Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 May 1941 — Page 22

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1928-1933 1936

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1937 -1939-1940

Wilbur Is Top Money-Winner

Of All Time °

Has Netted $102,500; + Lou Meyer Second

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Special Gas ° Mixture Used In Race Cars Si \

Costs a Lot and Burns Fast

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With a few exceptions, none of the race cars whirling around the Speedway tomorrow will be using, the same fuel that the every-daye motorist buys by the 5s and 10%. .. . The majority of the drivers and mechanics are partial to a fuel mixe ture“called a “20-20” combination.” ~ This fuel has a base of high-tess-aviation gasoline. Twenty per cent of the solution is benzol, and 4 Clu= bic centimeters of lead are added for each gallon. pee Some of the drivers prefer to make their own “secret” concoctions but most of them are satisfied with the tried and true *20-20.” er There has been an increase in the use of alcohol as a fuel base since the German drivers had so much success with it at the Roosevelt Raceway. Alcohol doesn’t heat the motors as much as gasoline, but itgives less mileage. - For lubrication, most of the race drivers use a mineral-base oil. Cas--tor oil used to be the fad, but it produced too much carbon, not to mention the smell. Some, however, still are tinkering with castor. - The average mileage of the mode ern racer is three to four miles a gallon. That would break most of us in a day. ’

Wilbur Shaw has won. more than fame in his years of touring the 21%mile Speedway oval—to be explicit, $102,500 in cash. Even without his 1940 victory * which netted him $31,200 he has . pnes more than Lou Meyer, once

/1938 ——

What Signal Flags Mean

THE MORE YOU know about the race the better you can understand and enjoy it. When a flag is used down by the starting line you ought to know what it means. Here are the - signal flags to be used tomorrow: Green flag or light—Starting signal; also means the course is clear. Black flag—Stop for consultation. (This is used in conjunction with car’s number. Red flag—Stop, race is being called to halt, Yellow flag or light—Drive. with caution and maintain position. Vivid blue with diagonal yellow stripe—Car attempting to pass you, White—You are starting your last lap. Checkered flag—You are fin-

1934 193%

1930

—1927 ———1929 : =

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LI 8s, 2 8

Down Through the Years

Driver Motor & Cy. Speed Ray Harroun .......Marmon-6 .......... .74.590 Joe Dawson .........National4 .......... 78.700 Jules Goux ..........Peugeot-4 .......... 76.920 Rene Thomas ........Delage-4 82.470 Ralph DePalma ......Mercedes-4 ......... 89.840 Dario Resta . .Peugeot-4 .......... 83.260 Howard Wilcox .Peugeot-4 ........... 88.060 Gaston Chevrolet ....Monroe-4 ........... 88.500 Thomas Milton ......Frontenac-8 ........ 89.620 James A. Murphy ....Miller-8 ............ 94.480 Thomas Milton H. C. S.-8 .. 90.650 L. L. Corum-Joe Boyer Deusenberg-8 ....... 98.230 Peter DePaolo Deusenberg-8 ....... 101.130 Frank Lockhart .Miller-8 cesses 95.880 George Souders ......Duesenberg-8 ....... 97.540 Louis Meyer Miller-8 ............ 99.480 Ray Keech .... .Miller-8 97.580

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e all-time king of money winners n the 500-Mile Race and the only other three-time winner. Meyer’s gross totals $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 ranks fifth with $33,000. : 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. Wilbur began his prize money collecting in 1927, when he finished fourth. Since then. he has taken three “seconds,” ‘in 1933, 1935, and 1938, a seventh in 1936 and his triple wins in 1937, 1939, and 1940.

100-Mile-An-Hour Club Has 21 Members

From the Speedway has sprung the world’s most exclusive group— the 100-Mile-an-Hour Club. Its emblem is a tiny white and

Year 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

an exercise boy for the cars in the Miller stable. When Peter Kreis was sent to the hospital threatened with pneumonia, Lockhart took his car. Rain stopped the race at 400 miles and the unknown daredevil from the West was two laps in front. April 1928 found Lockhart at Daytona Beach shooting at a speed of better than 207 miles an hour—the record set by Ray Keech for the measured mile. : . On his third attempt at the record and while Mrs. Lockhart watched, one of the huge tires exploded on his super-powered Stutz Blackhawk, hurling him- to the beach. He was dead when spectators reached him.

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® * ® ® » ® Still Active in Big-Time Auto Racing set a. straightaway speed record. There have been 28 500-mile races |1929 and was killed two weeks later and another twice. 1934 winner, died in 1939 when his sport that brought them fame. Only | Side Indianapolis. : ners, Wilbur Shaw, and Kelly Pe- ace. It happened during the 1939 "12, '13, 14, and '15 races are still| SY flames and smoke shot skyward Dario Resta, winner in 1916, was racing to a hospital with Roberts.

® = =» : " = = 8 x =» Past Wi Living, Two of Th 15 of 24 Past Winners Living, Two of Them i : i in "26, died on the sands of Daytona Nine Dead, Each Killed 35. 2% died, 57 the oa attempting to At Wheel of Car . Ray Keech, a former truck driver, won the Memorial Day classic in since 1911. Twenty-four men have|at Altoona. won—two of them three times each |: Popular Wild Bill Cummings, the Nine of the 24 winners are dead— | Private car struck a culvert and eight of them the victims of the|Somersaulted into a creek just out- : ; : _| Floyd Roberts, winner in 1938, was IWo NII be at the starting Tine 10- |, crs winner io Gle in a 500-mio tillo race. Everything was progressing The five men who won the 1911, smoothly when in the wink of an : ive | Irom the back stretch and in a few alive with several of them active : in the automobile industry. minutes more an ambulance was X : : Floyd had shot to the outside of the first winner to die. He was killed : on Sept. 2, 1924, on the Brooklands track and plowed through the

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Yes, Trees Do Grow

guard fence to avoid striking Bob When the 500-mile races first

gold button and is worn.on only 21 lapels (six other members have been killed). > To wear the gold and white, a driver must average 100 miles an hour without relief over the full 500 miles of the Memorial Day race. Present members are Billy Arnold,

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935

Billy Arnold .. Louis Schneider Aah

Fred Frame:

Louis Meyer William Cummings ..

.Miller-8 .Miller-8 ............ Miller-8 .Miller-8

veessennssss 100.440 96.620 ceecessesss.. 104.140 viessesssess 104.160 ceeese. 104.863 .Offenhauser-4 ....... 106.240

track in England while testing a racer. Howdy Wilcox who won in 1919 was killed on Sept. 4, 1923, in a race at Altoona, Pa., when his car threw a rear wheel. Gaston Chevrolet, the winner in 1920, died six months after his victory in a crash on a Beverly Hills

Swanson’s spinning machine. Chet Miller's ‘car was also involved in the three car pile-up but only Roberts died. ; Lockhart, the surprise winner in 26, was one of the most colorful drivers ever to wheel around the local oval. He had come to Indianapolis as

were held the officials in the pagoda could look over those trees in the north end of the infield and see cars ‘coming around the north turn. In the 31 yeang that have elapsed, the trees have grown up to the point where the officials have to look under them.

ished.

Mark Stood 7 Years

The 101.13 miles an hour record established by Peter DePaolo in 1925 remained unbroken until 1932 when Fred Frame averaged 104,144 miles an hour.

"Twas Schwitzer in 09

Louis Schwitzer won the first race ever held on the Speedway here—a 10-mile handicap—driving a Stoddard-Dayton. That was in 1909. The first 500-mile race was held in 1911 and won by Ray Hare

vroun in his Marmon Wasp.

Kelly Petillo .. "Louis Meyer .........Offenhauser-4 ....... 109.069 Wilbur Shaw ........Offenhauser-4 113.580 Floyd Roberts ....... Miller-Offenhauser-4.. 117.200 Wilbur Shaw ........Maserati-8 .......... 115.035 Wilbur Shaw ....... .Maserati-8 .. sees. 114277

George Barringer, CIiff Bergere, _ George Connor, Dave Evans, Fred Frame, Ted Horn, Rex Mays, Lou Meyer, Zeke Meyer, Chet Miller, Lou Moore, Kelly Petillo, Mauri Rose, Wilbur Shaw, Russell Snowberger, Babe Stapp, Joe Thorne, Louis Tomei, Frank Wearne and “Howdy” Wilcox.

board track. Next to die was “perfect driver” Jimmy Murphy, the 1922 winner,|" who met his death on a Syracuse, N. Y,, dirt track Sept. 15, 1924. Joe Boyer, co-winner with Lora L. Corum in 1924, died six months] later on the same Altoona track where Howdy lost his life the year before. Frank Lockhart, daredevil winner

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‘Where They Are

Here is the chart that tells the story of the winners: Yr. Winner Present Occupation ‘11 Harroun Auto industry ’12 Dawson Auto industry ’13 Goux Lives in France ’14 Thomas Lives in France ’15 DePalma Auto industry ’16 Resta Killed racing ’17 No race World War ’18 No race World War ’19 Wilcox Killed racing ’20 Chevrolet Killed racing

to choose your new-cas? ’21 Milton Free-lance consultant

iE SF ON THE Ra.

’23 Milton Free-lance consultant . Sh . 24 Boyer Killed racing ; a 25 De Paoli Consulting engineer : ; 26 Lockhart Killed racing : 21 Souders Gasoline industry WELL MATCH the “showroom value” of space: A ride will show how much this = id Retired the Ford with anyone... but if you want means. Take the front seat; then the *30 rei Killen Tagine to know bow great a car this is, take one . = back. Cross your legs this way; then the ’31 Schneider Racing midgets out on the roid, Thavs Whete Jou ie a other. Bigness counts and here it is! * car. That’s where we build the Ford to : TEST THE VALUE... . IN ACTION. Stop

hn athe Aut D industry be at its best! 28 Never . : with the biggest hydraulic brakes any3 i, ngs RS mn swe Soh TEST THE PERFORMANCE ... IN where a prot Rest your toe on ’36 Meyer Retired ACTION. There never was another dow the pedal of a fine-car type of semi-cen-’37 Shaw Racing here this year rice engine like this 90 horsepower trifugal clutch. Flick through the gears ord V-8. Take it out in traffic—then with the easy, silent kind of finger-tip step out on the olen road—challenge shift that high-priced cars use:

’38 Roberts Killed racing ’39 Shaw Racing here this year . the toughest hills. Draw your own con- : clusions—see why no other low-priced : - GET THE FACTS AND YOU'LL GET A FORD!

1936 1937 1938 1939 1940

®

Where's the bestiplace

QUALITY FEMOMES F V-8 POWRR—90 og heeseipo wns i hy oh

NIW BIAUTY—Whea leok at the smooth flowing lines you see ‘one of the few cars seally up-to-date styling this pear:

A NEW RESTFUL RIDE—On the sew Ford "Slow Motion $ ” A soft; quiet ride wholly new this year.

IXTRA VALUR—New ease of con: trol with positive mechasical; fine-car type shift—extra-big hydraulic brakes—and the famous Ford semi-centrifugal clutch:

There are more than 30 Ford 2Exclusives’’—same of them found only on highest priced’ cars—and all of them found only

on the Ford in its price class:

See the New Ford Colors and New Beterior Styling [ust released for Spring!

WILBUR SHAW, three time winner of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, including 1940, says “Spark plugs make a big difference in the way your car performs—Champions will give you better performance every time.”

’40 Shaw Racing here this year car has even attempted to match it.

NO DRIVING TEST THE RIDE . . . IN ACTION. Ride

he pavement, then ride the roughest ALY roa

' road you know. You'll find the new Ford When you go by BUS

ride is the kind of ride you like. Smooth

where the going’s good. Soft and steady over the bumps. to TEST THE ROOM . . . IN ACTION.

Measurements show this Ford greatest in its whole field in actual passenger

H. C. “COTTON” HENNING, vet. eran Indianapolis race car builder ‘and expert mechanic, says “For all round better engine performance, you can’t beat Champions. I use Champion Spark Plugs in all our race cars and you’ll be miles ahead if you use them in your own car.”

RN OTo i Rano

You leave behind all driving cares when you travel by bus. "A skillful driver will take you to your destination quickly — n perfect comfort and safety. And the fare is less than half driving cost.

RONNEY HOUSEHOLDER, a leading midget race driver, says “If you - want to be absolutely sure of flashing acceleration, economical and depend- ¢ able performance in your car, you'd Indianapolis race drivers know spark plugs and depend on Champions. better be sure your spark plugs are

16 Indianapolis winners and 160 out of 170 money winners in last 17 Champions.” * : years used Champion Spark Plugs.

: @ Fast Frequent Service

Between INDIANAPOLIS SOUTH BEND KOKOMO WABASH PERU FORT WAYNE

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