Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 May 1949 — Page 42

Page PDF (9.40 MB)

Back to issue view

rE % back

i ERT

ARG Same a NT

erage adi mani

ives Are

MRS. FRED AGABASHIAN

haunts the

Riley Hotel" desk

bashian, who finds * plaintive "Any mail for

AND MRS. BILL SHEFFLER

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES ____-_

a 4 = a 2 oo eid

ared—But They Have No

Two-year-old Fred Agabashian fl and his sister, Joanne, 6, picnic in the infield while they wait for daddy on the track. The: mother, Mrs. Fred Agabashian (lef), and Mrs. Bill Sheffler are waiting, too. The hours of waiting are no problem for Mrs. Agaat caring for two children occupies her time completely, Mrs. Sheffler looks” forward to the companionshi

she enjoys with other drivers’ wives at Speedway time. "Indianapolis is our second home,” she declares. "Do we like the life? Well,

MRS. DUKE NALON . Mrs. Duke Nalon, who used fo be a dress designer in New (ork, designs and sews all her husband's uniforms. Here she sews

the flying red horse on the champagne-colored uniform he'll wear in the Speedway classic. "For Duke," she smiles, "driving in In-

MRS. JIMMY JACKSON Mrs. Jimmy Jackson launders shirts for her husband's entire

crew. Mrs. Jackson still dreads the 500-Mile. "lt scares me,"

Photos by Ruth Ann Hamilton, Times Staff Photographer.

dianapolis is like playing Shakespeare on Broadway." she explains.

IT WAS just nine years ago this; The engine was. the original month thdt a combine was or-jone, Lou liked the V-8 design besed which has accounted for|cause Fords were V-8s. Bud liked two most powerful cars éver|V-8s because they are compact to be brought to the Speedway. with short powerful driveshafts, That was. the: year, 1940, when Winfield had designed the entire big, lumbering Bud Winfield wasicar and Frank Kurtis had built gpouming the Bowes Sesl Pastthe body. gs of Rex Mays for the an- : yx» nual Memorial Day classic. +1" THE oar took to the track unA slender, dark-haired manider the veteran Hepburn, who with a pocketful of jack wan-took boyish delight in sticking : into the Bowes garage and his foot down the lion's throat. to: talking with. They He sent the beautiful creation y friends. And together around the track at unbelievable bad an idea 8 oar

After the race that year (in-/He even admitted the car had , Rex won second) Bud plenty left,

the super car. Money was sup- the way during the first half, plisa by hghat dark-haired man he then the car went out, gar

WHILE the master mechaniciasm, on the engine, Lou went|all your hopes on one good car? k to his work, He operates a Why not have two good ones?| ovi, Mich, which man- Then if one goes out you still] parts for Fords and have the second to fall back on. 8is0 a factory on the West Coast which reconditions those Ford ex-'dianapolis there were two Novis,

plant In N ufactures

change engin Actually the whole Ford ex-/Bud were happier than ever. Now ehange engine idea, copied now|they each had a car to tinker

: g g

if you want to stay married and this * his job, you just accept it." Novis Pack the Soup | That Sets Records

_ Bud Winfield, Lov Welch Love Tinkering; Decide to Go Into Race Car Building »

: |speeds and set records in qualidream! fications which stand today. ; His fagtest lap was 134.449 lightning ever to miles an hour and his average

for the qualification was 133.944,

In the race Hep led most of

The disappointment did not dampen the combine's enthusiThey reasoned-—why put

When May, 1947, dawned in In-

es.

twins, at the track, and Lou and

12 Speedway races. "But | still

we wouldn't eat." The Mays' two

season;

MRS. MEL HANSEN AND MRS. REX MAYS | i bunching helps to fill the time for Mrs. Mel Hansen (left) and Mrs. Rex Mays. Mrs. Hansen was born to racing. She met her husband through her brother, Johnny Holmes, who used to be a race driver himself. Married 16 years, Mrs. Mays has been with her husband at every one of his w about winning,” she confides. "If it weren't for the races, children usually stay at home in Glendale, Cal., during racing

by many other manufacturers, with. was all Lou's idea. You can fmagine how that little brain child clicked with “Henry.”

time to build that super chassis and body so Bud put his pride and before the race.

a» BUT trouble between ASPAR {and the Speedway management By the 1941 race the V-8 engine caused a shortage of drivers at was complete. But there wasn'tithe track. Veteran Hepburn led the driver hold-out until shortly

which once held a V-8 Ford en-Doc Williams The late Ralph Hepburn took proceeded to spin the big jobs and wheel and qualified the car at Williams relinquished his seat to miles an car, although owned by were not sensational that year, was still officially the Bowes!2 spot in the front row between

THEN came the war and the dinger was back in the pack with latmpordty shelving of race cars./the other car. After a rest Cliff

engine in velvet wrappers until the day from Ardinger and finished out! when the speedsters would again ithe race, winning fourth, ! take to the roaring oval. : * & = Anyway, there were some minor

By that time Cliff Bergere and had been given seats in the car. Both drivers

Herb Ardinger. i Qualification speeds of the cars \lalthough Cliff held down the No. Rex's car won an-/Ted Horn on the pole and Mauri Cliff grabbed the lead and held ft until forced out at 62 laps. Ar-

was put away took the whesl of the second Novi

3 {

THAT year Bergere was back

bugs Bud wanted to iron out. You at the wheel at the start of the

ean't put a whole new idea together in one year, the war the Novi com-|No. 2 car. bination blossomed. Bud pulled

tune-up period and various drivers were being given rides in the

Then the day before qualifica-

away from Bowes and he anditions Cliff spun the big job on Lou went into the race car busi- the north turn. The combination

ness,

was irked and said so. Cliff was

When May, 1946, rolled around peeved and muttered to a Times there was the beautiful super car reporter that the cars were unat Indianapolis, low slung, big|safe, Cliff gave up his seat in the

long, wide, powerful, a car. front runner.’

Two days later, Hepburn took

the wheel of the big car which had carried him in his record run around the track in 1946. Some sald afterward he shouldn't have driven the car. It had been two years since he had driven. Anyway, it’s Speedway history now. Hep skidded and hit the northeast wall. He was killed instantly. Undaunted by this, the youngish Duke Nalon took over the other car, qualified it handsomely at 131.6, the fastest of the year, and drove the car to third place. # . » AND he might have come closer to winning had it not been for an unfortunate pit stop in his 186th lap. At his mid-point stop the gas tank had not been completely filled and 14 laps from the finish Duke's tank went dry. As a Winfield precaution the cars are now equipped with gas gauges on the dash panel. Early this year, Bud and Lou announced Rex Mays would drive the car damaged in the Hepburn

land Rex the spot beside him.

Where They Are Here is the chart that tells the story of past winners: Yr. Winner Present occupation '11 Harroun Auto industry '12 Dawson Deceased Lives in France Lives in France Auto industry Killed racing Killed racing Killed racing Consult. engineer Killed racing Killed racing Consult. engineer Killed racing Gasoline industry Automo. engineer Killed racing ’80 Arnold Auto industry ’81 Schneider Deceased £’32 Frame Auto industry £’83 Meyer : '84 Cummings Killed auto crash 2 '35 Petillo Promoter 3 si ’36 Meyer ° MRS. CHET MILLER '87 Shaw Speedway official . Wife of one of the Speedway's top-ranking veteran drivers, '38 Roberts Killed racing Mrs. Chet Miller manicures her nails to occupy the idle after. [39 Shaw noon while Chet is at the track. "Of course, | like the races," 0 a avis Davis retired explains Mrs. Miller, "but I'd enjoy them more as a detached 46 Robson Killed racing spectator than as a driver's wife." Vtiller will stay in Indianapolis 47 Rose Still racing all summer to drive midget racers. ’48 Rose

SUNDAY, MAY 29, 1940

oice

crash, Duke would have the other. § noedway Track

Everyone expected the Iron

Duke to break the qualification Opened Aug. 19, 1909

The Indianapolis Motor Speed-| it was not to be. Weather condl- yy was built in 1909 by four

Indianapolis men. tions kept the Novis from run- carl G, Fisher, James A. Allison, | Newby and Frank H.|

mark hung up by Hepburn but tions on the first day of qualifica-

ning at peak performance. AO But even so, Duke won the pole. wheeler

buretor Co, “We wouldn't quit just because’ pleted. we lost a race,” he said. {

‘Rick’ Here 18 Years Eddie’ Rickenbacker, America’s Ace of Aces in World War I, was president: 'of ‘the Indianapolis

‘Motor Speedway Corp.

of the organization up to and in- | cluding the 1941 race, last 500{Mile Classic to be held until the m lend of World War II i

The track was first opened on And what if the Novis don't Aug. 19, 1909, but Pia owners

win this year? Well, Bud has been rouna dirt track racing too

coming to the track since 1927 dangerous and closed the track when he worked for Winfleld Car- until Dec. 18 of the same year

when paving work was com-|

Wine on the Fly

Julés Goux gulped down six J pints of champagne during the) 1913 Indianapolis Speedway race No as he drove his Peugeot to vicfor tory. During one of his several {more than 18 years, He was head hacchanalian pit stops the Fyenchman was treated to a litéral Jwine bath as one of the pitdashed a, cupful of the bub{bling wine in the driver's face,

JUBILEE TIME . . .

SOME .N-1CE COLD

CONGRATULATIONS

WEBM-TV

INDIANAPOLIS

° WFDF Flint, Michigan

and BEST WISHES

from

Stations Affiliated In Ownership

—

'{ YOU'VE SURE PUT A SHINE ON THE | OL' BUS ~ NOW HOW ABOUT

JUBILEE BEER/

JOE KNOWS A QUICK, SLICK TRICK= “THERE'S PLENTY OF HELP TO BE

FOUND — WHEN GOOD OLD gg IS AROUN - ng

° WOOD ‘Grand Rapids, Michigan

’ WEOA Evansville, Indiana

a. a mes at et bt ks di

AIS 9 aro ORAS

ou ini by

eS 8 8 8% 8 bs se

OkE! SOME

— ~~

| AN ae

Ae)

TIED - — PR Cai XI

NOW LET'S POLISH QFF Yi puch - 1c Be R J WITH THE SHING/

BRUCKS

BREWMASTERS — the men who kngu beer best — have & special

pet nickname for the lights and highlights you see in really ¢lear, really good, really old time beer, “SHINE”, It is the see-able sign that distinguishes BRUCKS . . . BRUCKS with the sure-thing body and flavor that only master brewing can impart . . . brewing from a

one-family formula nearly one hundred years old!

They were!

BRUCKS! TAKE SOME HOME TODAY}

THE BRUCKMANN BREWERY CINCINNATI, OHIO

AAR Go Br APRs (N01 Bf

| |

| Listen to Ihe CHAMPION ROLL A

America's Favorite!

f {l

CEPENDABLE

SPARK PLUGS

When racing men get together you can bet that, sooner or later, the talk will furn fo spark plugs. That's because spark plugs are sovital fo top speed, flexibility and dependability. Champions always get the overwhelming vote of confidence of these experts because there's no other spark plug that even approximates Champion's record for better performance in the open competition of racing. That's why Champions continue to lead in public preference—ag they have for over a quarter of a century. Champion Spark Plug Company, Toledo 1, Ohio.

’

FOLLOW THE EXPERTS

USE THE SPARK PLUGS CHAMPIONS USE!

CALL. ,; Norry Wismer's fost sportecast avery Fridoy woh, over the ANC aotvork

’

director, s under the vision: m Gene Btar a full com TV techni transmissi Fou The th equipped close-ups, and very cover the west turn the most The tele the traci dummy ru and lines of picture Harold neer of his staff | the race ing cerer piece ban ical, mov rities, the Spangle ton of t Co., the | sands of « pace-mak an Oldsm Origina location ¢ Grandsta was obtal the const platform

‘with long

southwest And The F catch the and offic Linda Ds winning fmmediat Annour add color race are Earl Tow race bros interview as the d laps. How th the race ceiving st ing diag municatic From Paddock Grandsta and soun video bi WFBM-T will be “3 owners scenes, He From A waves tr: a trans

* where th

fied and pan” ant ana Bell’ N. Meridi be transi pan” ant: chants I on the sc dian and Into ti studio or Monumen for stud program Camer: race fror they may smoke), flashed a will show greatest diana. To’ They © streamin; lunches i actiyity 1 terview t officials 8 rities wh other ca be broug to give ! race, Frank stood Mi wife, ane be in the other cel enbacker motor ca WFBM

technical direction land wit era cont stand E ning the E, Kelly camera |

Higgason Paddock control Ty Louis the vide