Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 May 1948 — Page 17

(@ the Tucker stable e Preston Tucker. Jr, - sly under the breeze adio plays ‘soft music,

ics for each car yet som, like Lou Moore and Dy ve only three mechani ‘ee cars. The Granate) has the record for tp, nechanics—13. But the, w is attempting to ready rs for the race. ’

iway Oval's Final Laid in 1909 final brick was placed f «mile oval of the Ing. s Motor Speedway on Dec, 9, preceeding a series of als. which broke. then ex. ecords for the track. prick was of coin silver ang ated with gold. Its weight pout 52 pounds. It wa In position by Gov, Thom rshall, who became Vi nt of the United Staty Woodrow Wilson.

For A

BDAY

y N

mechanics,

History Culminate | In Annual ‘500’ Race

Speedway Classic Provides Testing Ground 3 ‘history

Jusch ‘boxes and cold drinks in the car parked -in the infield. gome of these who enter the track early will never see the

they will eat and drink and most likely Bo to sleep in their far,

Thousands more come only for

prows at “charazcters” who can git through the entire 500 miles. Frenzied Activity For hundreds and hundreds of technicians, and Speedway employees it will , pe a day of frenzied activity from | early in the morning until late | at night. Theirs is the job of putting on the show and with all its work they wouldn't” miss it for «the world. . It has been the same ever since * Ray Harroun in an Indianapolis Marmon won the first 500 in 1911. , The fans then were just as

drivers

Laan, Sy mt

~ . A 3 wi | 7 ve - = »

Principles culminate Monday in the

plant, | But Monday for the 324 time the big gates will swing open to .. Thousands of cars, parked overnight vicinity of the track, will begin streaming into the emerald green

will roll over and under the! track to their parking places. i Then with the 33 fastest cars in the country lined up in 11 rows back of the starting line an aerial bomb will send the pack away on .its pace lap behind a stock convertible. That will be the moment the more than 100000 racing en-| thusiasts will have waited - for. round the buzz wagons will go! raising their throaty roar to the! |sky. Ome” lap in perfect alignment and the pace car -will pull! [to the apron. Then they will be, |off toward the golden pot of

fcash and prizes which lies at the end of the rainbow, 500 miles! away.

in the

infield. For almost six hours they|: *

SILVER’ ANNIVERSARY—Seth Klein, vice president of Mar-mon-Herrington Co; has witnessed each ‘of the 31 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Races. This year, however, he also will be celebrating his 25th year as chief starter. : : - # x

Marks 2 Years | As Chief Starter :

:- Never-Missed-a-Race;

* Seth Klein Says

By BILL EGGERT

Seth C. Klein, who has stood

Is 50 tity

Driver Says Car Handles Nicely

. Only one’ car which might be called an odd or unusual creation = |1s at the track this year—the! § six wheel Pat Clancy Special to be driven by Billy DeVore. The number of wheels is only| & unusual onda race car since the

pests say It should be sazy on

"He qualified the car “at ani* average speed of 123.967 miles an hour, His fastest lap was made in 1:1229 for an average of| \} 124.499 miles an hour, ° " 1946 Rocket Racer Talk of odd cars brings to mind the rocket racer which Duke N demonstrated here in 1946. | The car, a regular gasoline-| powered job, had rocket boosters. ! Sy These were exploded when the | car came down the home stretch to give it an added boost. b Duke says the rockets were used mainly for publicity and no further developments have been | made on it since that time. Race fans were denied a peek at possibly the strangest car in many years when ‘thé Sutton _

Pernans the renter wit res 3 Groups Have Handled Cl

Perhaps the creator will have it Three different groups have| Wheeler.

ready for 1949. flot and captain in the Marine/500 MILES, NO STOPS been in command of the run-| Captain Eddie Rickenbacker Corps. He was promoted Apr. 12,| pe oply driver to go the full{ning of the Indianapolis Motor headed a group which purchased! 1944 “tothe captaincy and was 500 miles in a gasoline-powered | Speedway since its founding. the speed plant from the found- | killed that night on a Southicar without a pit stop, was CLff| The first, headed by Carl G.lers in 1927, and in the fall of acific island by a hit and run Bergere, who fccomplished the Fisher, included James A. Alli- 1945, Anton Hulman Jr. and as- : sociates purchased the grounds

500" INOVATION — Pat Clancy's 6-wheeler with Billy DeVore at the wheel has caused no.end of comment at Speedway this year. The 6-wheeler drives on all four rear wheels and the principle behind its unique construction is that it will hang | better on the turns. After some motor trouble, DeVore succeeded in qualifyingthe |_mount at an average speed of 123.967 miles per hour.

FUEL FOR A CHAMP An unusual mixture of wine, gasoline and castor oil was credited with the victory in the 1913 classic. The gasoline and castor ofl kept the engine of the Peugeot running and the wine, six _pirts® J champagne, aided winning driver Jules Goux ‘to finish.

assic

Seth C. Klein Jr, was a bomber

driver. feat in 1941. son, A. C. Newby and Frank H.

RE PO ee

wae toil

| these principles. .in.the automotive

How to make a car run faster

thrilled at his hasty pace of 74.59 miles an hour as they will be Monday with an average of 115 or more. ! ! The race's mounting speed throughout the years is tribute to the men who have designed and built and those who have driven the speedy mounts. For 32 years

world have waged war against wear and tear, inertia and resistance.

“Faster Yet Cooler”

yet cooler and smoother with always an eye toward increased —that, -in ‘the rough, has been their problem. ”

Pot of Gold Awaits Winner Of 500-Mile Race a —

THE POT OF GOLD at the end of the 500-Mile will be buiging this year with nearly $150000 in cash and three trophies the WARTGFY, ~~ pe All" this “Wealth, to which may be added more if the management clears.enough, includes the Borg-

Trophy for the winner. which carries with it §100 a month for a year; the Strauss Trophy to the winner and the Edward Stomper Memorial Trophy to the mechanic {in charge of the winning car.

for, 3 {And although he has been flag-

Warner - Corp, - Men of Motors;

| closer to more speeding race cars {than any other man; celebrates his silver anniversary this year as {chief -starter’ for the :.500-Mile [Race i | Seth never has missed a race {and he attended the first one jas a AAA staff member in the! {role of an announcer, yelling re[sults to the fans through a meghPhone...

ging in winners since 1920 when farther back to 1913 for his most|

thrilling Speedway incident. 1

Merz of Indianapolis drove. three. laps with His Stutz car in flames. Merz knew that if he stopped he

Gaston Chevrolet woli, Seth goes -

"That “was the year Charles|

are AS i Coat PEN A 1 ge

made

motors,

wp by

pleasure

Right dividual

And year by year they have gains They brought out new designs in

on their problem. chassis, moving parts,

tires, fuels and many other items which have been quickly snapped

the automobile manu-

facturers. The fact that today’s

car’/can’ cruise at more miles an hour may well

be attributed to experience gained at the Indianapolis track in the past 31 races.

now the principle of inwheel suspension through

the use of torsion bars is undergoing rigid tests on nearly every car at the track and as a result may soon replace the present

» 5 =» FIRMS IN the automotive industry and individuals in Indi anapolis have subscribed enough to provide $100 prize for the leader of each lap. The Wheeler Catering Co. will give frée. meals for oné year to the leader at 300 miles. , Thousands-of dollars*are being offered by companies whose equipment is being carried oh cars placing in the money. wi —————————————

44 CARS IN 111

and of these only 10 completed|

the 500 miles.

Seth says he has never seen anything like it. driver staring death in the face in, order to finish the race. Merz placed third and was the rst American car .to finish in {that particudlar race. Merz later Became chief steward at the 500Mile track. “ Seth, who is vice president of tthe Marmon-Herrington Co. here, was born in Edinburg, Ind. Of all the speed wagons that : ave whizzed by him at the fin-| In’ 1911, the first year of ‘the ish line, not one has injured him. | “500,” 44 cars competed. The fol- But Seth takes no chances movlowing year only 24 cars started|ing his 280 pounds. Seth lives at 3350 W. Tist St. {He has two daughters. His son, |

would never get the engine started

There was a

; Fa : . The '49 Ford —the one and only new car in » ge FH o_o re a Te — " its field is just around the corner! Mighty soon=just about any day now —we excited Ford Dealers will display 3 the big new '49 Ford —“The Car of. the . Year." Inside, outside, from the ground | up, it's new all the way through. So keep

an eye on our-showrooms=be among .- the first to see the NEW '49 Ford.

Seats wide enough for three BIG people !

i _——__-.r

on and more bor. The fart w can enjoy conveniences in city homes. live—in town possible new leisure hours. TY is responlard of living

ond ic

D ep endable

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FOLLOW THE EXPERTS DEMAND NEW. DEPENDABLE CHAMPIONS pn we Sut Spare

Keep your eye on the track!

because they have

Champion America’s — for every

CHAMPION SPARK PLUG C

Most racing drivers use Champion Spark Plugs

found that they

insure befter, more dependable engine performance. Most motorists have likewise found this to be true—and have made

Favorite Spark Plug engine!

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