Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 May 1941 — Page 23
coming cars.
THURSDAY, MAY 2,
Race History \ Studded With - Heroic Acts
And. Still' Another May = Come; “Tomorrow
te 1927 Speedway race crowd gdéped as the speeding racer piloted by Norman Batten burst into flames st the straightaway and Sauged toward: the pits. A: flaming torch catapulted nto ‘pits loaded with gasoline would spell death for many. ~ But Nwrman Batten gritted his teeth as the flames enveloped him and literally fought the steer-
ing wheel to keep his car away from the pits. He final- : ly came to a stop near a fire truck. Jd 3 Hal “This act of ‘bravery inspired the “Sportsmanship Award” which will be given again this year to the hero of tomorrow. The heroic Batten was badly burned in that accident, but recovered. The following year he went down with the liner Vestris. The late Bill Cummings got the award in 1930 for taking both hands off the wheel to signal officials that there had been a six-car spin on the northwest turn. The yellow flag went oft immediately, preventing more cars from being involved.
‘Ira Hall, the Terre Haute sheriff, won the award one year after his car. had spun and crashed, and he had pinned the car against the wall ‘with his body to prevent it from sliding down into the path of on-
-In 1936, a riding mechanic, Johnny Pawl, got the gold stopwatch. Riding with Cliff Bergere, who ran out of. gas near the north turn, Pawl dashed to the pits for a can of fuel. On the way back he saw Al Miller's car go into a spin. Pawl dropped his gas can and ran to Miller's assistance, helping extricate him from the wrecked car.. iOne of the most heroic actions ever seen at the Speedway oddly enough went unrewarded because the reward had been temporarily discontinued. It happened in 1939 when Chet Miller deliberately drove through the inside fence ‘in order to: avoid hitting Bob Swanson, who had - fallen out of his crashed car into the middle of the track. Mil- - ler’s car was wrecked and he went te: the hospital, That is the stuff which race drivers are made of and why tomorrow may add another feat of bravery to the sung and unsung of the Decoration Day classic.
Doescher Again Chief Steward
“Ted H. Doescher, 37-year-old Chicago sportsman, is . serving again this year as Chief Steward of -the “500”—the absolute generalissimo .over . the hundreds of officials including technical committee “members, timers and scorers, starter and assistant starters, umpires and referee. Mr. Doescher started his career as an official four years ago as midwest representative of the AAA Contest Board. He was an official of the Vanderbilt Cup races in New York for two years and Chief Steward of championship midget races in Chicago in 1939. That same year he served as assistant to Charles Merz, then Chief Steward here, and last year succeeded Mr. Merz, Who resigned to become assistant general manager of the Speedway.
‘A Tip to Motorists
A few drgps’of oil on chain-op-
Mr. Doescher
1941
. “Hotfoot” Kelly Petillo, who can coax more speed out of an old crate than some pilots can get out of a Maserati, will be on the track tomorrow trying for his second victory.
. Almost as many things happen to Kelly's car as they do to Kelly. Several months ago the car smashed into a wall on an Eastern track and badly damaged. A few weeks ago while Roy Russing, Petillo protege, was taking his driver’s
rail and after throwing Russing clear, somersaulted off the track. However, the car has been repaired, and painted a snow white, Labeled the Airliner Sandwich Shops ‘Special, the car will be started by Kelly in tomorrow’s “500. »
Kelly has been one of the most colorful drivers at the track since he first appeared, fresh off a fruit truck from California in 1932 and talked Al Jones into giving him a mount which he drove into 12th place. His victory in 1935 is a story of dogged determination in qualifications and sportsmanship that is peculiar to racing at Indianapolis. There was a limit to fuel consumption in 1935 and Kelly went over his limit on his first try and test ‘was ‘declared, void. On his second attempt his motor went bad
test the car skidded, hit the inside]
The Chap Who Does It Differently
but on the third and final attempt he made it. Then, Petillo fashion, he won the race. Shortly after this he announced his retirement. Then, and in Petillo fashion again, he was right in there driving again the . next year.
This year Kelly had planned to!
let Russing drive his car and find another mount for himself. However, he was unable to “make a deal” and will drive his own car. Everytime Kelly does something at the Speedway it turns out to be a little bit different from anything anyone else has ever done. An example of this was his qualification run this year. He waited until a few minutes before 7 p. m. when the track is closed and then drove onto the track. There was one slow lap and then “Hotfoot” batted through. four laps in 4 minutes 49.35 seconds and the crowd stood up to give the chunky little Italian a hand. But on his fifth time around when he. normally would have coasted into the pits he shot by almost as fast as he had the four previous times. He was shaking his head and yanking on the emergency brake and nothing was happening. The four-cylinder car finally died somewhere in the dark of the backstretch, Kelly had qualified—but in the true Petillo fashion—differently..
Perhaps one of the almost complete cases of nervous prostration each Speedway Day is Dr. Rogers
Smith, official race physician. And no wonder. Sickness and accidents among Speedway fans would
{fill at least two issues of any Med-
ical Journal. Calamities range from sprained ankles to broken legs and illness from appendicitis to the arrival of the stork. - Dr. Smith, in between being nervous, treats an average of from
+1120 to 140 persons a race.
Right now he is hoping for a cool May 30th. Last year was cool and he didn’t have to treat one single case of intoxication, a rare record considering that the “drunks” rate higher in number than any other one ailment during the annual classic. Last year’s record was attributed by the physician to the cool weather. “It’s the only reason I can think of,” he said. “Certainly it wasn’t because there was less drinking.” Two years ago one of his first patients was a Detroit lad who fell from his perch in a tree during the first lap. “He fell 30 feet and landed on his back across a car fender and wasn't
erated dual windshield wipers will quiet them down considerably, and
hurt a bit,” Dr.. Smith said. “In fact, after the race he 20t on his
Speedway's Doctor Prepared For Anything Fate Thinks Up
back to Detroit without any ill effects. “I felt sorry for him though. He saved all his money to see the race and then fell out of a tree during the first lap. All he saw of the race was the first lap.” Bumper injuries, burns, cuts, sprains and, of course, the drinkers, are Dr. Smulvs big worry during the race. It was 12 years ago when he had to deal with the unexpected arrival of Mr. Stork. As for hints on how to stay healthy Speedway Day Dr. Smith is non-committal. “Sometimes I think I'll have to call a doctor for myself,” he says.
Tommy Ought to Be Rested Up by Now
Tommy Hinnershitz, Reading, Pa. pilot driving the Marks Special, should be well rested for tomorrow’s race—he’s spent a good part of the last year in bed. Last year at the 80-mile mark in the race he slammed into the pit wall and broke his arm. Several months later and fresh from splints and bandages he smashed up in a dirt track race and broke the same arm and back he went to bandages
and splints.
make them run faster.
motorcycle and rode all the way
“Daddy’s Bringing Me Some FURNAS ICE CREAM”
Famed Bricks Now Covered
With Asphalt
Show Only on Short Straightaway Stretch
When the bricks for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were put in place back in 1909 they were put to stay—and stay they have even though most of them can be seen no longer. The original track was ‘all brick and cement walls hemmed it in on both sides. The outer wall leaned slightly outward and the inside wall was perpendicular. The track was a venture in permanency and ‘a fairly successful one. Few repairs were necessary on the oval from 1909 until 1936. True, it got pretty rough on the turns and here and there a brick was missing but no one ever expected the track to be any different than 'it always had been.
Inside Wall Torn Away
However, in 1936, the Speedway Corporation deemed it advisable to change the track to the tune of $400,000 worth. The outside wall which had served as a catapult for cars in trouble was changed so that it was perpendicular. The inside wall was torn away and a 60-
foot “spin” area built on the inside |
of the turns. The worst places on the track were patched with asphalt and some of the bricks disappeared from sight. This spotting of asphalt was partly in the way of an experiment. Speedway officials thought that cement might be too hard on the racing tires and had doubts also as to the durability of the asphalt “patching.” - However, the asphalt proved suecessful, and in 1937 the turns were covered with it. Two years later—1938—brought another major change. The repair apron in front of the pits was placed in back of the pits for greater safety. This was done after a car careened into the pit section and killed a mechanic.
Bricks Only on Straightaway
Then in 1939 more asphalt was placed on the surface of the track and today the only famous “Indianapolis bricks” that can be ‘seen are in a short stretch in the straightaway in front of the grandstands. These, according to officials, will be left undisturbed “for sentimental reasons.” And so the thing that most people thought would never happen has come: to pass. The Indianapolis red brick oval is now black and smoothed with asphalt. But beneath this covering remain the original bricks still doing service and 4ecling each year the roaring pounding of racing machines.
Record: 130.757
The highest average speed ever attained officially on the Speedway for one complete lap was set by the late Jimmy Snyder during qual= ifying trials in 1939. The. figure
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