. Their mainstay product at the time was bicycle chains, supplying about 60 percent of the American market. He was also associated for several years with Hay and Wilts Manufacturing Company, makers of Outing bicycles. In 1898 he spearheaded construction of a quarter-mile wooden bicycle race track in Indianapolis, which was named the Newby Oval. Two of his partners on that racing track venture were James Allison and Carl Fisher, whom he later joined in founding the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. It was then he turned his focus to automobile racing and he partnered with others to form the National Motor Vehicle Company, which started out building electric, then gasoline-drive cars. Newby never married, and in his later years became a philanthropist, never seeking recognition. His favorite recipients for his support were hospitals and higher education.
Indianapolis 500 Speedway co-founder. Arthur C. Newby was born on a small farm in rural Indiana and went to Indianapolis in 1881 seeking employment. He was hired as the office boy by the Nordyke and Marmon Company, where he worked his way into management. He was captured by the cycling craze in the late 19th century and helped found the Zig-Zag Cycling Club. In the 1890s, he and others started the Indianapolis Chain and Stamping Company, which became the Diamond Chain Company. Their mainstay product at the time was bicycle chains, supplying about 60 percent of the American market. He was also associated for several years with Hay and Wilts Manufacturing Company, makers of Outing bicycles. In 1898 he spearheaded construction of a quarter-mile wooden bicycle race track in Indianapolis, which was named the Newby Oval. Two of his partners on that racing track venture were James Allison and Carl Fisher, whom he later joined in founding the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. It was then he turned his focus to automobile racing and he partnered with others to form the National Motor Vehicle Company, which started out building electric, then gasoline-drive cars. Newby never married, and in his later years became a philanthropist, never seeking recognition. His favorite recipients for his support were hospitals and higher education.
Bio by: Rick France
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