Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 May 1941 — Page 19

THURSDAY, MAY %, "40's Throng Saw Battle Of Oil Leaks

And it Kept Drivers In a State of Jitters

If tomorrow’s 500-miler is a rep-|

etition of last year’s performance it will be a story of time-eating pit stops, heart-breaking ' mechanical failures and with the one-two-three boys getting all the breaks to cross the finish line in. the big money. - Let's turn the calendar back 366 days and look once more at the 28th Tunning of the Gasoline Derby. | The starting gun went off and the, cars paced out along the track. Excitement was not long in coming.

‘The race was only 41 minutes old] .

. When the Marks Special smacked into the pit wall and Tommy Hinnershitz was out of commission with & broken arm. Then the 51st lap rolled around end Doc Williams was forced out when his job began losing too much oil. Paul Russo, in the preceding, lap, was forced: out with the same trouble. ;

How They Dropped Out ~

- It was in the 51st lap, too, that George Connors kissed his chances goodby when ‘a fuel line burst. George Robson bowed out in his 67th lap when both rear shock absorber arms broke. Russ Snowberger, the veteran, went out after an hour's running when his water pump failed. Colorful Kelly Petillo, the crowd’s beloved clown, burned out a rear main bearing while on the 129th lap (332%2 miles). Duke Nalon, in the twin of Hinnershitz’s mount, bid goodby to the boys when his crank went haywire on his 116th lap. This mishap brought the stands to- its feet because the car was throwing off billows of smoke. Duke thought his car was on fire and displayed his courage by staying with the machine, standing up in the seat and steering it out of the way of the other drivers before jumping to safety. ’ And so the race went on with the field growing smaller and smaller as parts failed and oil splattered over the track.

Even Hep Went Spinning

The ways the cars were throwing oil, it wasn’t any wonder that such veterans as Ralph Hepburn were spinning on the straightaway. As usual, the cars that placed in the money were making few stops. Wilbur Shaw, the No. 1 winner, stopped twice, once on his 73d lap when he came in to take on a right rear tire. On his 143d he pulled in again and took on more gas. Tall and rangy Rex Mays, second to get the checkered flag, stopped only once, (after two hours driving) and took on all four tires and another load of gas. His pit stop time was only minute and 10 seconds. Little Mauri Rose, third in the %40 race, made but one stop, too and this on his 104th lap for a right rear tire and gas. Fourth-place winner Ted Horn came in twice, once on the 61st for

That smooth-running power plant in Wilbur Shaw’s Maserati has been the neglected baby of the Boyle team for“the last three years. This motor to which Wilbur, Cotton Henning and the rest of the Boyle team are now listening with respect has been sitting around in dark corners covered with dust ever since Cotton brought it to the United States in ’38. In fact, Cotton almost didn't buy this particular power plant.

It all happened when Cotton was|Dpa

in Italy buying the motor with which Wilbur won last year. Signor Maserati asked Cotton when he purchased motor No. 1 what he thought he needed in the way of spare parts. “Oh,” replied Cotton in the best American manner, “just throw in

Unable to Tame 12-Cylinder Job

Four evenings ago as night began

a couple of pistons, some valves and a few odds and ends. That'll be plenty.” Signor Maserati recoiled in horror. What manner of men were these crazy Americans? A few odds and ends? Pure and simple insanity! Imagine buying a motor and taking it all the way to America with “a few odds and ends” as replacements! Signor Maserati worked himself up into such a pitch that he offered to build Cotton another motor for $3500 which could be used for spare rts. Cotton finally cabled to boss Mike Boyle who said to go ahead and so the deal was finally closed. A month later Cotton returned to the United States with two motors instead of one. From that time until just recently the extra motor sat idle. Several

A Real Threat

to blanket the Speedway, Ira Hall of |

Terre Haute looked up sadly and

announced his withdrawal from the}

29th race. Twice in the hour before he had opened up the 12-cylinder Kimmel Special and twice the car had fought out of his control and spun on the southeast turn. “I can’t go on driving that way,” said Ira. Skid marks showed that the car turned completely around, came within two feet of the outer wall and then spun back to the dirt apron. :

A Thermometer Can

Be Bad Business. If you care about the upholstery

a right front tire and gas, then on|in your automobile here's a tip for his 162d for another right front tire|race day—don't park it in the sun and ‘more fuel. Joe Thorne, the|during the race and leave a therfifth finisher, made only one stop |mometer pinned somewhere in the o . . that at the halfway mark. interior. : Bob Swanson, who crossed the| Several years ago one company line in sixth position, made one|distributed hundreds of tiny cards pause for tires and fuel, as did|{with thermometers on them-<to its

Frank Wearne, wpe came in seventh. Mel Hansen, the Los Angeles flash, also was lucky with his pit stops ana Frank Brisko drove an almost continuous race to place ninth. Tenth spot went to Rene LeBegue, the dapper Frenchman who halted only once, too. The doubtful honor of losing the most time by pit stops went to Floyd Davis who came in five times and lost 11 minutes. It was a race which paved the oval with oil. Cars overloaded in the beginning and threw the slippery lubricant all over the track. Later, more than a dozen oil leaks kept the track in a slippery condition and the drivers in the jitters. So it goes. Weeks are spent on each mechanical horse and on the day of days an oil leak develops, a fuel line bursts, or something else goes wrong and it’s another year of preparation and hoping. Tomorrow's the day again and the battle of machinery plays a return engagement.

customers. The temperature cards were pinned in many automobiles parked at the race that year. "The temperature soared above the 100 mark, shattered the glass tubes and sent red rivulets down upholstery.

‘Lucky Riganti!’ Quoth Riganti

Add famous almost-last-words: “Oh, lucky Riganti? Very, very lucky Riganti!” Those were the first words of the popular Argentine driver, Raul .Riganti, as he came to at Methodist Hospital, half an hour after he had crashed into -the wall on the southeast turn early in last year’s race.

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The Motor That Cotton Almost Didn't Buy

.| lector and has firemen’s and po-

times there were offers to purchase the power plant but Cotton just shrugged his shoulders and let the motor sit in its mantle of neglect. THen one day while nothing much was going on, Cotton’s eye fell on Maserati motor No. 2. He began dusting it off. And although the first motor was still in A-1 shape, he decided it might be interesting to see how motor No. 2 behaved. And what did he discover that while both motors were built to the same specifications this new motor

‘was just a shade faster.

But typical of Cotton, he just laughs when he thinks about it and still believes that his original order for a “few odds and ends” would have been quite sufficient. Signor Maserati’s opinion of Harry Henning and all other Americans is probably just the same, too.

Rigling Is Man Who Makes ’Em Sleek

Unobtrusive Herman Rigling is the shy little man who has spent the last 20 years wrapping bodies around motors for Speedway daredevils.

During the racing season here he can generally be found in “Gasoline Alley.” Just follow the hammering and banging until you find the source of the noise—the source will be Herman, mallet in his hand. Herman came here from Germany 31 years ago and his first job in New York - making airplane and auto parts began his career as a body man for racers. . Give him a sheet of metal and in half a day he’ll have a streamlined body ready for the race track.

Only Standard Part

Ted ‘Horn became a serious threat in the 29th running when he proved his mount late in qualifications in a blaze of speed, turnoe his best lap at 125.104 miles an our.

The only standard part in worldwide use in the automotive industry is the replaceable valve core and cap on tires and tubes. The replaceable valve inside the housing, with its cap and accessories, will fit the housingsof 1898, as well as the modern parts. :

Me : . > Hew « 3 * v wi) . y. P. Collector |369 Miles an Hour! Watch Rebuilt Plugs The Track Widths The fastest speed officially re-| Allegedly “rebuilt .spark plugs”| The Speedway track is 50 feet corded for an automobile is 369.7 are reported to be still flooding the |wide on the straightaways, broaden-

licemen’s badges from & number of | miles an hour. This official A, A. A. market at 15 to 20 cents apiece and |ing to 60 feet on the turns, exclusive

towns. Most of them are honorary, | record was made by John R. Cobb |many drivers are believed buying of the wide safety zone which is 50 but he points with pride to bona|driving a Railton Red Lion on|them for new plugs. The plugs won't feet. Drivers are not allowed to fide credentials as a police lieu-|the Bonneville salt flats, Aug. 23,|test if properly spaced and they enter the safety zones except in case tenant of Culver City, Cal. 1939. won't run long without fouling. of emergency. '

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