Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 May 1940 — Page 20

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SS 7

i i i wd a &

Shaw Is Top | Money Winner |

4 ‘.

gy :: Milton Third

‘

I “500.”

. third in 183 and 1924.

- racing milli naire, is one driver who

/ finished in the money last year and

Of All Time

Louis Meyer Second,

' With his victory last year, Wilbur Shaw unseated Loa Meyer as the all-time king of money winners in .the 500-Mile Race. ; Shaw has cashed in a total of $71,300 in Speedway prizes alone, $2300 ahead of Meyer's gross of ' $69,000. | Tommy Milton stands in the third spot, with winnings of $49,000. Harry Hartz is fourth with $37,000 and the late Jimmy Murphy

of Los Angeles, ranks fifth with |};

$33,500. The next five in order of Speedway earnings are: Fred Frame, $33,000; Ralph DePalma, $31,400: the late. Bill Cummings, $30,200; Rene Thomas, $30,000, “and Jules Goux, $28,500. 3 ¢

Began Collecting in 21

- Shaw began his prize money hunting in 1927; ‘when he finished fourth. Since then he has taken three “seconds,” in 1933, 1935, and 1938,. a seventh in 1936* and his double victory of 1937 and 1239. Meyer's’ money winning began in 1928, his second race, which he won, and he duplicated this feat in 1933 and 1936 to become the Speedway’s only three-time winner. He was second place vinner in 1929 and kK fourth in 1930 and 1937. Milton retired in 1927, at that fime the only double-winner of the He finished in the money five times; third in 1920, first in 1921, a repeat victory in 1823, fifth in 1925 and eighth: in 1927, his last year of bigtime racing.

Hartz. in Money Five Times

Hartz joine(l the “Big. Five” without ever wirning an ‘Indianapolis race, but hes finished in the money five times in a row—second in| 1922, 1923 ard 1926, and -fourth in 1924 and 19!5. He retired as an active competitor in 1927. : Murphy won the checkered flag in 1922, too: fourth in 1820, and He was killed in September of-1924 on the boards at {iyracuse.

Takes 7'ime to Make a Winner, Says Joel J Joel Thorne, the Encino, Cal,

doesn’t exp:ct to win the 500—this year. He says lie was surprised that he

in 1938. Ee feels that, with some

Souders. watching him drive against Tommy

Je€p trying ’til you do win it.

Here Are All the Main |

outes to

the Speedway '. {

NOTE—Since this map was drawn, the Indiana Ave. bridge over White River has been closed. Avoid

this route to the Speedway.

Keep on. Till You Win,’ Said DeVore

| | Billy DeVore is back to prove that

“dad was right.” | Billy's famous race driver father—

|Earl DeVore—had one ambition: That Billy should win the “500.”

“Dad drove his last race here in 1927, finishing second to George , I was down. in his pit

Milton, Eddie Hearne, Frank Lockhart, Pete DePaolo and Leon Duray. (“After the race, Dad said: ‘Billy,

I. wanted to win today more. than anything’ else in the world.

If I never have this chance again—and it's the best I've ever had in the ‘900—I want you to drive here and I know you can.” - Drove ‘Outlaw’ Until 1931

- Earl DeVore was lost when the

S. S. Vestris sank in 1928. Bill was

exceptions, it takes more than |sev-

eral years > high speed driving to

_~Georgia, Maryland, Montana, West

outfox the old hands at the 500 stretch. . f He main ains, however, that after some mor: experience he'll match for Petillo, Mays and He expect; to top his last average of 110.416 when he finished seventh.

Sport of Governor

Ten stale governors attended” the 1931 race is the guests of Governor arry Leslie. They were the chief executives of New Jersey,

Missouri, ' Massachusetts, Kansas,

Virginia and Utah. * |

hio, I'y

at home with his mother in St. John,’ Kas., when a 'cable arrived. He was 16. The hext year he ran

away -from home to become a race driver.

He drove on “outlaw” or unsanc-

tioned dirt tracks until 1931 when

‘| he first came here.

|| Deacon Litz, who knew his father, saw him. “Hello, kid,” he said. u doing back here?” The Breaks of Racing

| “I'm going to drive,” said young 1

“What pre

1ly. : |The Deacon told him that all the t cars had already been snapped by old-timers but said he'd let m ride as his mechanic. He rode in the mechanic's seat

u h

again in 1932, with Fred Winnai, and in 1933 was the mate of Wilbur Shaw. t on} Then in 15 Babe Stapp signed him to drive. Billy. worked on the car day and Lf it in practice and felt all set to go. But he'd signed a px ‘to drive at Atlanta, Ga., 20 days before the “500.” Billy took a turn too wide on the Atlanta dirt track, skidded, hit the outside fence #nd broke his back.

At the Last Minute

He, had his dad's fighting spirit, though. He went back to Atlanta on July 4 with his back in a brace and “sat on the pole” with-the fastest qualifying time. In 1937 he drove his fist 500mile race and finished seventh. In 1938 he captured eighth position and last year came in 10th. “I- just got| under the wire in 1939,” Billy os ing a car entered by Leon Duray which had been wrecked in practice. Duray rebuilt it’ just in time to get it out on the line on the last qualifying day.

‘I Kept on Going’

“I took it out once but the motor wouldn't wind| up fast enough so I came in. Tiijre Were only a few minutes left |befcre the deadline. Thirty-three cars| already . were in the field. I |started off the line again, but one of the mechanics had shut off the gas and when I got down to the end of the pits the car rolled to a dead stop.

“Duray sald; ‘Oh, the heck with |. ts

it, let’s park " ¢‘There’s still a] rhinute,” I said. “Get me started.”

+) IAIN 31 2

THE PEPSI-COLA COPS

| MAKE SURE YoU GET 6 BIG

|- BOTTLES IN THE {| HOME CARTON

AREAL BARGAIN

iH |

i I

SAVE MONEY

BUY THE CARTON

plained. “I was driv-|

nd Son Billy Is Doing Just That

“The motor turned over and I whizzed her around. I was in the third lap when the yellow light indicating the trials were. finished was flashed on by the officials. But I kept going, and ’'my qualifying time was allowed. “The speed was 116.527 miles an hour, and I had pushed out Mel Hansen with 116.305.”

So Billy is back again to fulfill his father’s ambition.

~ *THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

{ §

Race Was Born

On Tablecloth,

Oldsters Say

Track First Was Paved |

“With Gravel

Speedway historians believe the

500-mile speedway was born on a

tablecloth. «. According to the story, Carl Pisher drawing an'oval on the cloth with a pencil in 1907, tld his companions that “this is the shape of a race course I am going to build one of these days, and then the world will hear of real automobile racing.” Mr. Fisher with James A. Allison, F. H. Wheeler and ‘A. C. Newby, who ran a bicycle track in Indianapolis, established the foundation for the 2% -mile elipse. :

Ground was purchased, contracts|

were let and after months of activity the course was completed. At first the track was paved with gravel. Numerous accidents, added to organized opposition to the track, helped to keep the corporation in the red. : Finally, as a last hope, a brick track was laid. The following year the race drew national attention. The rest is history.

R. P.M. Not Key

To Horsepower

MANY RACE FANS believe that the higher the revolutions per minute the greater all en‘gine’s horsepower. That might be true were it not for “thermal efficiency.” Mechanics turn a motor at 5000 revolutions a minute getting 250 horse power. Then the engine is reved up to 7000 and the horse power jumps to 300. Gunning it up to 8000 revolutions they find that the h. p. has backed down to 240. They then know that 7000 is the place of ultimate power. After the motor has passed a certain total of revolutions, it begins to lose efficiency because of the time it takes for air and fuel to move into a cylinder for this mixture to explode. [ ; That is called “thermal efficiency.”

Lou’s Missus Can Drive Fast, Too

A @¢ > | Mrs. Louis Meyer, wife of the only three-time winner of the 500mile race, once drove her husband’s racing car at 125 miles an hour. It was last spring when Meye

‘was testing the machine for the first time at the Utah salt beds. She hit a top speed of 135 miles. The best Lou could do was 168 miles an hour. + X i She does all the passenger car driving for the family, and her hay

WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 1040 | Wind No. 1 Enemy

Most fast laps in practice are’ made just before sundown. "The reason is that drivers prefer the track then when there usually is less wind. Winds not enly slow cars but make driving at speeds over 130 miles an hour dangerous.

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