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Crown Hill
June 2022
Crown Hill

The Crown Series

Even though the month of May and the Indianapolis 500 may be over, we continue to celebrate Crown Hill’s rich racing and automotive heritage in June with our Crown Series and our upcoming event, “Racing & Automotive Legends at Crown Hill.” This month in our Crown Series, we highlight two legends who are buried close to the top of Crown Hill, engineer Louis Schwitzer and Indy 500 Chief Steward Tom Binford.

Louis Schwitzer
(1880-1967)
Photo credit: Hemmings
Louis Schwitzer, an immigrant from Bielitz, Austria-Hungary, entered racing history on August 19, 1909. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was having its first auto race, a five-mile dash, twice around the oval. Schwitzer was one of just five drivers. He took the lead after the first mile and held on to win by 150 feet with an average speed of 57.43 mph and became the winner of the "Indianapolis 5." He also started a few other races in 1909 and 1910 and drove relief laps for driver Harry Cobe in the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911.
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Thomas “Tom” Binford
(1924-1999)
Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Tom Binford was introduced to the Indianapolis 500 in 1935 when he attended the race with his family. It left a definite impression; he noted in his biography that a person behind him kept dropping fried chicken down his back. By 1955, his company, D-A Lubricant, was sponsoring racecars and he was serving on the newly formed USAC Board of Directors, becoming its president in 1957, a post he held for 13 years. He followed that by serving for 23-years, from 1973 to 1995, as Indy 500 Chief Steward, a post he left after the conclusion of the 1995 race to become the first commissioner of the Indy Racing League.
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Celebrating Racing and Automotive Legends
Sunday, June 26 at 2 p.m. at the Final Finish Line
JOIN US once again as the Crown Hill Heritage Foundation celebrates the Racing & Automotive Legends at Crown Hill with the Indiana Racing Memorial Association (IRMA)! Keynote speaker Jake Query, “The Fan” sports radio broadcaster, will lead our event that highlights the installation of the individual metal TOUR MEDALLIONS and introduces our mobile-friendly RACING LEGENDS TOUR APP, which includes 20 audio recordings made by IMS Historian Donald Davidson and former IMS Announcer Bob Jenkins.

This fascinating self-guided RACING LEGENDS TOUR APP takes visitors to the resting places of racing legends from the Racing Capital of the World by using GPS coordinates on their cell phone. From there, one can read the bio of the person buried there and listen to the audio recordings! Custom-made metal TOUR MEDALLIONS will have been installed at the graves of the four Speedway founders, Carl G. Fisher, James A. Allison, Frank W. Wheeler, Arthur Newby and dozens of others on the tour!
This event will be held at the Final Finish Line, located on the east side of Sec. 13 (follow the white line from either gate). No registration is necessary, and parking is plentiful. More information at the link below.
Learn more
Join Us on a Guided Public Tour!
TONIGHT, June 4, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Just as the weather is warming up and the cemetery is a beautiful, lush green, our popular guided Public Tours are in full swing for the summer and fall! In fact, the first June tour will be held tonight, June 4, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. and features some of the stops on our self-guided Racing Legends Tour! This will be a combination walking/driving tour. Tickets are still available!
Our tour season will include a wide variety of tour themes, including our very popular Heritage tour, Angels of Crown Hill, Stories in Stone (cemetery symbolism), Skeletons in the Closet (scandals!), Trees, Civil War Personalities, Dillinger & Eastside Notables, and many others! Most tours will be held on Saturday evenings and will end around sunset, and some will be held on Saturday mornings. All tours will last approximately two hours, and most will be walking tours that will cover about a mile. Tickets are $10 each (ages 5 and up) and must be purchased in advance. There will be no gate sales. You can find more information and purchase tickets below.
Learn more or purchase tickets
Thanks to our corporate partners!
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