Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 May 1952 — Page 17
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63d YE AR—NUMBER ° 78
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I'm Called Tough Luck Tony,
But This May
BY TONY BETTENHAUSEN AROUND ‘the Indianapolis Speedway, some of the boys call me “Tough Lek Tony.” It -isn’t an encouraging name to tag onto a race driver. But I'm not objecting in the least. = After all, this is my seventh trip to the “500” . . . and I've never won it yet.
I've started in five races... it's my sixth, One year—in 1949—I qualified two cars but neither was fast enough to get me in. Less than a week ago it looked like 1 wouldn’t get into this year’s race, either. That was when I cracked up against the wall in Murrell Belanger’s No. 99 which I drove to the National Champlonship title last year. That day more people started calling me “Tough Luck Tony.” I think I was pretty lucky. I walked away from the wreck. As Murrel Belanger, owner of the car and a grand guy, said: “Maybe we weren't supposed to have No. 99 in the-race . . . everything happens for the best.” * & o
WITHIN a few hours I had a new assignment to drive. On the Blue Crown Special owned by Lou Moore, the car I drove in last year’s race. That was a “good break,” for I qualified the Blue Crown at 135.382 miles per hour and now I'm in the race.
' ‘That might be my “break” of this
year's race. For I believe that a man shouldn't ‘fight” bad breaks. He should profit by them, After all, my “tough luck” has been largely confined to my activities here at the Indianapolis Speedway. “Good fortune couldn't have been more in my favor last year away from the 500-Mile track. I won
this year
Be My Year
What Signal Flags Mean to Drivers
GREEN-—Starting signal. is clear. BLACK—Waved to individual car. stop for consultation. RED—Stop. The race is halted. YELLOW-—Drive with caution and maintain vour position. No passing is allowed while this flag is shown. VIVID BLUE WITH ORANGE STRIPE— Move over, a car .s attempting to pass you. WHITE—You are starting on your last lap. CHECKERED (BLACK AND WHITE) — You are finished.
Indicates course:
Means
the National Championship in races away
from Indianapolis.
In my very first year at the “500” 1 ran into trouble. I wasn’t discouraged in
1946 when the crank shaft broke on my .
Marchese Special after qualification and the car was out of the race. I climbed into the Bristow-McManus Special, qualified it to start in 32d place of the 33-car field. At the 47th lap the car burned out a connecting rod and I was out of the race. * a &
y * "
THE NEXT YEAR, things looked bet-
ter for me near the half-way mark when
I was riding in seventh place in a Belanger Special. Then . .. at 240 miles I went out of the race. This time, a broken front crank shaft gear. I was closer than ever to victory in 1948. In a Belanger Special again, I was third at-413 miles (only 87 miles from the finish) when the car broke a pinion gear. It wasn’t “too reugh” when I didn’t get into the 1949 race. I came to ‘the Speedway without a car. I had retired from racing because of burns I received in the race. at DuQuoin, 11, on Sept. 12,
1948 . . . my birthday, The tempo of Continued on Page 3x—(l. 1
Ka &
-28—Fred Agabashian
@
THURSDAY, MAY | 29, 1952
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Times Color Photo by Lioyd B. Walton and J. Hugh O'Donnell
Row by Row.
No. Driver Car FIRST ROW Cummins Diesel Spl. Miracle Power Spl. Hinkle® Spl. SECOND ROW ‘Novi Pure Oil Spl
9—Andy Linden 4—Jack McGrath
36—Duke Nalon
18—Sam Hanks Bardahl Spi. L—Duane Carter Belanger Spl. THIRD ROW
98—Troy Ruttman 26—Bill Vukovich 22-Clift Griffith
Agajanian Spl.
Tom Sarafoft Spl.
FOURTH ROW Grancor-Wynn's Spl. Springfield Welding-Smith Spl. Blue Crown Spark Plug Spl
FIFTH ROW Leitenberger Spl. Federal Engr. Detroit Spl. Chapman Spl
SIXTH ROW Bardahl Spl. Ansted-Rotary Spl. - Mel Rae Spl.
SEVENTH ROW
Ferrari Spl Bowes Seal Fast Spl Peter Schmidt Spl.
EIGHTH ROW :
Federal Eo. Detroit Spl. John Zink
59—Jim Rathmann 16——Chuck Stevenson 2—Henry Banks
65—George Fonder 54—George Connor 7—Bill Schindler
14—Joe James 55—Bobby Ball 67—Gene Hartley
12—Alberto Ascari 33—Art Cross 17—Jimmy Bryan
34—Rodger Ward 37—Jimmy Reece
81-—~Eddie Johnson Central Bxcaraling Spl’ NINTH ROW 93—Bob Scott Morris Spl.
29—Jim Rigsby
‘ ‘Bob Estes Spl 21—Chet Miller
Novi Pure Oil Spl TENTH ROW 8—Manuel Ayulo Coast Grain Spl 48-—Spider Webb. Grancor Enterprises Spl. 27—Tony Bettenhausen Blue Crown Spark Plug Spl
ELEVENTH ROW
5—Jolinnie Parsons Jim Robbins Spl. 13—Bob Sweikert- McNamara Spl S31—Johnny McDowell McDowell Spl.
FIRST ALTERNATE STARTER 66—Mike Nazaruk John Zink Spl.
SECOND ALTERNATE STARTER 61~Jimmy Jackson Auto Shippers: Spl
»
DWI
ie nen eC A te po ——
MPH
138.010 137.002
*. 136.664
136.188
135.736 135.522
135.364
Fuel Injection Engineering Spl. 138.212
136.617
136.343 136.142 135.962
135.947 135.609 184.988
134.953 134.925 134.343
134.308 134.288 134.142
134.139 133.993 133.973
133.953 133.904 “139.034
® 135.982
135.962 135.384
135.328 134.983 133.939
133.824
: *—four-lap record, Also holds one lap record of 139.600.
x a first) 133.844
The Indianapolis Times
SPEEDWAY | SOUVENIR Edition
Entered as Becond-Clasa Matisr at Postoffice Indianapolis, Indiana. Issued Datly,
-»
™s PRICE FIVE CENTS
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150,000 Probably Will See
Fastest ‘500’
By BILL EGGERT _CHARMED by the din- of 150,000 fans and the roar of their own engines, Speedway's “Fastest Ever” field of 33 cars is expected to write new 0500-Mile Race records, .
Where the maximum speed will stop nobody knows. Only a few automotive engineers ever foresaw the present-day speeds crowding 140 mph averages. The answer is in man’s nerve and engineering ability. This year's starting lineup averaged 135.504 in qualifications almost two miles per hour faster than 1951.
Speeds were so high there wasn't any last-minute rush to qualify. Capable chauffeurs were at a premium and as usual some owners were too slow getting their cars ready. Some race cars, however, just didn’t have the get-up-and-go. But the cream of the-entry list “made the program” despite weather delays.
Chet Miller, 49-year-old Californian whose Speedway history dates to 1928, set new one-lap and four-lap qualification records and almost becime the first man in Speedway history to record officially a 140-mph lap. ** Chet, never a 500-Mile winner, set the one-lap record of 139.600 and averaged 139.034 for four laps. "He Believes he could have been faster but hig Novi Pure Oil Special didw't have ideal darburetion and twick he burned a piston in practice. Miller's record-run climaxed a qualifying show that saw records set three times. SSC FLYING FREDDIE AGABASHIAN put the Cummins Diesel Special on the pole with a 138.010 average after having ap of 139.104. On May 24, Bill Vukovich shattered records with an average of 138.212 for 10 miles and had"a top lap "of 139.427 in the new Fuel Injection
Engineering Special. Those records lasted
had won two 500-Milers for Mau
of All Time until Miller rocketed his 8-cylinder front. drive down the long chutes. A new activity mark for Speedway was set May 24 when 24 cars were qualified, boosting the field to 31. It was the biggest day, according to Chief Starter Seth Klein and Speedway President Wilbur Shaw. Rain May 25 forced Chief Steward Tommy Miiton to extend qualifications to May 26. . The field was filled within 27 minutes and before the day ended, five cars were bumped out of the lineup by faster speeds.
The qualifications brought out these points:
Twenty-three driwgys qualified faster than Walt Faulkner’s 1950 qualification record of 134.343 ahd four (Miller, Agabashian, Vukovich and Andy Linden) bettered Faulkner's 1951 record of 136.872. : .
Eight rookies, Alberto Ascari of Italy, Jim Rigsby, Jimmy Reece, Bob Sweikert, Jinmy Bryan, Eddie Johnson, Art Cross and Bob Scott got into the starting field.
Fourteen drivers “averaged better than 135 mph. =
The starting 33 cars included 29 4. cylinder race cars, two 8-cylinder cars (Novis), one 6-cylinder (Diesel) and one 12-cylinder (Ferrari). :
Forty-four of the 132 qualifying laps were done at better than 186 mph. Probaby the most remarkable rides, other than Miller's, were those of Spider ; Webb and rookie Sweikert.
» Webb, away from racing two yoarl be: : cause of a smashed hand, first qualified the Blue Crown Spark Plug § 24, at 132.660. That was the same Ar
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