Lifelong Hoosier has ties to the first Indy 500

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – In the early days of the Indianapolis 500, you wouldn’t see just one person in the car.

“The cars back then had two seats because the driver needed a riding mechanic to go along with him to tell him when cars were getting ready to pass, to tell him when the oil pressure was getting low, etc.,” said Jackie Harrell, a Hoosier with ties to the first Indy 500.

Riding mechanics were seen alongside drivers between 1911 and 1922 and again from 1930 to 1937. Harrell’s great uncle happened to be one of the very first ones.

“Joe Dawson (was) the driver and my great uncle, Bruce Keen, was the riding mechanic,” she said.

Dawson and Keen teamed up for many different races in the early 1900s even before the Indianapolis Motor Speedway existed.

“When my [great] uncle would see the gauge going down and the oil pressure was dropping he would make an ‘O’ with his finger and get Joe Dawson’s attention and say, ‘We are low on oil pressure’ and that’s how he would tell him,” Harrell said. 

Harrell’s great uncle would soon become a part of history when he rode alongside Dawson in the inaugural Indy 500 in 1911.

“It just gives me goosebumps,” she said.

Dawson placed fifth that year with Keen by his side, a truly historic moment. Dawson would then go on to become an Indy 500 champion in 1912.

Harrell believes Dawson even inspired her great uncle to get into racing, too. Keen was not only a riding mechanic but also a driver in a handful of other races for many years.

“Somewhere along the line he got the bug and decided he was going to start racing,” she said. “I guess it was maybe Joe Dawson that got him interested and wanted to drive like Joe did.”

Although riding mechanics are not seen alongside drivers today, the history they have at the track will continue to live on forever. Harrell said she’s thankful her great uncle gets to be part of that history.