 
The Indianapolis 500, a History - Volume One: Resurrection and Blue Crowns

Brian G. Boettcher

Published by Constant Velocity Publishing at Smashwords

8/8/2014

Copyright 2012, Brian G. Boettcher

License Notes

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# Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter One: Weeds and Hope (1942-1946)

Chapter Two: The Blue Crown Dynasty (1947-1950)

Chapter Three: To Please a Lady (1950)

Chapter Four: Kurtis Roadsters and the Fresno Flash (1951-1953)

# Preface

It is the greatest spectacle in racing. Sports, automotive progress, and history intersect with legend at Georgetown Road and 16th Street – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The annual 500-Mile International Sweepstakes is our nation's premier motorsports event – since 1911.

I thought writing sports history was easy, that drivers and stats told the story. Wrong! I soon discovered each race wove a larger history, from the resurrection of the Sweepstakes in 1946, through the Novi versus Blue Crown era, the ascent of Frank Kurtis, George Salih, A.J. Watson and Colin Chapman as car builders, and technological innovations like layover engines, rear engine cars and turbines, and the continual search by Speedway owner and master promoter Tony Hulman for freshness to prime the gate. It all comprises an amazing tapestry.

I was also struck by the frequent sudden violent death or severe injury suffered by the game's superstars: Ralph Hepburn, Rex Mays, Ted Horn, Lee Wallard, Bill Vukovich and Jimmy Bryan. Minor players came and went, too. Tragedy was integral to the show. Since the first recorded racing death, Frank Day at the Wisconsin State Fair track on September 12, 1903, more than 400 drivers, mechanicians and spectators were reported killed by racing accidents by the time the Speedway opened six years later. "I was never famous until I went through the fence at St. Louis and killed two spectators," Barney Oldfield said. "Promoters fell over one another to sign me up." Spectators were reported to cut bits of bloody clothing and hair from the victims lying trackside as ghoulish souvenirs. I've included descriptions of the carnage inflicted by the sport, all duly reported by the media of the day and publicized by race promoters. Some may consider that inappropriate; fair enough.

History is an oddly facetted thing – and racing history even more odd. It is not uncommon for records and accounts to disagree. Recollections often evolve into stories much different than the contemporary accounts provided by the same persons. My goal is to provide a fair account of the post-war Sweepstakes, and its evolution as the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing." I'm reminded of the quote from a classic western movie: "This is the west, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Much of the published racing record is the legend. The actual stories are more compelling.

I consider the 23 years to 1969 the historical basis for the following decades to the current day. I've tried to wring the essential stories from various accounts, most contemporaneous, to avoid the muse of ghostwriters, flacks, promoters, and the expected rote recounting of certain events so often told. Many of the references surfaced fundamental disagreements that I traced back in the public record, generally newspapers. I recognize the peril in using contemporary accounts, accepting that the record is otherwise sparse. Participants were generally not known as men of letters.

I also steered as clear of nuts and bolts as possible. Except for impactful changes, there is little reference to the mechanical aspects of vehicles. For those wanting deeper details, I refer you to those more knowledgeable than I am.

BGB, Columbia, MD

# Chapter One: Weeds and Hope (1942-1946)

"Yes, the Big Race will come back to take its place among the nation's leading sporting events, when the peace comes...and as was the case at the conclusion of World War I, it will take on increased popularity. The men who go to make automobile racing one of the most thrilling sports in the world have definitely 'gone to war'— and without too much hullabaloo...but they'll be back to recreate the Speedway Classic when they've completed their jobs..."

\- Frank Moran, The Lowell (MA) Sun, January 2, 1945

The World War still raged as 1944 drew to a close. America's motorsport tracks remained silent since July 4, 1942, when the Office of Defense Transportation banned racing to conserve tires and gasoline. To conserve the nation's mostly natural rubber civilian car and truck tire stocks, wartime road speeds were limited to 35 miles per hour to extend their usual 15,000 mile wear life. Replacements were tightly rationed. Indianapolis race drivers endorsed the national speed limit. "Not one of us will step her up over 35 until the bells ring and whistles blow on The Big Day," promised Howdy Wilcox, President of the Champion Spark Plug 100-Mile per Hour Club.

Wilbur Shaw was America's auto racing champion – a three-time winner of the 500-Mile International Sweepstakes at Indianapolis, popularly known as the "Indianapolis 500." A veteran pilot with the Army Air Corps Reserve, Shaw became an executive with Firestone Tire & Rubber Company to organize and run its new Aviation Division. Improved synthetic rubber was in the works to provide American and Allied warriors the tires needed to defeat the Axis. And Firestone was looking beyond the war effort to the post-war consumer market, where synthetic rubber would allow large scale tire production sooner than waiting while the world's depleted natural rubber stocks replenished.

Wilbur Shaw

Shaw arrived at the disused Speedway November 29, 1944, to showcase the durability of Firestone's prototype synthetic "Vitamic" tires. A high-speed 500-mile run simulating 50,000 road miles would be a spectacular follow-up to the seventeen-hour speed test at the Speedway a year earlier, the first public show of synthetic rubber automobile tires. With government approval, Shaw arranged the demonstration, including timing by the American Automobile Association's (AAA) Contest Board, which sanctioned major auto races prior to the war.

Shaw and the Firestone crew fixed the Speedway's surface and cut a driving groove through the weeds that had overtaken the place. "I was appalled at the physical condition of the track," he recalled. "There were big crevices in the pavement in the turns. These had to be repaired before we could even begin the test." Once underway, Shaw, veteran of 5,051 competitive Speedway miles, easily turned the 200 test laps in an old Miller Speedway racer. He maintained 90 miles per hour through the turns, and hit over 135 miles per hour on the straightaways – averaging almost exactly the planned 100 miles per hour. Underway, his thoughts turned to the historic Speedway and its future.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909 as a showcase race course and test facility for America's growing automobile business, which was largely centered in Indianapolis. It was promoted as "The Brooklands of America" after Britain's steeply banked, two-and-three-quarters-mile oval. The facility cost $400,000, with the New York Times observing, "The new speedway has assuredly been built to afford comfort to the spectator, and it will be regrettable if it is not a big success."

Carl G. Fisher

Four Indianapolis businessmen backed the Speedway. The principal partner, Carl G. Fisher, was described as a man who "never had a thousand dollars in those days but he had a place to spend twenty (thousand)." A contemporary account ascribed inspiration for the track to a time when Fisher's new car repeatedly broke down along the way. Repairing the machine at the roadside, he wondered aloud why there was no track "to test cars out before the public gets 'em." In December 1908 Fisher brought three other investors together during a race meet at Savannah, Georgia: Jim Allison of Allison Engineering, Arthur Newby of Diamond Chain and National Motor Vehicle Company, a fellow member of the Zig-Zag Cycling Club; Frank Wheeler, a partner in the Wheeler-Schebler Carburetor Company. Each bought $15,000 of stock in the venture, a two-mile, fifty foot wide, oval-shaped "motor speedway" three miles outside the city. Plans were announced on January 11, 1909.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company formed on February 6, 1909, "to furnish suitable track and road facilities for the driving and testing of—American cars and motorcycles for long distance or high speed contests, and to have a suitable track and road course where these tests and trials can be made at any time of the year." Among its goals was "to have one international contest for the benefit of the west each year." Construction, with grandstand seating for 35,000, was to be completed by May 15, and the first public event held in June.

By April the plan changed to create a two-and-a-half mile rectangular Speedway with an inside road course that would lengthen the course to five miles, passing the grandstands three times per lap. The turns would be banked "suitably for 100 miles per hour." The track, enthused Motorcycle Illustrated magazine, "will be the safest high speed motor race course in the world." The plant featured garages, a machine shop, restaurant and grandstand seating for 25,000 spectators. The builder's inability to get the needed machinery together and rain delayed work three weeks. Fisher made first complete lap around the unpaved "outer course" on May 20th, after which Speedway management announced that Fisher and Newby would initiate the five mile track with a 10,000 mile drive over ten days in a locally-produced National automobile. Instead, on June 5, 1909, the first event at the uncompleted Speedway matched six gas-filled balloons to a race – including Carl Fisher piloting his air vessel "Indiana." He landed amid controversy after 48 hours near Tennessee City, TN..

The Original Speedway Surface, F.A.M. convention, 1909

In August the Speedway served as terminus for a national motorcycle endurance run from Cleveland as part of the three-day Federation of American Motorcyclists convention. The Federation's slate of one, five, and ten mile motorcycle races from the 12th through the 14th were the first track contests. Arthur G. Chapple, captain of the New York Motorcycle Club, won the Speedway's first race on his five horsepower Indian, overcoming a 41 second delayed start in the five mile amateur handicap for private owners. Fred Huyck of Chicago, also riding an Indian, won three events that first day before 5,000 spectators. There were numerous spills caused by ruts and sharp stones puncturing tires, with the final day of racing canceled out of safety concerns. Motorcycle Magazine headlined its coverage, "Speedway Races Failure", reporting that "The huge track, the immensity of which one must prove by personal visit in order to appreciate, was not in condition for motorcycle racing." As an exhibition Wilfred "Billy" Bourque turned one lap at 64 miles per hour in his Knox racing automobile.

Arthur Chapple, winner of the Speedway's first race, 1909

Twelve thousand spectators came Thursday, August 19, 1909, to witness the Speedway's first competitive automobile events featuring the "fastest cars and most daring drivers." Admission to the grandstand was one dollar, and fifty cents to the grounds. Contest Director Ernest Moross plumped, "You have but a slight idea of what a contest will be witnessed on this track." A total purse of $25,000 attracted over 100 entries to the American Automobile Association (AAA) sanctioned races. The Overland Automobile Company provided a gold-plated Model 38 roadster to be awarded to the driver making the fastest mile on the new track during 1909.

Before the races, AAA officials toured the track before confirming the association's sanction, ordering the infield drainage ditch covered and a few other changes. Two-and-a-half inches of bituminous macadam, rolled flat by 15-ton steam rollers, surfaced the track. It was a widely used surface on public roads that mixed crushed stone chips and larger stones with asphaltum oil. P.T. Andrews, engineer in charge, tested the surface before concluding the top dressing just needed traffic to smooth it down, saying by the second meet it ought to be "lightning fast." Some predicted the big cars would tear up the surface.

The Speedway's first auto race involved five "stripped chassis cars of Class No. 4" with engines between 161 to 230 cubic inches. These machines, whose bodywork and fenders were removed to decrease weight and increase speeds, competed over two laps, or five miles, around the "great white stone course." Louis Schwitzer, driving a Stoddard-Dayton, won in five minutes, thirteen seconds. Drivers and mechanicians reported peltings by stones thrown up soon after racing began as the new surface deteriorated exposing the track's crushed limestone foundation.

The day's fifth event was the 250-mile race for the Prest-O-Lite Trophy, engraved with the now-familiar Speedway wheel-and-wing logo. Louis Chevrolet quit on lap 53 after a flying stone shattered his goggles, putting glass slivers in his eye. Five laps later Billy Bourque, winner of the day's third race, crashed when his Knox race car lost a rear wheel coming down the homestretch. The machine swerved left into the shallow tiled drainage ditch just before the main grandstand and flipped twice. His riding mechanician Harry Holcomb was ejected, fatally injured when his head hit a fence post "holing his skull." Bourque died, skull crushed, pinned under the twisted car. Lurid newspaper bulletins recounted how Billy "drowned in his own blood, being unable to breathe on account of the blood pouring down his throat."

Newspaper headlines the next morning proclaimed, "Indianapolis Motor Track Dedicated with the Blood of Two Victims." AAA officials issued a public demand "that the track be freed from the many and dangerous ruts, which are said to be unavoidable in a new track, and that every inch of it be thoroughly oiled and tarred." Speedway officials complied, satisfying AAA officials that the crews "did all in their power to make the course safe," allowing the speedway to keep its race meet sanction. "The name of the Indianapolis speedway was made more effectively then it could have been in any other way, when Billy Bourque and his mechanic thundered from it into an open ditch on the opening day," Barney Oldfield wrote. "The speedway leaped into instant fame." Proving Oldfield's assertion, the crowd grew to 22,000 for the Friday racing, anticipating another "frenzied carnival of speed." The track held up well enough through a day of new world records and thrilling races.

On the meet's final day, a hot and humid Saturday, the crowd swelled to nearly 30,000 fans to view its main event, a 300-mile race for the Tiffany-crafted, seven-foot Wheeler & Schebler trophy, its silver reportedly worth $10,000. AAA President Lewis.R. Speare attempted to have the race reduced to 100 miles, but it was run as scheduled. Johnny Aitken, an Indianapolis boy driving a National automobile, dropped out of the race after 100 miles complaining, "Someone's bound to get killed before long. The track is being torn all to pieces. It's hard to stay in the seat." Another National driver, Charles Merz, led through 190 miles until his right-front tire blew in the first turn. The car lurched through the track rail into the spectators before somersaulting into the small creek bed. "It was all so quick, I was helpless," Merz said later. "It's all one blot of swift crashing." Emerging from beneath the wreckage, Merz told his rescuers, "Tell my mother and father that I'm alive." His mechanician, Claude Kellum, was thrown into the water and suffered "great gashes torn in his abdomen and head." He bled to death at the scene. Two spectators were also killed.

Bruce Keene's Marmon crashed into a trackside post, alarming the track's four partners. They asked AAA officials to stop the race after only 235 miles. AAA Contest Referee Samuel B. Stevens issued an explanatory statement: "Owing to the physical condition of the contestants, who had been subjected to the strain of a three race meet under trying climatic conditions, I deemed it to the best interests of the entrants and spectators to abandon the race: therefore I rule no race and no awards." Across the country newspapers headlines screamed "Saturnalia of Speed" and "Mad Speed Carnival." Editorials decried the carnage, many demanding the track's closure.

AAA Referee Sam B. Stevens Stopped the Carnage, 1909

Carl Fisher announced on behalf of the ownership, "We feel there should be no more long events, longer than 100 miles, without new rules. We feel that drivers should be changed every 100 miles, as well as the tires, and we believe that drivers should be subjected to a physical examination."

In Springfield, Massachusetts, thousands met the train bearing the bodies of Bourque and Holcomb, including over 300 Knox Automobile employees. The crowd escorted the deceased to their homes. Bourque, to be married September 14th, had promised his fiancée he would retire from racing after the Vanderbilt Cup races in the fall.

The Speedway was accused of negligence in hastily filed lawsuits. Automobile Topics magazine reported "holes were found six and eight inches deep and fully twelve to fifteen square feet wide, scattered all over the track. Ruts ten to twelve inches deep and many feet long were common occurrences. The surface of the speedway presented as undulating a condition as does the surface of a storm-tossed sea." Barney Oldfield complained that his hands had been temporarily crippled by the vibrations created by the failing surface.

At the coroner's inquest, a National Guard captain testified that the track was extremely rough "from the heat of the friction of the cars passing over it." Carl Fisher testified that the track was in good shape at the start, but then admitted that there was not enough time to complete the track prior to the meet. He excused that the track would never be perfect, and that there was a gang busy making repairs whenever cars were not on the track.

"It is clear to my mind," wrote Marion County Coroner John J. Blackwell in his report, "that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company knew there was going to be a loss of life and limb. They prepared every convenience to take care of the dead and dying."

"I find by my investigation that the roadway was not in condition for fast racing by automobiles; the broken stone that was placed on parts of the roadway and, especially for 200 feet where Harry Holcomb and William Bourque met their deaths, was put on only a few days before, and was not properly rolled or tamped."

"I find that the cause of the bursting of the tire that caused the death of C. S. Kellum was the unfinished track and that the Indianapolis Speedway Company put on the races before the track was completed and safe."

"Therefore, from the evidence here shown and testimony taken. I hold the officers and manager of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company responsible for the deaths and when the grand jury holds its next session will recommend an investigation of the whole affair."

The Stoddard-Dayton Company decided "to abandon automobile racing entirely for the present, or until such time as the conditions generally governing automobile racing are changed and bettered as to remove to the greatest extent possible, the present dangers, both to spectators and to drivers and mechanicians operating the cars."

Knox Automobiles placed advertisements thanking its agents, customers and friends for their expressions of sympathy. "We are convinced after a careful consideration of all the particulars obtainable that Mr. Bourque's strength failed him and that he most probably lost consciousness and control of the car before it left the track."

The AAA sent its Contest Rules Committee chairman, Frank B. Hower, who "realized at once that it was utterly impracticable to hold so-called road races over a specially prepared track, even though it were a few miles in circuit. The nervous tension on the drivers is too great, to say nothing of other possible dangers."

Good Roads magazine, a trade publication for the road construction industry, explained, "it should be evident from a study of the construction of the track and a knowledge of the condition in which it was put into use, that it could only be regarded as dangerous. The folly of the use of a layer of bitumen bound macadam only 2 1/2 inches thick for the surfacing of a track subjected to the wear and tear incident to automobile racing, unless laid upon the strongest and most rigid subgrade should be obvious. Such a surface even though built under perfect specifications and with the most rigid adherence to them would fail unless the foundation were constructed with equal care, for it would possess little or no strength."

In response to the coroner's findings, the Speedway first planned to spend $80,000 on a patented "hot mix" bithulithic asphalt surface to minimize skidding. Ultimately, $200,000 was spent to rebuild the track surface with 3,200,000 Wabash Clay Culver Block paving bricks installed over just 63 days. Additionally, a three-foot high concrete wall lined the track's frontstretch to protect spectators. Grandstand seating was also doubled. A race meet using the new brick racing surface was scheduled November 1st, as was a December 11th series of world distance speed record attempts. The November date was eventually canceled, and the December date delayed and changed to a race meet, with a 1000-mile race scheduled despite management's earlier 100-mile limit pronouncements. To publicize the re-opening heavyweight boxing champion Jim Jeffries was photographed driving on the new surface on a cold December day, with the pictures published coast-to-coast. "In my mind it's the smoothest surface I've ever traveled over in an automobile," Jeffries said after claiming an improbable ninety mile per hour drive.

Despite sub-zero temperatures, on December 17, 1909, Indiana Governor Thomas R. Marshall laid the ceremonial "golden" plated coin silver brick at the finish line to re-open the Speedway to racing. Fewer than 500 came to watch the day's events, which were to include speed trials up to 100 miles. Several of the speed records set at Indianapolis earlier had been eclipsed at the new Atlanta Speedway. Ernest Maross, the Indianapolis Speedway's director of contests, admitted Atlanta's track was much faster than the old Speedway macadam surface, but claimed not as fast as the new brick pavement. Federal government engineers reported that the Speedway "stands alone in the vitrified brick paving field as an example of almost perfection."

Newell Motsinger was the first off in his 20-horsepower Empire, the sole entrant in the "160 cubic inches and under" class. Drivers wore heavy garments, woolen face bandages and thick gloves, and were so numbed after their runs that many had to be lifted from their cars. Johnny Aitken froze his ears; Louis Strang froze his face, and almost every one reportedly froze their hands. Jelled engine oil and brake fluid, and frozen radiator water became insurmountable problems. Despite the cold, Aitken broke the world records for distances up to twenty miles driving a National. He turned 10 miles in eight minutes 12.10 seconds, averaging 73.1 miles per hour. And Strang raised the track's one mile speed record to 88.61 miles per hour driving a Fiat.

Fisher immediately announced plans to hold nine events at the Speedway in 1910, saying that he expected 100,000 spectators at most of them. Among the anticipated attractions was the National Military Maneuvers, which presented the public ten days of mock war events. AAA announced the Memorial Day events would determine its national championships, the first time such titles were authorized.

When the season showed insufficient financial success over three race meetings, the partners decided the track would host just one event in 1911. On September 7, 1910, Speedway management released a statement: "Officials of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today announced plans for an automobile race to be run May 27, 1911, in which American cars will be pitted against the best of Europe for a purse of $25,000. The contest, as announced will be for 500 miles, and is to be known as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 500-Mile International Sweepstakes." Motor Age Magazine noted, "The speedway management is anxious to attract (Victor) Hemery, (Felice) Nazzaro, Wagner, (Ferenc) Szisz, (Selwyn Francis) Edge, (Camille) Jenatzy and other well known foreign drivers."

Under AAA sanction, the 500-mile Sweepstakes was to be a "Class E" race, which included cars weighing at least 2,300 pounds with engine displacements up to 600 cubic inches that generally made about 120 horsepower. Experts predicted a winning speed of about 75 miles per hour, safely within the Speedway's design limit. Cash prizes totaling $25,000 would go to the top ten finishers, with $10,000 to the champion. Accessory prizes brought the total offered to $37,600. Entry cost $500, and management reserved the right to cancel if 30 entries were not received by March 1st. Some manufacturers of steam powered cars asked to enter, but AAA rules did not allow steam cars to compete in any class. Later, the date was moved to Memorial Day.

_Start of_ _first Indianapolis Motor Speedway 500-Mile International Sweepstakes, 1911_

Eighty-five thousand gathered on May 30, 1911, to see Ray Harroun win the Sweepstakes' $10,000 first prize and $4,250 in accessory awards. The Chicago Tribune observed, "the spirit of the Roman coliseum and the Spanish bullring" hung over the Speedway. From the 28th starting spot, "The Bedouin" and his bright yellow Marmon Wasp, a "throbbing steel space-annihilator," overcame a field of 39 competitors, including "every well-known pilot in America," averaging 74.6 miles per hour. Taking the lead at 190 miles, Harroun, who had come out of retirement for the Sweepstakes, held off Ralph Mulford and David Bruce-Brown, who see-sawed the runner-up positions while suffering tire woes. Harroun became a national sensation, with congratulatory telegrams arriving from throughout the United States and around the world. One proud Texas father telegraphed he had named his newborn son Ray Harroun Wright.

Ray Harroun, winner of first Indianapolis Motor Speedway 500-Mile International Sweepstakes, 1911

A mob of supporters followed the winner into the infield, where the car was soon surrounded by photographers. "It's too long a distance. It should not be repeated. This is my last race. It is too dangerous. That was the worst race I was ever in, see?" Harroun declared to reporters while still sitting in the Wasp. "Gimme something to eat," he demanded as he climbed from the car.

Immediately after the race Firestone, Schebler Carburetor, Remy Ignition, Monogram Oil, and other automobile accessory companies extolled his use of their product in winning the race. "Ray Harroun, with regular stock Firestone tires on his Marmon, won the national sweepstakes, averaging a speed of nearly 75 miles per hour. Three of his original Firestone tires were still running in perfect condition at the end of the race," read a large newspaper advertisement published the day after Harroun's victory.

Marmon's Post-Race Advertisement, May 31, 1911

The financial success of the single International Sweepstakes event at the Speedway ensured its annual continuation, and eventually spawned the "Speedway Association of America", which anticipated a number of franchised speedways promoting speed and other contests "as a (new) national pastime for the American people."

The dilapidation that blighted the Speedway depressed Wilbur Shaw. Where his triumphs were witnessed by throngs just a few years earlier, Shaw wrote, "Grass and weeds were growing between the bricks on the main straightway and the old wooden grandstands looked as if they were about to fall down. The depressing sights actually haunted my dreams for several nights."

Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, America's First World War aero fighter "Ace of Aces," was himself a championship race driver, a five-time 500-mile Sweepstakes participant. Following the spectacular financial collapse of his motor car company, amid reports of the Speedway's impending closure, he led a Detroit-based investment syndicate that bought controlling interest from Jim Allison and the remaining original investors in November 1927. Through Theodore E. Myers, who was retained as the track's managing director, Rickenbacker operated the Speedway as one of his many business ventures, which included a fledgling passenger airline. Public interest in auto racing and the facility's condition had both declined during the decade since the war, and "Rick" made notable promotional and facility improvements. Immediately he canvassed manufacturers for their entries, adjusting the rules to entice participation. He added a golf course in 1929, repaved much of the brick track with asphalt and rebuilt the outside track retaining walls in 1936.

By 1941 Rickenbacker foresaw America fighting in the growing world war. He told the 500-mile race crowd via radio hookup from his Atlanta hospital room, where he was recovering from plane crash injuries, "I hope and wish that this great outdoor laboratory will be permitted to carry on to help national defense." Immediately after Pearl Harbor, Rickenbacker offered the War Department use of the Speedway, which served as an aerodrome during the first war. His patriotic contribution quickly declined as unsuitable. On December 29, 1941, Rickenbacker announced suspension of the 500-Mile Sweepstakes, "Tradition and priorities demand that we voluntarily suspend the race in the interest of a full-out victory effort." He noted that the 500-Mile Sweepstakes consumed "rubber, fuel, oil, and intricate motor parts...as well as mechanical brains."

Captain Eddie Rickenbacker with new Borg-Warner Trophy, 1936,

and at his desk as President of Eastern Airlines 1946

The American Automobile Association announced on February 23, 1942, that all racing activities under its sanction would be postponed for the war's duration. "The AAA will refuse its sanction for any race until world conditions permit a return to normal pursuits." Its purpose was to save strategic materials and release the "highly skilled young manpower represented by the racing fraternity." However, American auto racing did not end with Rickenbacker's Speedway announcement, nor the AAA's. Claiming to have a two to three year supply of dirt track tires on hand, racing impresario Ralph A. (Pappy) Hankinson, the largest racing promoter in the country, issued a 1942 event schedule bigger than 1941's. "All events which we have in mind are subject to sports regulation of the government," Hankinson noted. "And the organization will cooperate in every way with Uncle Sam."

Hankinson Speedways opened its season on April 19th despite cold weather, with 26,000 attending the show at the Reading, Pennsylvania, half-mile oval. Heading the field were Ted Horn, Joie Chitwood and Bob Sall, with Chitwood winning the 10-mile feature. Among eight events were two "Victory Races," with purses paid in defense bonds, and a demonstration of warfare parachute technique. That weekend General Jimmy Doolittle's American bombers raided Tokyo for the first time.

Tony Bettenhausen won the season's first outdoor midget auto race at the Hammond, Indiana, speedway on May 3rd, receiving a trophy from Mrs. Caroline Bardowski commemorating her son Zenon, a local driver captured by the Japanese at Corregidor.

Hankinson promoted an eight event Consolidated and Central States Racing Association (CSRA)-sanctioned program at Milwaukee on Memorial Day to fill the void left by AAA and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway not operating. Drivers such as Horn, Chitwood, Holland and Sall signed on, with Hankinson paying appearance money to some drivers who considered Horn "too hot" to make an entry worthwhile. Many entries were conditioned on securing enough gasoline to bring cars from the coasts. A crowd of 7,000 saw honeymooning Joie Chitwood win the 20 mile "Victory Sweepstakes" feature over Dave Randolph, with Horn dropping out after just four miles.

The Office of Defense Transportation's banned wartime automobile and motorcycle racing effective midnight July 31, 1942. Some argued that auto racing was important for America's future security. Lt. Rex Mays, two-time AAA National Driving Champion, explained it was strategically important for the United States to end European domination of the automobile and aircraft engine design. "European racing car designers, subsidized by their governments, were years ahead of United States designers when the war started."

The CSRA ended its season July 4th with more than 100 remaining sanctioned events canceled after 15 had been run. The circuit lost its biggest star, Everet Saylor, a month earlier in a wreck at Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Joie Chitwood was named season champion. The last legal automobile race for the duration of the war was an event at the Bakersfield, California, banked dirt Sportsmans Park Raceway on July 31st. The card finished at 11:20 p.m. – just 40 minutes short of the deadline. Norman Girtz won the main event, which included drivers Johnnie Parsons and Eli Vukovich. By the war's end the Raceway's board fences, grandstands and sheds were torn down, the lumber taken "to aid the war effort."

As Fair impresarios, promoters, drivers and car owners, turned to putting on auto thrill shows and other permissible exhibitions through the war years, Ralph Hankinson, proclaimed by Billboard magazine the man who "knew more about racing and its angle-shooting than any man alive", died unexpectedly on August 22, 1942, of a heart condition.

Rickenbacker remained publicly coy about his intent for the property, although it was no secret that the Speedway was on the block for the right price. Wilbur Shaw understood there were purchase offers already on Rick's table. One would destine the Speedway to become a housing development and shopping center. Ironically, Lemon "Lem" Trotter, who acquired the land for the original Speedway partners in 1908, had the distressed property plotted for this post-war development. In his sleeplessness, Shaw decided he would assemble and head an investment syndicate to buy the Speedway and preserve its racing heritage. The American Legion took out a purchase option in 1944 to buy and operate the track for the benefit of war veteran rehabilitation. The option was allowed to expire after the Securities and Exchange Commission ruled the arrangement failed to qualify as a charitable and benevolent institution. And in early 1945, Robert M. Bowes, head of the Bowes Seal Fast Corporation, organized a group to buy and operate the Speedway. That effort collapsed when Bowes suffered a fatal heart attack in June. These events left Shaw apprehensive about a 1946 revival – or any future 500 mile race.

While in New York to finish Firestone's promotional film of his Speedway test run, Shaw visited Rickenbacker at his Eastern Airlines office and confirmed Rick's intent to sell the facility rather than restore it. Shaw plainly asked, "How much money will it take to buy the Speedway?" The Captain was frank. "I'll sell it for exactly what I've put into it, and I'll also let you examine the books, so you'll be able to present an accurate picture of the financial possibilities to any prospective investors." Rickenbacker bought the track in 1927 for $672,690.92. His asking price for Shaw was $750,000. Rick later wrote about the meeting, "I picked Wilbur Shaw, an Indianapolis boy who had won the event three times, as a natural leader to attract (Indiana) state capital." Shaw prepared a detailed prospectus and soon sent copies to more than 30 firms and individuals he thought might invest at least $25,000 each. Eighteen responses came, but several expressed anticipation of a leading role in the Speedway's operation for the investment. That left Shaw, wanting to be the track's managing partner, unable to meet Rickenbacker's terms without turning the Speedway into a promotional operation.

On May 30, 1945, Al Rickenbacker, the owner's brother, spoke to reporters attending a Bob Hope-Bing Crosby golf exhibition at the Speedway's course. "Just as soon as the war with Japan is over, we'll start up. It may be 1946. The track is in nearly as good condition today as it ever has been. Wilbur Shaw was out here testing synthetic tires. He averaged better than 100 miles per hour for the full 500 miles — and on synthetic. So evidently the track is okay." Days later Eddie Rickenbacker told reporters, "Since its inception the racing program at Indianapolis had been a crucible for advanced engineering ideas in motoring. When the last race was run in 1941, many felt that racing saga which began in 1911 had closed. Now there is widespread sentiment urging its restoration as soon as the national security will permit. It is safe to say that the 1946 event will establish a record along those lines, as well as in speed." At the same time, even while pursuing partners, Shaw told the press his mind was made up to drive the 500 again. "I could go out and chop wood for two or three weeks and get into condition. As a matter of fact, if I could do just what I want to, I'd be racing right now." The three-time champion also shared his hope that the Sweepstakes would be revived. "The Speedway is too good a thing to just let it die. And it doesn't take very long for drivers to get the necessary experience."

The Office of Defense Transportation (ODT) lifted its last auto racing restrictions on August 17, 1945, immediately following Japan's surrender. ODT had already approved a general resumption of racing in November 1944, but cars other than midgets were kept off the tracks by unrescinded tire and gasoline rationing restrictions. Bill Tucker, a United Press writer, predicted, "The revived Indianapolis speedway classic next Decoration Day should prove the most spectacular of the series because the lads who learned speed and danger the hard way of war are certain to be represented." 1941 Sweepstakes winner Mauri Rose had a similar vision. "I can picture a field headlined by young heroes who got their start running the tails off 'Zekes' and 'Bettys.' They'll be tough, maybe too tough for us oldtimers, but for the interest and the crowds – say, you haven't seen anything yet."

After Pappy's death in 1942, Hankinson protege Sam Nunis formed "Nunis Speedways". "Shortly before V-J Day I had a hunch the war would end soon and a tip also that Uncle Sam would lift restrictions on racing as soon as that happened. On the day the Japs threw in the sponge, I got on the phone and within 12 hours I booked race meets with 16 fairs for the balance of the season." His schedule expanded to 33 tracks and 94 race dates. Sam's roster of champion drivers included three-time champion Chitwood (1939, '40 and '42), Bill Holland ('41), Lou Heller ('38), and Bob Sall ('37).

A few sanctioning bodies governed racing around the country. AAA, the sanctioning body for the 500-mile Sweepstakes, ran midget, sprint and championship divisions on both coasts. Its National Championship series included the "500" and a handful of other "big car" races run mostly on one mile dirt horse tracks. These included the speedway cars and often the somewhat smaller sprinters. With over 600 members in 38 states, and with Hankinson Speedways backing, CSRA challenged AAA as the nation's preeminent sanctioning body before the war. It kept its offices open, and pressed the ODT to lift the national racing ban during the war on the premise that racing could test synthetic rubber tires for the war effort. The International Motorsports Contest Association (IMCA), founded in 1915, was the third and largest nationwide sanctioning body, operating primarily around the fair race circuit in the Great Plains states. IMCA suspended operations for the war when its major promoter, John A. Sloan, who headed the Racing Corporation of America (RCA), entered naval service.

Billboard Magazine, which covered all aspects of entertainment, noted that before the war, "Hankinson and Sloan, skilled in exploitation, circused the buildups for their events with intensive billing and sent out skilled crews of press agents. As a result, attendance mounted steadily, and even during the low of the depression 30s auto racing was the biggest of attractions at fairs." It was said that many IMCA races were "hippodrome", furious-looking exhibitions of speed with the winner preordained and the "prize money" split among the participants. "With Sloan in control of all the fast cars, few of the races were on the level," Bob Gilka wrote in The Milwaukee Journal, "but they never lacked excitement. Sloan's finishes rocked the old wood grandstand at the fairgrounds. The cars came down the home stretch four abreast, wheel to wheel, and what a show they made!"

AAA and IMCA deferred organizing their championship seasons until 1946, opening an opportunity to reshape American auto racing's power landscape. The AAA Contest Board gave "full permission" to affiliated tracks to open and operate for the remainder of 1945 without a sanction. The day after the OST announcement, CSRA Executive Secretary Norman Witte declared championship racing would resume within two weeks. He then announced an initial list of 1945 sanction issuances, with five promoters licensed to hold contests. The first sanction went to Roy Richwine, owner of the Williams Grove Speedway at Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Others sanctions announced were for Akron, Cleveland, and Greenville, Ohio, Rochester, New York, and Milford, Michigan. Witte reported his offices swamped with fairground race sanction requests, saying he anticipated issuing more than the 125 for 1941.

The first post-war "big car" race ran under CSRA sanction at the half-mile Essex Junction, Vermont, dirt track. The hastily organized event opened the annual Champlain Valley Fair on August 26, 1945. Ted Nyquist, a former big car driver who turned to promotion after injuries ended his career, presented the event. He signed the popular Ted Horn, a Hankinson circuit star and successful Indianapolis driver, to a near exclusive contract after Pappy's death. "Although the track was muddy and slippery the auto drivers put on a good show. Ted Horn won the qualifying trials and feature race in the first auto racing to come here since 1941," reported the local weekly newspaper. "The racers achieved a mile-a-minute clip throughout the performance and the large crowd got what they went to see. Ted Horn's competitor was Lee Wallard and Horn won only by inches. Wallard, who is a discharged naval veteran, won on the same track in 1941."

Advertisement for first post-war Big Car event at Williams Grove, Pennsylvania

Meanwhile, Richwine advertised that he had "obtained the first Official Sanction from CSRA. The first officially recognized and sanctioned Big Car Auto Race in the nation. And perhaps in the entire world, will be held on Sunday, September 9th." Rain twice washed the Victory Championship Race out until September 30th, when Ted Horn again swept the card before a crowd of 26,752, taking the feature by a quarter of a lap over his teammate Tommy Hinnershitz.

Near the end of the 20-lap CSRA feature race at Trenton Fairgrounds, also on September 30th, Harry Hutchinson of Allentown. Pennsylvania, became the first post -war racing fatality, killed when he lost control in the first turn, veered through two fences and crashed into several parked cars.

Through September the CSRA reported 440,000 paid admissions in its first dozen auto racing events. Included was a throng numbering 124,172 at the Allentown Fair on September 22rd. The fair's gates were forced to close at three o'clock. With all available seating sold out, thousands lined the track's outside retaining walls to see the biggest show in 18 years, promoted by Nunis. Jimmy Wilburn won the race.

Europe's first post-war event was a race through the Bois de Boulogne near Paris on September 9, 1945, drawing 200,000 spectators. And by 1946 the Europeans were staging their first major international races despite widespread shortages of tires, gasoline and spare parts – and tight currency exchange controls.

United Press correspondent Cornelius Ryan suggested a post-war "Golden Era" for sports, reporting that sports attendance and betting records were set in the first two days following the war's end. Fair races and auto thrill shows were especially popular, with crowds reported up more than 30 percent over pre-war numbers. With track grandstands packed everywhere, Norman Witte was soon predicting a boom in new speedway construction, "operating both daytime meets and weekly night racing for the big cars. Fairs, too, will offer more auto racing as part of their annual events than ever." CSRA reported sanctioning 28 speedway events in the abbreviated 1945 season.

The day after ODT lifted its restrictions Eddie Rickenbacker announced that the 500-mile Memorial Day race would likely be restored, promising that new wartime technical developments, including jet propulsion and gas turbine engines "will be put to use in the race." Rick expressed little doubt that the race speed record of 117.2 miles per hour set in 1938 would he surpassed in 1946, adding that he expected a crowd of 200,000 for the race. Wilbur Shaw told reporters he had his car "ready to go." And still the future of the Speedway remained in private doubt.

Investment banker and "finder" Homer H. Cochran, Shaw's financial confidant, suggested that Wilbur meet with Terre Haute businessman Anton (Tony) Hulman, Jr. Cochran had previously done business with Hulman, who had been among those originally solicited, and had indicated a willingness to go along. But, of course, there was no deal made. "Tony is about your age. He's a good businessman. He enjoys hunting and fishing. I think he has the financial ability to swing the deal if you can interest him," Cochran told Shaw. Shaw acted on his friend's advice, arranging a meeting in late September. Meanwhile Shaw completed more Firestone high speed tire tests in Utah and Nevada – and greeted his newborn son, Warren Wilbur, Jr. (later nicknamed Bill) to the world.

The 44-year old Hulman headed Hulman & Company, the family business established with a $700 investment in 1848. Tony grew up in genteel but unpretentious surroundings staffed with a servant or two, with Chestnut Street neighbors that included a railroad boilermaker and machinist. He was an active sportsman, and was the nation's leading "schoolboy" hurdler and pole vaulter at Worcester Academy. During the first world war, 17 year old Tony enlisted in the Ambulance Corps, entering Yale after his service. There he starred as a footballer, and was twice selected to national American Amateur Union track teams – once as a 120 yard hurdler, and again as a pole vaulter. He became a top international competitive ocean fisherman, who annually motored to Palm Beach to take the family's 53-foot family yacht "Hulman" on fishing trips to the Florida Keys, Cat Cay and Bimini.

After graduating college, young Tony, as he preferred to be called, joined the family firm. His father, Anton, Sr., told his managers, "Don't give Tony a place in the business. Let him work for it." Tony took over the firm's Clabber Girl Baking Powder brand and heavily promoted it throughout the Midwest. The burgeoning businessman successfully built the product into America's leading baking powder. When his father died in 1942, the gross value of his estate, with additional holdings in real estate and utilities, totaled more than $5 million, according to court documents. Tony's personal inheritance was just over a million.

Anton "Tony" Hulman, Yale football, 1921

The prosperous Hulmans were generous philanthropists, particularly involved in their Terre Haute community. In 1936 father and son formed the Hulman Foundation, endowing 20 percent of the company to finance worthy civic projects. Tony contributed $116,000 to buy 638 acres for the construction of a commercial airport, later named Hulman Field. Months later the family donated 35 acres to the city's Indiana State College, which was also a family neighbor, providing land for a dormitory, field house, stadium, and men's and women's sports fields. Throughout the war years young Hulman promoted his hometown as a great place for business, and helped land several industrial concerns.

Tony's connection with the Speedway began in 1914 when he attended the Sweepstakes and became a Barney Oldfield fan. "I was only 13 when I saw my first race, but I can still see Barney tearing around in a Stutz, with that famous cigar in his mouth."

"Race day was always a big day for us kids in Terre Haute", Hulman often recalled. "Even if we weren't going, we'd stand at the bridge on the side of town—it was the Old National Road then, dirt - and we'd watch the cars go by to Indianapolis, 70 miles away. Foreign makes and all. It was pretty darn impressive. Anyway, I've always loved racing. Sure, I wanted to be a race driver. I guess all of us out here did. Father had an old Pierce-Arrow and we used to go out into the country to fetch a batch of fresh eggs and maybe we'd meet up with a Stutz Bearcat. The old man never minded having a little skirmish." No stranger to competition, Anton Hulman, Sr., was a record-setting bicycle racer who won multiple Indiana state championships and formed the Terre Haute bicycle club. He also ran racing trotters.

Shaw was unaware that Cochrane, who once before had suggested that Hulman buy the track, had already discussed Shaw's proposition with Hulman's inner circle of advisors. "We got Tony steamed up during a golf game one afternoon," said Leonard Marshall, Hulman's attorney and later Speedway secretary, "but nothing was done right then. Tony always moves deliberately until he makes up his mind, and after that you can't keep up with him."

Hulman, both shy and friendly, greeted Shaw in his Terre Haute office on Wabash Avenue with a warm handshake and his recollection of attending the 1914 race. A friend described the multi-millionaire's approach: "He always came up to you as if he were going to borrow money."

Shaw saw Hulman as a perfect financial angel for the Speedway, with no connections to the automotive industry and no promotional aspirations. Their meeting lasted about two hours. "(Shaw) told me these stories about people, how they'd come there and spend a week – even longer," Hulman recollected. "I just couldn't believe how anybody would go monkey around a race car and stay that long in that spot." Shaw also went over the financial details projecting the anticipated returns on the hoped-for investment. "With proper management, I don't see how you can fail to make money on your investment," Shaw pitched the businessman.

"I don't care whether or not I make any money out of it'," Hulman told Shaw earnestly. "The Speedway has been part of Indiana, as the Derby is part of Kentucky. The 500 mile race should be continued. But I don't want to get into something that will require additional capital each year to keep it going. I'd like to be sure of sufficient income to make improvements each year and build the Speedway into something everyone could really be proud of. We'll drive over to Indianapolis soon to take a good look at it, and then let you know what we think of the idea."

Days later Hulman stood on the Speedway bricks in front of the iconic Pagoda. The weeds and other growth had returned over the hot Hoosier summer, the track's pit boxes overrun. He came to look over every possible inch of the property. With him was Theodore E. "Pop" Myers, the Speedway vice president. The entrepreneur asked Myers whether he thought the Speedway was a good business proposition. Myers said it was.

Afterwards Hulman, a careful man, authorized Joseph E. "Joe" Cloutier, Hulman & Company treasurer and his most trusted lieutenant, to open negotiations with Rickenbacker. Years later Cloutier recounted telling Cochran, "Homer, you have brought a lot of silly things to us. but this is one of the most ridiculous. This is a promotional event and we are just wholesale merchandisers. We wouldn't know how to run a race."

According to Dave Cassidy, a Hulman friend, the decision to buy the Speedway "was a flat out business decision. It was an opportunity enhanced by the fact that he was a race fan, but it was a business decision."

At about four o'clock, November 14, 1945, sale papers for the Speedway were publicly signed at the downtown Indianapolis Athletic Club. Hulman reportedly paid $750,000, and committed $250,000 for its restoration. Financing came under the aegis of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a government agency that was focused on building post-war business prosperity. Wilbur Shaw, the three-time Sweepstakes champion who began his racing career by building a race car and having it ordered off the track as being unsafe, had succeeded in saving his beloved Speedway.

"The demands of running Eastern Airlines make it impossible for me to give the speedway the attention which it demands, and it is fortunate that I am able to dispose of my interest to Mr. Hulman," Rickenbacker said announcing the sale to the press. "Mr. Hulman and Mr. Shaw bring to the track 'home town' and 'home state' ownership, which it deserves." Word later filtered back that Rick told his New York City business circle that he had sold the track to an "Indiana hayseed." Years later, enjoying the Speedway's success, Hulman joked about buying "the white elephant Rickenbacker was happy to unload on a loser from Indiana."

Speedway sale papers signed November 14, 1945

Front: Tony Hulman, Eddie Rickenbacker, Wilbur Shaw

Back: Theodore E. "Pop" Myers and Joe Cloutier

Hulman immediately announced that Shaw would serve as the Speedway's president. He retained General Manager Theodore E. "Pop" Myers, who had been with the track since its 1909 opening, and named Cloutier treasurer. The new owner also made clear that the Speedway would immediately undergo improvements. "Our first aim will be to look at spectator comfort and convenience and provide a track and competition that should be an invitation and a challenge to the best race drivers in the world." When Hulman asked his mother, Grace, what she thought of his purchase, she told Tony, "Tear it down and start all over." Instead, he immediately contacted Clarence Cagle, another loyal family retainer just returned from European military service after recuperating from shrapnel wounds. Cagle was ingenious in planning and executing construction, and Hulman wanted him along for the first survey under the new Speedway owner.

"When (Tony) informed me he had bought the Speedway and was thinking of having a race," Cagle said, "I asked him when, and he said, 'I sort of thought maybe in 1946.' This was almost already 1946!"

"Next year's race probably will mark the beginning of a new era in experimentation for automotive progress," the Indianapolis Star editorialized after the purchase. "After the thrills of daring brushes on curve and straight away come the engineering diagnoses which increase the public's driving comfort and safely."

Together, Cagle, Myers and Shaw drove to the Speedway's main gate at the corner of Georgetown Road and 16th Street. "We unlocked the gate, and it fell down," Cagle recalled. "Everything was rotten, there were weeds everywhere. It was a terrible mess. We knew it was going to take time. Pop and Wilbur knew a lot about racing, but nothing about construction."

Hulman told an interviwer, "Termites with their hands clasped together were about the only things holding (the stands) up."

Work on the Speedway started December 1st, barely two weeks after the purchase. Over the next six months, fighting manpower and materials shortages, Cagle supervised the erection of two new bleacher stands on the inside of the southeast turn, replaced part of the old wooden grandstand with steel and concrete, built a new paddock, a new cafeteria near Gasoline Alley, put up fences, installed public address equipment and painted the entire place. Seating capacity increased to 75,000. As building continued, tickets sold faster than the seats they represented could be erected. Then the Speedway caught a break when workers at the nearby GM-Allison plant struck – and the reconstruction project hired many strikers as carpenters to get the backlogged work completed.

"We had 26 fires the the stands that first year," Hulman recalled. "Wilbur took the fire hose to the stands every night. He told me, 'If the stands burn down we won't have any place to put the fans. We'll have to refund all the money and still have to pay prize money.'"

Speedway Gate, 1946

Prior to the Speedway's sale, the AAA contest board held a three-day meeting in New York, chaired by Rickenbacker, to discuss the 1946 season. Owners, drivers and promoters met October 25-27 preparing to return to full operation. The general regulations for championship races remained unchanged, except to allow slightly larger engines in non-championship events. A championship bonus fund was also established using contributions from accessory manufacturers and promoters. A major issue was purse guarantees. The board set a $9000 minimum for championship events, and decreed there would be no appearance or other guarantees payable to contestants. Rickenbacker remained chairman of the AAA contest board until March 1946, when he resigned in favor of Arthur W. Herrington, an Indianapolis automotive and aviation expert whose first official duty would be supervision of the 500-mile race. Veteran starter Seth Klein, who had a part in every previous race, was named to his traditional race post.

The racing world was champing for entries to open for the 1946 500-Mile International Sweepstakes. When Hulman asked early on whether the race would draw enough cars and drivers, Shaw told him "The drivers belong to an informal fraternity; they'll turn up from everywhere." By March 7th, ten owners had sent their official entry, which required a $125 fee, with Fred Peters filing the first. "An unknown driver won't be able to get a car," Shaw told reporters. "There can be only 33 starters and the owners with a lot of money tied up in the machines will nominate drivers who have proved they can go the route." Shaw said he expected over 50 entries before the May 1st deadline.

During a White House visit soon after buying the Speedway, Tony Hulman personally invited President Harry Truman to the race. Hulman also sent a personal invitation to European racers via Indiana Lieutenant Governor Richard T. James, who visited London in December. The response was overwhelming. Among the entries were those for the three Maseratis of Scuderia Automobilistica Milan S/A, Milano from Corrado Filippini. This de facto Maserati works team listed European grand prix veterans Gigi Villoresi and Achille Varzi as drivers.

American expatriate Harry O'Reilly Schell of Paris entered two cars. Schell would drive a six cylinder Maserati, with French driver Count Raphaël Béthenod, best known as "Raph," assigned an Alfa-Romeo. Another entry arrived from 57-year old Captain Robert Wemyss Muir Arbuthnot of London, who would drive a V-12 powered Lagonda pieced together from the remains of two racers badly damaged in the London Blitz. One of the donor machines placed fourth at LeMans in 1939.

Rudi Caracciola, Europe's 45-year-old champion, responded to a personal invitation from Hulman and Shaw, entering his eight-cylinder, 265 horsepower, supercharged W165 Mercedes-Benz. The car was one of two built for the 1939 Grand Prix of Tripoli. Both were smuggled into Switzerland, where Caracciola resided, having been promised Rudi by Mercedes chief executive Dr. Wilhelm Kissel. After first testing his racer on the roads around Zurich, Caracciola shipped it to America. En route British authorities would not allow to trans-ship out of England as intelligence agents were busily examining the Mercedes-Benz for any advanced engine technology they might uncover. Caracciola cabled the Speedway: "Arriving New York by Air Thursday Without Car. Keep Reservations Indianapolis. Greetings to All."

Altogether, there were 14 foreign cars among the 56 entries. American entries included such notables as dashing AAA National Champion Rex Mays piloting the Winfield V-8 powered Bowes Seal Fast Special in which he took second in 1941. Proudly displaying a discharge emblem on his coat lapel, Mays turned in his entry to Pop Myers at the Speedway. 'The car looks exactly the same, but several minor changes have been made and we believe we have a winner," Mays told reporters.

Rival Ted Horn, entered Shaw's two-time Sweepstakes winning Boyle Maserati 8CTF, the first foreign built machine to win at Indianapolis since Peugeot in 1919. Because Horn had raced outside the AAA, he was required to request reinstatement, which was quickly granted. Defending race champion Mauri Rose returned to the Speedway in Lou Moore's Blue Crown Spark Plug Special, built by Joe Lencki in 1939. Rose won the 1941 race in relief after Moore summoned him to replace Floyd Davis, who Moore thought was "baloonfooting". The scrappy Rose drove the final 322 miles to take the checkered flag, coming from 15th place to win the race by 90 seconds. Cliff Bergere, a Hollywood movie stuntman when not driving competitively, was assigned the #3 Noc-Out Hose Clamp Offenhauser. Bergere held the record for most competitive laps driven at the Speedway.

Several shoestringers entered hoping to break into the rich race line-up and prove Shaw wrong. Three speed shop-owning Chicago brothers, Joe, Vince and Andy (Tony) Granatelli, paid a Michigan museum $5,000 for a two-seat, front wheel drive, 1935 Miller-Ford V-8. They ropped in a Mercury 274 cubic inch V-8 that was hopped -up with a custom intake manifold, heads and carburetor - still about 85 percent stock. The trio did their wee hours testing on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive, where friendly cops would often offer them encouragement after pulling them over and hearing their story. The brothers attached head and tail lights, even a muffler, and drove their #59 Grancor Special to the Speedway, where they used the car between track practice sessions for errands around town. So tight was their budget, the crew of nine rotated sleeping space between their Speedway garage and a hotel room rented for driver Danny Kladis, where it was said to be four to the bed. They eventually made it through the month by borrowing $150 from their secretary and her husband.

Zenon Bardowski also sent Shaw an entry. Before the war, under the alias of "Bud Bardy," the Hammond, Indiana, native drove sprint and big cars throughout the Midwest on the IMCA fair circuit against the likes of dirt track legend "World's Champion" Gus Schrader. As military conscription loomed, Bardowski joined an Illinois National Guard armor company in 1941 to avoid being drafted into the infantry. He and his unit completed basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and were immediately federalized and shipped to Manila, the Philippines, arriving on Thanksgiving Day. Just ten hours after Pearl Harbor was bombed, Private Bardowski became a combat veteran. With a heavy .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a half-track, he knocked down a strafing Zero during the initial Japanese air attack on Clark Field, officially credited with the first American Armored Force downing of an enemy aircraft.

Bud's bravery during the long fight was repeatedly noted in the official unit record, and he was promoted in the field to Sergeant. When the main island Luzon fell, Bardowski withdrew to Corregidor, where he courageously fought alongside the Marines defending the coast. He was bayoneted in his right thigh while manning a machine gun as the besieged fortress island finally fell and taken prisoner of war in 1942.

Bardowski survived both the Jap prisoner of war death camps and the "hellships" used to transport POWs to Japan in the later days of the war. He was known to share his food and scrounged medicines with fellow captives, credited by other POWs with saving their lives while incarcerated. From his prison camp at a coal mine outside Hiroshima, Bud witnessed the first atomic bomb blast. When the Emperor announced Japan's surrender he began walking alone toward Tokyo. American forces picked him up on the road, and Bardowski was soon returned to the States for medical treatment and convalescence, promoted to Technical Sergeant before his discharge. He was decorated with the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart, and declared 40 percent disabled. Back home, with his Army back pay accumulated through his service and three and a half year incarceration, Bud bought an undistinguished 1935 racer from Detroit Studebaker dealer Carl Magnee. The car was the former #37 Greenfield Service Studebaker Eight Special that last qualified for the 1939 race, finishing 24th after eliminated by a blown head gasket. Bardowski named his car the #37 "Enlist in the U.S. Army Special", and set out to qualify for the International Sweepstakes.

Most American-built entries used the Offenhauser 270 cubic inch engine, an already-classic four-cylinder racing motor that evolved from a 1932 Miller design. There were other motors as well, including those built by Brisko, Duray, Lencki, Sparks, Voelker, and Winfield, mostly themselves derivations of the classic Miller design. Jimmy Wilburn won the Mike Benton Sweepstakes at Atlanta's Lakeland Park on March 31st, the first post-war "big car" racing program sanctioned by the American Automobile Association. The first post-war AAA National Championship race was on the half-mile dirt track at Williams Grove, Pennsylvania, on April 14th. Walt Ader won driving Ted Horn's #4 Offy.

The Grand Prix de Nice was run in France on April 22, with a field of cars that were mostly pre-war leftovers that survived by being hidden or protected from destruction. German cars and competitors were banned. The Grand Prix attracted 50,000 spectators, and featured such drivers as Maurice Trintignant, "Raph," and Harry Schell. Luigi "Gigi" Villoresi, winner of the 1939 South African Grand Prix, won the race by overtaking and lapping Raymond Sommer, who had once led by ninety seconds after a three minute Villoresi fuel stop.

The first cars arrived at the Speedway the last days of April with work still underway shoring up the grandstands and buildings, and patching the racing surface. George Barringer was first out on the track with his novel rear-engined, four wheel-drive Tucker Torpedo Special, formerly known as the Gulf-Miller and renamed by Preston Tucker to promote his innovative – and not yet produced – Tucker automobiles. The racer was powered by a supercharged 180 cubic inch Miller engine.

First on the Speeedway 1946, George Barringer and Tucker Torpedo Special

Lewis W. (Lew) Welch left Ford Motor Company in 1935 to capitalize on his company connections, establishing an auto parts plant to supply Ford, which eventually led to a personal fortune. Before the war interrupted the race, Welch had planned a unique Indianapolis entry. In 1941 Welch commissioned the Winfield brothers, William, known as "Bud", and Ed, to build an exotic, powerful racing motor. Welch named the V-8 supercharged engine for his hometown of Novi, Michigan. With the sale of the Speedway in 1945 and anticipating a 1946 race, Welch asked Los Angeles car builder Frank Kurtis to execute a Leo Goosen-designed front drive racer powered by the Novi-Winfield engine. On May 5th, Kurtis and his fabricators finished the Novi Governor Special at a reported cost of $50,000. Ralph Hepburn, a fourteen-time Sweepstakes veteran, was signed to drive the new, 500-horsepower machine.

Novi Governor Special, 1946, Ralph Hepburn

"I can remember when some of those cars that seem so antiquated now would have startled a crowd by their newness," starter Seth Klein remarked. As race day approached Shaw admitted to reporters, "I'd love to be in there. And I'd like to go to Europe, and do a little dirt track racing. The game gets in your blood."

The war hiatus left behind a shortage of veteran Speedway drivers. Filling that gap offered many a chance to make the "big time." The rules stipulated that a first-time driver pass an observed track test before allowed driving at high speeds. The test, according to Ike Welch, chief observer, was to license drivers with good physical condition and who demonstrate good driving habits. "After a new driver arranges with a car owner the use of his car, he applies to the chief steward for permission to take the test," explained Welch. "A committee of car owners and others with track experience is placed around the track together with a few special observers who are connected to the chief steward by telephone. These men report any driving below the white lines on the inside of the turns, any lack of control, or any other erratic driving that they observe." Welch explained the series of speeds chosen for the test. "The first is 10 laps at 85 miles per hour. This slow speed approximates the time that drivers make when the yellow caution flag is displayed. It is purposely included to accustom the driver to handling his car at slow speed." The lap speeds increase by ten miles per hour until the top speed of 115 miles per hour. "Some drivers never develop a sense of speed. They drive inconsistently. One lap too fast, the next too slow. In the big race they would be pulling ahead on one lap and dropping behind the next, gaining nothing and increasing the chances of collisions. They are ruled off unless they have a satisfactory explanation. Other drivers circle the track during the fastest runs to give the novice a taste of traffic," Welch continued. "This 'heckling' is done prudently, without any moves that might lead to an accident and simply shows the new driver what to expect when there are as many as 32 other cars on the track during the big race." To ensure track safety, the Speedway rules required cars driven by "rookies" to be marked with three stripes so veteran drivers would be cautious around them.

Days before qualifications began, Shaw announced restoration of the Borg-Warner trophy as the customary prize awarded to the Sweepstakes winner. Besides the $10,000 trophy, the winner will also receive $1200 from the company.

Qualifications began on a rainy May 18th. Cliff Bergere, the forty-nine year old veteran with fourteen previous Speedway races behind him, was the first to qualify. He captured the pole position in the #3 Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special by posting a 126.471 mile per hour average speed over the four required laps. Paul Russo placed in the middle of row one with Lou Fageol's unique twin-Offenhauser powered #10 Twin-Coach Special, clocked at 126.183 miles per hour. Sam Hanks qualified the #32 Spike Jones Special, sponsored by the madcap band leader, at 124.762 to complete the front row. Only six cars qualified the first day due to weather and the mechanical difficulties that bedeviled many of the hastily prepared cars. Ted Horn headed the second day's qualifiers at 123.980 miles per hour in the #29 Boyle Maserati. Defending champion Mauri Rose also qualified in the #27 Blue Crown car.

A technology sideshow was provided by driver Dennis "Duke" Nalon, who demonstrated rocket power to mid-week spectators. His car had 41-pound JATO (Jet Assist Take Off) rockets made by the General Tire Company attached that could be fired, cut off going into a turn, and turned on again along the straightaway. He had gotten interested in rocket power after a conversation with Mrs. Emita von Opel, whose husband, known as "Rocket Fritz," pioneered automotive and aviation rocket power in pre-war Germany. Nalon guessed the rockets' thrust might add an instant 60 miles per hour to his speed. "Engineers think the rockets will double the car's power. We've really got to try it though, before we can do anything more than guess at our power. I don't think the thrust will throw the car sideways." While driving the front stretch at 80 miles per hour, Nalon fired the rockets. A two-second burn raised his speed to an estimated 100 miles per hour, and spewed dense white smoke that obliterated the view for many. His second try was a four-second burn, which Nalon claimed pushed him to "130 miles per hour, maybe 140." Observers agreed that the impenetrable smoke would prevent the rockets ever being used in a race.

The Scuderia Milan team members arrived on May 22 and their three Maseratis soon after, held up in transit from New York by a railroad strike. Arriving the same day was Rudi Caracciola and his wife, Alice, despite his having no ride for the race.

On the third qualifying day, defending National Champion Rex Mays finally qualified his #1 Bowes Seal Fast Special, the same car he used to capture consecutive AAA National Championship titles in '40 and '41. "Old Man Heavyfoot" averaged 128.861 miles per hour, more than two miles per hour faster than Bergere's pole winning speed, but it only put him in the fifth row. Another speed surprise came on the fourth qualifying day: After enduring a month of transmission problems, 50-year old veteran Ralph Hepburn and the new #2 Novi Governor Special turned the Speedway on a dark, damp and windy day, at an astonishing 133.944 miles per hour, with his fourth lap at 134.449. Both were new track records, smashing Jimmy Snyder's 1939 marks of 130.138, and one-lap record of 130.757. Despite being blinded when his necktie escaped his sweater, "Hep" clocked over 170 miles per hour on the Speedway's two long straights, where the engine's shaft driven supercharger produced a distinctive whine as it turned nearly 25,000 RPM. He also said a rabbit blocked the track on his third lap. "I thought 'if I miss this bunny, I will be plenty lucky.'" He completed the last two laps without brakes. "I just used a prayer on the turns."

Cheered by the crowds and declared the "Peoples' Choice" by the New York Times, Bud Bardowski had been driving around the track in his "Enlist in the U.S. Army Recruiting Special" trying to pass his Speedway rookie test while adjusting to his two week marriage to his wife Ray. Because time was growing short, needing to qualify, he turned the machine over to Buddy Rush, a friend from their pre-war IMCA racing days. Rush qualified the car at 116.268 miles per hour, and an ecstatic Bardowski figured to drive part of the race in relief.

By the fifth and final qualifying day, Tuesday, May 28th, crews and drivers were pressing to make the field of 33 starters. While there were six openings, there were also many capable cars left to attempt qualification. Wheelchair-bound owner-driver, Joe Thorne, who had broken both his legs and a wrist in a February motorcycle accident, hired Caracciola to drive his #44 "Big Six" Thorne Engineering Special. The two-seater, built in 1937, originally featured a supercharged, 336 cubic inch, six-cylinder engine that cranked 450 horsepower and enough torque so that when accelerated off the turn little puffs of smoke were reportedly seen from the rear tires. New engine rules reduced the six to 272 unblown cubic inches. Caracciola had high-speed experience on Berlin's Avus track and at Monza, Italy. In 1938, he set a world speed record by driving a streamlined Mercedes Silver Arrow down a German autobahn at 268 miles per hour. Rudi quickly adjusted to the Speedway.

Before taking the track for the last phase of his rookie driving test, safety officials insisted Caracciola wear a hard helmet rather than his familiar continental linen cloth head cover. A military-type helmet was chosen. Despite his vast experience, Caracciola was badly injured when his car crashed into the wall exiting the southeast turn after entering too low. The car hit the barrier with a front wheel catching on a post, the impact shearing off the wheel. The impact tossed Rudi from the car, his helmeted head striking the brick track. He suffered a severe concussion and skull fracture, and was partially paralyzed. Even after his physical recovery Caracciola maintained he could remember nothing of the wreck. Witnesses reported his hands lifted from the steering wheel as he suddenly collapsed in the car at an estimated 115 miles per hour. A dead bird discovered near the accident scene led to speculation the errant fowl hit Rudi in the face. Another rumor, investigated by the FBI, was that an anti-Nazi assailant either shot Caracciola or threw a stone at him. Immediately taken to Methodist Hospital Caracciola initially suffered partial paralysis. He later convalesced from his injuries as a guest at Tony Hulman's Terre Haute farm. Hulman and Rudi remained good friends until Caracciola's death in 1959. Indeed, the Hulmans invited Caracciola's widow to the race annually as their guest. As an appreciative token, Alice Caracciola later willed her husband's many international racing trophies to the Speedway museum.

Gigi Villoresi, winner at Nice, became the only foreign driver in the race when he qualified his late-arriving Maserati at 121.249 miles an hour. Duke Nalon qualified another Scuderia Maserati car. The last spot in the field was earned by Danny Kladis, who pushed the Granatelli's museum piece Grancor-Ford to 118.890 miles per hour - bumping Bardowski's popular entry, and denying Bud's dream of making a Sweepstakes start less than a year after his release from Japanese custody. Five Maseratis and three Alfa-Romeos made the final field of 33. Tony Hulman's dream of presenting a "challenge to the best race drivers in the world" was being fulfilled.

Hulman was admittedly nervous the night before the race. Despite large crowds throughout the month, and especially on qualifying days, as well as a good advance ticket sale, he feared a race turnout smaller than the pre-war years. Moreover, the owner feared his Speedway facility itself was not ready. As insurance, he had installed Clarence Cagle as assistant to holdover Speedway Superintendent Jack Fortner. Cagle recalled, "We just propped the place up, really." Cables with turnbuckles tightened the old wooden structures and minimized swaying, although the rickety but freshly painted grandstands still rocked under the growing crowd. Workers removed the last wooden concrete forms just before the gates opened. Shaw recalled finding Fortner in his office on race day "crying like a baby" relieving the accumulated stress.

Starting to the track at nine o'clock from his downtown apartment, Hulman became more nervous with each passing mile. "I was halfway down Kessler Boulevard, riding along with a friend of mine, and there wasn't a soul," he recalled. "My heart sank. It was a beautiful morning, too. Then we hit one of the cross highways, and it was so mobbed we could not get across. I never saw anything like it. Those cars were stacked up for miles and the radios were blaring and the people just sitting around and eating and drinking and playing cards. I remember there was a two headed cow being shown." Luckily, a police officer helped him through, arriving at his track just in time for his inaugural race. "I guess it was about the first time there were really as many people there as claimed," Hulman recalled later. The traffic jam was bad enough to cause some race-goers to turn into Riverside Park, an amusement park, which reported large gains on concessions and ride admissions for the day. Late-arriving fans, desperate to see the start, pushed down sections of the Speedway's outside fence along Georgetown Road to gain entry. Traffic flow went to the top of Hulman's improvement list.

Wilbur Shaw, with a great feeling of satisfaction, took the microphone and a deep breath: "Gentlemen, start your engines."

The race began as the field followed Shaw and Henry Ford II, who drove the Lincoln Continental pacemaker, to the starting line at about 90 miles per hour. As the Lincoln pulled into the pit area, starter Seth Klein waved the green flag - Mauri Rose grabbed the lead off the start and held it for eight laps. Then Rex Mays took over as perennial challenger Ted Horn pulled into the pits to fix a magneto problem. Master mechanic Cotton Henning replaced the offending magneto in just under seven minutes, returning Horn to the race. Ralph Hepburn assumed the front on lap 12 with his Novi, building his lead to over a minute until lap 56, when he went to the pits for six minutes to repair a brake line, dropping him to thirteenth. From then British-Canadian George Robson, who started his career racing stock cars on what he called "cow pastures", led the pack driving Joe Thorne's other car, known as "Little Six."

The 1946 500-Mile Sweepstakes

In the meantime, several favorites fell out: On lap 17 Paul Russo crashed the unique, twin-engined #10 Fageol Twin Coach Special and suffered a broken leg. a broken oil line eliminated Sam Hanks. Mays left the race on lap 25 with a cracked manifold, while the #26 Tucker Torpedo Special and George Barringer stopped with gear trouble. Rose crashed his #8 Blue Crown Spark Plug Special on lap 37, sustaining only minor injuries when thrown from his car, landing mid-track where he sat dazedly as the field sped by. The #59 Grancor Special was humming along under Danny Kladis when he stopped for fuel on lap 52. After he pulled out to rejoin the race the car sputtered and stopped in turn two. Somehow, the fuel supply petcock was placed in the off position, and the car's fuel starved engine shut down. By the time the pit crew arrived, a tow truck had pulled the car into the infield. Despite the engine refiring to resume the race, the short tow to safety disqualified the car. With that the Granatellis suffered their first Indianapolis heartbreak – earning $875. "I have no high hopes of winning a race in competition with cars that undoubtedly can and will be built to go faster," Andy Granatelli admitted later, "but I do believe we can stay in the race, which is more than can be said for the majority of the special racing engines."

Robson maintained the lead from lap 56 onward, except for a few laps following a 30-second pit stop. Nevertheless, Hepburn did not concede, despite the time lost to the lead by his minutes long stop. "Hep" wound his behemoth Novi to full power, lapping at 124 miles per hour – nine miles per hour faster than the leader. By 100 laps, despite the growing loss of his braking due to a crewmember having mistakenly installed automotive brake fluid instead of more heat resistant aircraft-type, Hepburn pushed the Novi to fourth place and continued to gain ground furiously. Then the engine lost a connecting rod – Hepburn's great drive ended after 300 miles, and so did any challenge to Robson's lead.

The mounting car failures led to an embarassingly few cars on the track. Despite his throttle problems, Wilbur Shaw asked Billy DeVore to rejoin the race after first dropping out – DeVore continued at about 90 miles per hour to finish tenth. Only nine cars actually finished. Bill Sheffler finished 61 laps behind, after taking a long pit stop to install a new rear end in his car and battling low engine oil pressure. One unamused columnist wrote afterward, "Next year we're going to enter our Oldsmobile in the race, for we certainly could beat Bill Sheffler." Three Italian cars achieved the finish, led by Ted Horn's third place #29 Boyle Maserati.

George Robson, 1946 Sweepstakes Winner

George Robson efficiently came from the fifth row to win the race in 4 hours 21 minutes 16.70 seconds, a comfortable 44 seconds ahead of Jimmy Jackson driving his own green-painted #61 Jackson Special. "The Pride of Maywood", California, Robson, who had never before won a major event over 15 years of racing, nor ever raced outside of the West Coast region before, averaged 114.820 miles per hour in his victorious run as a Spedway rookie. He took three safety laps, one more than usual. When Robson finally pulled into Victory Lane, singer James Melton, who introduced "Back Home in Indiana" during the pre-race festivities, asked, "Why did you drive the extra lap?" George explained, "I took that extra lap to figure out a speech for the radio folks." His first request was for a bottle of cold milk.

Jackson filed two protests involving Robson. The first, that George improperly improved his position under yellow caution conditions, was disallowed when shown he lost three seconds in one instance, and gained just ten in another. The second protest, that Robson violated pit rules by remaining in his car during a fueling stop, resulted in Jake Mehan, AAA chief steward, levying a $1,000 fine, but the AAA technical committee found the violation had no bearing on his victory. The win earned George $42,350 in cash. In lieu of the traditional pace car, Robson received an oil painting and a trip to Italy.

Life for the Indianapolis 500 winner changed immediately – George Robson became a national celebrity whose personal appearance in a pre-television world was in high demand. Billboard magazine reported days after the race that Robson "has not been signed to compete in any fair programs but it is understood that several promoters have made him offers." The public wanted to see the new champion – within weeks large crowds were drawn wherever George appeared. An Akron crowd of 14,000 set an all-time Ohio attendance record, where Robson won a five lap midget match race by a car length over Jimmy Jackson. And he was soon booked for races at the Illinois and Iowa State Fairs, as well as various other speedways, winning a 20-mile feature on July 28th at Langhorne Speedway, outside Philadelphia. There, on August 11th, a crowd of 31,000 witnessed Robson make the first dirt track run of a rocket car, using the same JATO rockets that powered Nalon at Indianapolis, setting a new track record of 108.1 miles per hour. Robson repeated the rocket demonstration during his State Fair appearance in Des Moines.

In Miami, vacationing with Speedway associates, Tony Hulman spoke to Carl Dillon of the Miami Daily News. He blamed the bad weather through May for the high attrition rate. "It rained for ten straight days when our qualifying heats were held, and this prevented most of the drivers from giving their cars rugged tests for a long distance race." Looking to the future Hulman said the greatest average speed to be attained over the 500 miles will be 130 miles per hour. He predicted that future race car improvements would spring chiefly from developments in airplanes, and he saw a possibility of some placing the engine in the back of the car.

The 1946 AAA National Championship series included six "big car" races of 100 miles or longer, including the 500-mile Sweepstakes. However, points scored in sprint car races on shorter tracks also counted towards the championship provided the promoter paid AAA a higher "points" sanctioning fee. Altogether there were as many as 77 championship-points events. Only one big car championship event was run between the end of May and September, at Langhorne on June 30th. Rex Mays won the 100-mile race on the circular dirt mile track before 50,000 spectators. Earlier on the program, George Robson won a five mile match race by two lengths over Mauri Rose.

Eleven competitors took the green flag starting the next championship big car race on Labor Day at Lakewood Speedway, Atlanta, Georgia. Ted Horn grabbed the early lead around the dry, dusty track before Rex Mays overtook him on lap 16. Horn retook the lead two laps later, and maintained his advantage into lap 98. A holiday crowd of nearly 30,000 watched as the ten remaining cars passed the line in a tight bunch. Like at Indianapolis, Billy DeVore had his crippled car puttering slowly along the inside of the dirt oval - doing just about 20 miles per hour nursing a damaged drive shaft. Sweepstakes winner Robson suddenly came up behind him, visibility cut to almost zero by the swirling red clay dust. DeVore's slow car forced Robson to swerve his car into the middle of the track, where George Barringer's racer rammed him. Robson's machine started an end-over-end cartwheel. Witnesses reported he jumped from the cockpit, breaking the unwritten rule of the track to get down into "the basement" by ducking below the car's cowling for protection. Robson's careening machine then struck DeVore's, forcing it into the track's infield pond, where it ended upside down trapping Billy.

Stirred further by the mayhem, the heavy red dust blocked the vision of the other oncoming racers, including race leader Horn. He told reporters he "was flying blind" when he "hit something" claiming "that was the first I knew that the track was blocked." Horn quickly stopped his car and ran back down the obscured track waving his arms to warn the others. Driving just behind the bunch, Joe Langley saw Robson's tumbling car and cut sharply to his right. As he skidded to a halt, Langley saw Robson's body sprawled on the track. Joe later said he watched as two cars hit him. George Robson, winner of the post-war 500, was dead. Unsuccessful in stopping the others, Horn noticed DeVore face down in the pond and, together with Langley, rushed to Billy's rescue before he drowned.

Barringer's initial collision with Robson's car threw him violently inside his Wolf Tulsa Special's cockpit. Striking the steering wheel or cowling fractured his skull and killed him. Bud Bardowski, who also spun in the deadly melee, suffered head lacerations. The nearly drowned DeVore suffered only minor injuries. The race stopped and Horn awarded the win at the track. Newspapers dutifully noted that Robson, 32, was the father of a 12-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl. Barringer, 42, was survived by his wife. Both widows witnessed the carnage. Robson and his wife were to fly to Paris shortly after the race – the trip one of his Indianapolis prizes. In December the AAA contest board finally sustained a protest filed by Ed Walsh, who owned the George Connors car. After Horn admitted that he struck "something" on the track, the board placed Horn sixth and declared George Connor the race winner. Connor's championship win was the first for California car designer and builder Frank Kurtis. AAA officials also exonerated DeVore of blame for the accident.

Ted Horn captured the 1946 AAA National Driving Championship, participating in the Sweepstakes, five one-mile championship races, and 33 dirt track events, earning 2,488 points, almost 1,000 more than the second highest total. As the year closed, Col. Arthur Harrington, Contest Board chairman, said that AAA had about 40 sanction requests pending before the Board for 1947. He also announced that 3,600 miles were raced under AAA sanction in 1946, which paid an average prize of $84.50 per mile, a $30 increase in prize money per mile over 1941. "National championship races on the one-mile dirt tracks were, for the first time, sanctioned on the basis of a guaranteed purse against a percentage of the gate. As a result of this the amount of prize money has just about doubled," Herrington said, pointing out the 1947 National Championship schedule expanded as more "annuals" came under sanction. The DuQuoin Illinois State Fair Mile, under promoter Sam Nunis, and the Wisconsin State Fair mile, with promoter Tom Marchese, brought multiple dates from CSRA to AAA sanction.

#  Chapter Two: The Blue Crown Dynasty (1947-1950)

Frank Moran's prediction proved accurate. Motorsports, particularly short oval races, were integral to the nation's post-war sporting fabric. Thousands flocked to the local bullrings to watch homegrown midget drivers battle in the dirt. Major big car races routinely drew crowds of 35,000, or more – with the Sweepstakes pulling an estimated 175,000 spectators to the Speedway.

In January Speedway President Wilbur Shaw announced a $75,000 guaranteed purse for 1947, equal to the previous year, saying accessory money from various automotive manufacturers would raise the final total to a new record, exceeding 1946's $115,450 – racing's richest. Many drivers and owners responded tepidly to the announced purse, still simmering from a controversy that started with the previous Sweepstakes. Major races generally paid at least 40 percent of the gate, and the Indianapolis purse, large as it was, was nowhere near that percentage. Estimates of the admission revenue ran to one million dollars. Only Wilbur Shaw's intervention, pointing out the expense of restoring the Speedway, prevented a last minute walkout in 1946.

When he bought the track Hulman said Rick told him, "I want to give you a little advice about that speedway. If you boys are going to make it go, never get the prize money over $75,000 in a year, because if you do you'll be a flop."

Many drivers and owners used the American Society of Professional Automobile Racing (ASPAR), initially formed in 1946 to push for better conditions from track owners and promoters, to press for a better payout. Respected Novi pilot Ralph Hepburn was named ASPAR president for 1947, succeeding Rex Mays. Among the association members were Emil Andres, "Duke" Nalon, Louis Durant, Henry Banks, Sam Hanks and Tony Bettenhausen. The group sought a guaranteed Sweepstakes purse of $150,000, still a much lower percentage of the gate than other races.

When Shaw flew to Los Angeles in late February to make promotional appearances for the Speedway, he met informally with Hepburn to discuss the purse issue despite not having received a "petition" from the drivers. Hepburn and Shaw were good friends, having traveled and raced together for many years. Shaw drove Hep's Miller in the 1932 Sweepstakes while Ralph recovered from crash injuries. Ironically, Shaw won his first Sweepstakes in 1937 by only 2.16 seconds - beating Hepburn. It was then the closest finish of any "500."

Both men both declined public comment afterwards, although Shaw declared that the prize fund would be "as high as sound business practices permit. We hope the Speedway will have the biggest pay-off of any sports event." At the end of March, after waiting for the speedway's response, Duke Nalon announced that ASPAR "officially and formally petitioned the speedway corporation" to double the prize fund or "show us why an increase is, as Shaw claims, impossible."

By April rumors spread that certain of the group were wavering. Shaw told reporters that the Western ASPAR members were not in agreement with Hepburn, and termed the guild's demands "ridiculous and very unreasonable." Still, he outwardly exuded confidence in a settlement. "We have a conference scheduled with Hepburn in Indianapolis next week and I feel sure everything will be worked out at that time."

Shaw's remarks moved Nalon to tell reporters, "Ralph is our president and we are certainly behind him. We are looking to Ralph to handle our negotiations. We certainly are in accord. That goes both ways." Rex Mays told reporters, "We've reached a deadlock, and I feel the controversy should be made public at this time. We are not trying to club the track over the head, but we are convinced the event, which Shaw himself calls the greatest sports show in the world, makes more than enough money to increase the prize money." Mays called Shaw's offers "mere chickenfeed."

On April 10th Hepburn announced he was holding back 28 entries of ASPAR-affiliated teams as negotiations continued. Shaw simply replied that if anyone withheld their entries to press a demand for higher prizes, "they'll just be out of the race."

"We have to be governed by sound business practices," Shaw explained. "We are going to pay all the prize money the traffic will bear." Still, ASPAR membership stood together. "We are not threatening a strike," car owner Carl Marchese told reporters. "Our request for more money is merely a matter for peaceful negotiation with Shaw and Tony Hulman."

On April 14, the day before race entries closed, Hepburn and Joe Lencki, a car owner and an ASPAR leader, met with Shaw in Indianapolis and again presented the group's demand that the purse be doubled to $150,000. Pop Myers, Speedway vice president, and Treasurer Joe Cloutier also attended the discussions. Lencki, a Sweepstakes entrant since 1934, pressed ASPAR's case, telling reporters he and Hepburn offered to take the prize money payment on a percentage basis. "If the track lost money we'd be willing to lose with them and take a cut in the $75,000 prize total. Under that agreement, if the track made money, we'd make more, too. But Shaw refused to guarantee even one thin dime in additional prize money." Afterward Myers told the press that there was a new clause in the entry contract that allowed the Speedway to declare the Sweepstakes an "invitational event," which allowed the Speedway to extend its entry deadline. However, he dismissed that possibility. "Some entries came in today. I don't think we will have to make it an invitational race."

After the entry deadline passed, Shaw still gave no sign of backing down in his so-called "prize fight" with ASPAR. He admitted that the race was still 12 entries short of its normal field. Only four of the 21 entries made public by Shaw involved drivers who had ever raced in the 500-mile Sweepstakes. Shaw bravely noted any additional entries bearing a postmark prior to midnight would be accepted, claiming to expect some from abroad as several foreign drivers and owners had indicated an interest in participating. The next day the Speedway announced entries for Lou Moore's two new Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials. The forms named ASPAR members Mauri Rose and Tony Bettenhausen as drivers. Shaw refused to say whether the Speedway might find some loophole to admit holdouts.

Hepburn countered that 28 racing car owners and 26 "best known" drivers had withheld their entries because of the speedway management's refusal to adjust cash prizes "to the enormously increased costs that now accompany every step in the preparation of race cars and their crews" for the race. "If Shaw meant what he said, the cars and drivers I represent will not be there," Hepburn said. "I was following the advice of the majority of my car owners and they were in agreement that we would not participate if we did not receive the purse increases we were after." In a statement Hepburn explained that ASPAR members unanimously "canceled their planned entries because of prohibitive post-war costs" and the failure of Speedway management to increase the purse commensurate "to the enormously increased costs that now accompany every step in the preparation of race cars and their crews."

Meanwhile, Lew Welch told Shaw that his two Novis had been entered by mail, with Cliff Bergere named as one driver while the other entry was blank. On April 18th Tony Hulman announced a final list of 32 entries and promised an increase in the $75,000 prize fund, but did not specify how much. Shaw offered some of the boycotting group a chance to get into the race by making deals with the entrants. Days later Shaw announced $100 lap prizes were "virtually assured." ASPAR Secretary Burt Shalmers dismissively noted, "We don't recognize many names of entries at Indianapolis. I don't think even a third of them can qualify." The Speedway was still hoping for entries from the Scuderia Milan racing team, which had said it planned to return after its good showing in the previous Sweepstakes. The team had been racing in South America, and the Speedway maintained that their entries might have been mailed before the deadline. However, the team never entered.

Rex Mays met with Hepburn and promoter Jim Fratone in Chicago on April 22nd to discuss a 200-mile Memorial Day event at Milwaukee as an ASPAR substitute for the Indianapolis race. "If (the Speedway) will not produce their records," Lencki told reporters, "then we will be compelled to race elsewhere May 30th." Shaw replied that the Speedway "will not oppose any attempt by ASPAR to obtain a franchise, since another race will have no harmful effect on the 500. I don't blame the holdout owners at all for seeking a way to make some money on Memorial Day. Our entries at the Speedway are closed and under no circumstances could the holdout owners enter their machines here. If I were in their boots, I would probably be doing the same thing." Charles Lamb, AAA contest board secretary, told Milwaukee promoter Tom Marchese that no sanction would be issued for the race as it was against policy to grant franchises for two championship events held the same day. "Under no consideration would I agree to run a race without sanction," promoter Tom Marchese told the Milwaukee Sentinel, but another "eastern promoter" indicated he would. The secretary of the Wisconsin State Fair said he would not permit use of the track for an unsanctioned race.

On April 26th ASPAR announced a replacement event: Two 100-mile races on the Wisconsin State Fair Park dirt mile oval, either on Memorial Day or June 8th. Shalmers said ASPAR had been promised 40 per cent of the gross gate, with a guarantee of $7500 – significantly less total money than offered at Indianapolis. "The 100-mile dirt track at Milwaukee isn't as wearing as the 500-mile speedway on cars or drivers," Shalmers noted. "The tire bill for the speedway runs about $800, for instance, while it's practically nothing at Milwaukee."

But Col. A.W. Herrington, AAA contest board chairman, reiterated that no sanction would be forthcoming. "The association rules are specific on that. The rules prohibit the approval of two races on the same track within two weeks." The Milwaukee venue had already scheduled a June 8th 100-miler. Rumblings began about going outlaw, although ASPAR would not discuss the possibility publicly. In Chicago Joe Lencki said "There is still a chance that we will reach a settlement over the purse difficulties with the Speedway. At any rate, we will give the Speedway until April 30th to meet our demands for more purse money." When there was no settlement Lencki went ahead with trying to arrange the alternate race at Milwaukee.

Jimmy Jackson, who won second at the Speedway in '46, ended his holdout on April 29th, quitting ASPAR. Some interpreted Jackson's defection as the beginning of the association's breakdown.

On May 7th, Lencki announced ASPAR had requested to appear before the AAA contest board. "If the Indianapolis issue is not settled tomorrow," he said, "then our 34 drivers and cars whose entries were withheld from the 500-mile race will compete somewhere else Memorial Day, either at Milwaukee or Langhorne."

Hepburn, Shaw and board members conferred. Hepburn offered a concession, saying the drivers would take the $75,000 purse plus any adjustment the gate receipts might warrant. Shaw balked, "This is the sort of coercive type of thing that happened to fifteen major speedways, and they're all out of business except one. They went bankrupt. I have told Ralph that the purses would be increased just as fast as possible." As the board was about to hear ASPAR's grievances, Shaw publicly exuded confidence in filling the Sweepstakes field with 33 cars and drivers. Declining to attend the formal meeting, Shaw denied any interest in the proceedings, "This is purely a matter between the ASPAR and the contest board."

The board refused to reopen Speedway race entries after its hearing, stating, "In accordance with the usual procedures, post-entries may be accepted provided all entrants, or their agents, sign a waiver." It also turned down sanctioning an ASPAR event in Milwaukee. The next day promoter Frattone filed an application for a 200-mile championship race to be run May 30th at Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Hepburn said the ASPAR holdouts would not race if the Langhorne application was turned down.

Throughout this drama others prepared for the race. The Sweepstakes again drew much foreign hardware. Tommy Lee, a Los Angeles Cadillac dealer and broadcast network owner, imported and entered a 480-horsepower, 12–cylinder Mercedes-Benz W-163 racer. In a pre-war test it had been officially clocked in a class world record time of 248.3 miles per hour. The complex low-slung racer, which last appeared at the 1939 Grand Prix of Belgium, was said hidden in Germany during the war, the object of an intense search by the Nazi Gestapo.

Smuggled to England by a Czech racing club, the exotic machine arrived in California by airfreight after a trans-Atlantic crossing to New York on the luxury ocean liner "Queen Mary". The W-163 was hidden behind locked doors, where Lee's chief mechanic Mal Ord worked to sort it out. "It's something of a mystery car to us, too," he said. It was sensationally promoted as capable of 300 miles per hour or more. Ord shrugged that off saying, "Maybe it will only do 40. We've got to see first." Also among the entries was one from by Henry Leslie Brooke for an E.R.A. GP2, reportedly Britain's fastest race car that made 172 miles per hour during tests in England. The lightest race entry at 1450 pounds dry, it was driven by a supercharged 90 cubic inch six cylinder engine that churned 260 horsepower.

The Bennett Brothers, Texas oilmen Gene and Leo, sponsored the former Boyle Maserati, now owned by mechanical ace "Cotton" Hennings, who entered the ex-Shaw car again for Ted Horn. There were two additional Maseratis and three Alfa-Romeos entered. Lew Welch had a second Novi built for the 1947 race. Because of Hepburn's ASPAR association, Welch tapped Sam Hanks to take the #54 car's seat and veteran Cliff Bergere assigned the new #18 Novi.

Lou Moore, the 1932 Sweepstakes pole winner, and whose cars won the race in both 1938 and '41, unveiled two new, identical Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials. During the war, while working for the Packard Motor Car Company, Moore studied advances in aviation fuel technology and its potential application to racing while refining high performance aircraft engines. He concluded that the best strategy to win the Sweepstakes was to run identical cars, both very light weight, with front-wheel drive and powered by a high-compression engine burning high-octane gasoline. These cars would lap efficiently at speeds that were both competitive and economical, requiring just one pit stop to maximize their track time. "The trick is to estimate the average speed that will be necessary to win the race and then drive just fast enough to maintain that average," Moore said. "If some 'hot shot' wants to burn up the track and get a long lead early in the race, none of the smart drivers chase him. The chances are that he will wind up in the pits with serious motor troubles, or will require extra stops for fuel and rubber."

Moore's first priority was to build a car that would withstand the 500 mile run over the rough brick and asphalt track, so his cars would use tried and true technology. Moore stayed with the trusty Offy 270 cubic inch four banger, which he detuned to run on 110 octane aviation gasoline for greater fuel mileage. He took a reported $57,000 mortgage on his North Hollywood, California, home, commissioning Leo Goosen, who had drawn up the Novis, to design the cars, and Emil Deidt to build them. Like the Novis, the machines were expensive – rumored to cost $50,000 apiece – for which Moore later secured additional funding from the Blue Crown Spark Plug Company.

Although the cars bore a strong outward resemblance to the Novi Governor, there were two major differences: weight and power. The Novi tipped the scales at 1910 pounds dry, while the Blue Crowns were 360 pounds lighter. With fuel and fluids added, the Blue Crown advantage grew to about 700 pounds. The lighter weight would greatly preserve rubber through the cars' planned extended track time and consistent race speeds. In racing trim, Moore's gasoline Offys made just 275 horses and efficiently traveled over ten miles to the gallon at race speeds. The Novi engine pumped out 500 horsepower on methanol, and gave just three to four miles per gallon.

Due to his need to get both new cars on the track to sort them out, Moore replaced ASPAR member Tony Bettenhausen with 39-year old rookie Bill Holland, the AAA's leading dirt track driver. "Bridgeport Bill", son of a major league ballplayer, was a championship roller skater, and the active owner of Skateland, a Connecticut roller rink. He had been driving since 1934, starting with stock cars. His AAA "big car" record before the war was meager – failing to qualify at all four events in which entered. In his first post-war race Bill skidded and crashed through a fence at Trenton, injuring his shoulder. Surprisingly, Bill still won 17 of 40 championship point starts in 1946, finished fourth in the standings – and caught Moore's eye. After Holland won the 20-mile feature AAA big car race on May 11th nursing a broken cross rod over the final 10 laps at Langhorne Speedway, Moore hired him as Bettenhausen's replacement.

Shaw proclaimed that every driver in the Sweepstakes would be "a man of proved ability," before admitting that 17 of the 34 cars entered lacked drivers and that only six pilots had previous speedway experience. Joe Lencki said the race would likely produce a record number of fatalities. Having until May 15th to be assigned a ride, the ASPAR drivers were rumored about to abandon their holdout and defect to the cars on the entry list. Shaw ignited a rumor that he might come out of retirement and try for his fourth victory, teasing he would like to drive the roaring 12-cylinder Lee Mercedes. He later told reporters he would take the wheel if Lee could not find a replacement for ASPAR member Duke Nalon. Lee's team chief responded he was dickering with other drivers. Meanwhile, Hal Robson, brother of the late 1946 winner and also without a Sweepstakes ride, circulated the still-open grand prix car, rumored having a 300 mile per hour top speed.

Days later Speedway Vice President Pop Myers confirmed that Sam Hanks would drive the remaining Novi. Many had assumed the seat was being kept open for Ralph Hepburn pending a resolution with ASPAR. Then Hanks told reporters he was "not going to take chances driving with a bunch of boys," and that he didn't "care to drive on a race track with a bunch of strange drivers who have never been on the Speedway before." Sam declared he planned to "sit tight until some changes are made," saying he would drive the Novi if he decided to enter the race.

The first qualification day was Saturday, May 17th. Among those ready to run were Ted Horn, reigning AAA National Champion, Jimmy Jackson, last year's second place winner, and veteran Cliff Bergere. Before qualifying Horn diplomatically told reporters he was "in sympathy with some of the things" demanded by the boycotting ASPAR members "but not with their methods." The day saw only four cars make the field. Horn and the former Boyle Maserati were on the pole at 126.524 miles per hour. On the outside of row one was Mauri Rose, who pulled 124.040 from one of the new Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials. In between was Bergere, who had compiled nearly 6,000 competition miles without a win in fifteen tries at the Speedway. On his first qualifying attempt, he spun the car into the infield, ending harmlessly in a muddy ditch. In his second attempt Cliff drew only 124.957 miles per hour out of the new #18 Novi Governor Mobil Special. And while good for the middle of the front row, his failure to take the pole irritated owner Lew Welch.

Welch fired Hanks on Pole Day when Sam refused to run while ASPAR remained out. Merrill "Doc" Williams immediately replaced Hanks in the ex-Hepburn car, then earned Welch's wrath on his qualification run by spinning in the north turn and then ignoring a wave off sign from the pits. Although Williams qualified at 120.733 miles an hour, good enough for fourth starting spot, Welch claimed the car was capable of 140 miles per hour and fired Doc. He then quickly hired Herb Ardinger, another Sweepstakes veteran, although Ardinger had not driven at the Speedway since 1939. Despite the substitution, the #54 Novi Governor Mobil Special was allowed to remain in the fourth starting spot.

"The Indianapolis Motor Speedway scraped the bottom of the barrel to get seven cars qualified over the weekend," the Associated Press grumbled after the first two qualifying sessions. Welch defended the fact that so few cars were ready to qualify. "It will be the best race ever run here, in spite of the holdout. Matter of fact, if only my two cars are left, there will be the darndest race anybody ever saw."

In the newspapers, the back-and-forth continued. "Our entry form is a contract between the Speedway and the entrant," Shaw insisted in the press. "The Speedway has done everything but offer more money to get us in," Rex Mays complained. "But it will take money."

"The purse will be adjusted if conditions permit," Shaw responded. "If there is a good gate the purse will be adjusted accordingly." A Speedway spokesman told reporters that the track would make no further move to get the drivers into the race. Babe Stapp, an ASPAR director, said any chance of settlement had "been washed up. Mays told me that Shaw told him he would pick his own cars if he needs them as substitutes for cars already entered." Stapp also claimed that Shaw told Mays there were certain holdout car owners and drivers "who'll never again race at Indianapolis."

As a peace gesture, the Speedway and ASPAR agreed to canvass entered owners whether to allow the ASPAR entries in case of a settlement. Reporter Bill Fox of the Indianapolis News accepted the task of soliciting the necessary waivers. "The 500-mile race is more important than any of us individually," Fox said in accepting the task. In two days, despite hard feelings on the part of some, he collected the necessary agreements.

ASPAR formed a committee consisting of Hepburn, Mays and Lencki to draft an association purse policy for submission to AAA after ratification by the membership. Lencki reminded that "they'll have to run the race under the rules of the AAA contest board, which specifies that a fair proportion of the receipts is paid to contestants, before we'll be willing to compete." The organization also threatened AAA with running independently if the policy was not adopted for 1948.

By May 22nd negotiations remained stalled on one stubborn point - whether ASPAR cars were eligible for $10,000 in Speedway qualification prizes. ASPAR had earlier accepted that no ASPAR car could bump any of the cars who filed a proper entry if that entry met the minimum 115 mile per hour speed requirement. But Shaw and Hepburn, pressed by his membership after saying he and others would be willing to run the race taking Shaw's word on a higher purse, had hardened their respective positions on qualification prize money with no bargaining room left between them.

Eight of the officially entered cars lacked drivers with the race days away, and several others were mechanically incapable of achieving the 115 mile per hour minimum. Facing a short field, Speedway owner Tony Hulman finally intervened, "personally" putting up the extra money for identical qualifying prizes for post-entry ASPAR drivers, apparently to sustain the letter of the rules while allowing for a much-needed settlement. While Shaw repeated his promise to award as much additional prize money "as the traffic will bear," Hulman also agreed to set the purse in "reasonable proportion to the gate receipts." Hulman's intervention was seemingly out of character for the businessman who highly prized loyalty, and would later close and sell a brewery he owned rather than negotiate with strikers. Speedway management also mandated that ASPAR qualifiers would take starting positions as determined by their speed on upcoming qualifying days, and dropped a demand for "thank you" letters to owners of entered cars.

"That's what we were holding out for," Nalon said. "We wanted more prize money. Wilbur Shaw would not talk to us." Lloyd Larson, Milwaukee Sentinel sports editor, wrote, "The Indianapolis Speedway finally upped the prize money for the 500 mile auto race by $10,000. Isn't that bighearted? It's chicken feed when you consider the operators' total take must run a couple of million for tickets, parking, concessions, etc. Fifty percent of the net for the performers is cheap for any other sports venture. It's about time the star drivers swing into that old refrain, 'We Cannot Live on Rah Rahs.'"

On May 23rd, after polling the membership, Hepburn announced that ASPAR had voted unanimously to accept Hulman's offer, "All ASPAR drivers are released to enter the 500-mile race May 30th." Almost immediately after the announcement car owner Fred Peters showed up at the Speedway gate with the first ASPAR entry, the #8 Peters Special, 1941 race winner under Rose and Davis. Peters' driver, "Indian Joe" Joie Chitwood, was there to take the track. Several other ASPAR drivers and cars also arrived the day of Hepburn's announcement, among those were Nalon, George Connor, and Buddy Rush.

Qualifications with ASPAR participation began the next day – with 26 positions still open for the race. Bill Holland was the day's only qualifier, turning in the fastest time of the year, averaging 128.756 miles an hour in the new #16 Blue Crown Spark Plug Special. It placed him in the middle of the third row, behind all the earlier qualifiers. Ironically, Holland had come close to failing his drivers test because of an inability to hold himself to a minimum speed. Herb Ardinger thrilled the crowd with a near disastrous wreck when a tire shredded while practicing in his Novi. Crews scrambled expecting the car to lurch into the pits as Ardinger brought the car under control and stopped. Later he admitted he saw the tire's light-colored canvas threads coming through the thinning rubber and mistakenly thought he could do one more lap. Roland Free, who last turned laps at the Speedway in 1930, reached 119.526 miles an hour in the eight-cylinder Miller that Billy Arnold drove to victory that same year.

After only five additional cars made the field over the weekend, twenty-one starting positions remained unclaimed. Speedway management quickly added a special four-hour qualification period on Monday. George Connor became the first ASPAR qualifier, turning an average of 124.874 miles per hour. Meanwhile, some of the old-timers complained that so many new drivers would cause "a lot of bent iron on Memorial Day."

The Granatelli brothers brought their 1935 Miller back, the #59 Camco Motors Ford Special, sponsored by a Chicago Ford dealer. It qualified a respectable 17th with rookie Pete Romcevich at 117.218 miles per hour. Because the field was still far short of the usual 33 starters, another qualifying extension was made.

The annual Champion Spark Plug "100 Mile an Hour Club" dinner was revived just days after the ASPAR compromise. It was the ninth dinner for this exclusive 35-member club, which formed in 1934 to honor drivers who completed the entire 500-mile race and averaged at least 100 miles per hour. Club President Ralph Hepburn, who led ASPAR and lost his Novi ride, presided. Tony Hulman was also there, as was club member Wilbur Shaw. New members Jimmy Jackson, Gigi Villoresi, Louis Durant, Emil Andres, and 1946 winner George Robson were inducted – Robson posthumously, one of eleven deceased members.

Qualifications officially ended at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 28th, with just 28 cars making the field. Rex Mays overcame shock absorber troubles to qualify his Bowes Seal Fast Special at 124.412 miles per hour, slower than would have been expected had he the full month to prepare. Duke Nalon steered the Don Lee supercharged Mercedes to the second fastest time of the year: 128.632 miles per hour, putting the car in the fifth row. Tony Bettenhausen, finding a seat with Murrell Belanger, qualified in the ninth row. Still faced with a short field, chief steward Jack Mehan announced further qualifications for one hour the day before the race with the proviso that those already in the race sign additional waivers for the inclusion of these late qualifiers. In that single hour as many as six cars at a time were allowed on the track to make attempts. Only midget driver Mel Hansen and Speedway veteran Emil Andres earned starting positions, and the final field was set with just 30 cars. While the pole position was won at a speed faster than 1946, the overall field qualification speed was down over one mile per hour.

The press predicted a battle between the Novis and Blue Crowns, noting their fast qualifying times and their mutual front wheel drive with its purported advantages over rear wheel power. "Of the cars that start the race, I figure that no more than six or seven will give us real competition," Lou Moore said. "You can scratch a number of the drivers because they haven't the skill or endurance for hurtling around the track for 200 laps. You can eliminate a number of the other entries because the cars are compromise jobs that can't do their best at Indianapolis. You can cross off a few more of the cars because they won't be tuned up properly. Barring accidents, and unlikely mechanical failures, that leaves seven or eight cars, counting my own, as the most dangerous contenders."

At the start of the race it was Cliff Bergere, Ted Horn and Mauri Rose nose-to-tail. Bergere set a new race speed record, 122.516 miles per hour the first lap with his #18 Novi Governor Mobil Special. From that he pulled away for the first 23 laps, setting an amazing new ten lap record of 124.216 miles per hour before pitting for new tires. As anticipated, the heavy front-drive Novi quickly chewed up its 20-inch rubber at the record pace.

Bill Holland, up from eighth, took the lead, cruising until lap 41 when his Blue Crown car slid going into turn one. Holland slowed and gathered his car as the racer skidded inside the first turn and its wheels touched the slippery grass. "Shorty" Cantlon came into the turn as Holland, now apparently under control, was accelerating off the grass onto the track. Evidently fearing a collision, Shorty swerved right, taking himself headlong into the concrete wall as Holland sped on maintaining his race lead. Cantlon's ancient Miller pinwheeled to hit again tail first, then spun around again nailing the front. Concrete dust flew up with every wall strike and Cantlon was seen whipped viciously. When the car stopped, the unconscious Shorty was slumped over in his cockpit. He was removed and taken to the field hospital, his orange car left along the wall. Twenty minutes after the wreck the Speedway public address announced: "It is with extreme regret that we make this announcement. Veteran driver Shorty Cantlon has met with a fatal accident." Cantlon, an Indianapolis auto dealer, was the first post-war fatality at the Speedway, and first since race champion Floyd Roberts in 1938.

Holland kept his lead until stopping for front tires on lap 59, with Blue Crown teammate Rose inheriting the front position. At 60 laps, it was Rose, Bergere and Mays, Holland dropping to fourth. On lap 63 the leaders passed the pits without Bergere, whose Novi quit on the backstretch. At 200 miles the leaders were Rose, Mays and Holland.

The lead returned to Holland on lap 86 when Rose pitted. After his stop, Rose was down nearly a whole lap to his teammate, with Mays circulating between them. By 300 miles the Holland-Rose Blue Crown tandem gained the front as Mays faded in the Bowes car. With only 100 miles to go, Lou Moore's cars ran comfortably one-two, Rose 57 seconds behind Holland. There just were no more challengers to the duo as Mays dropped further back and Horn couldn't catch up. However, Rose would not concede the race to Holland, cutting his teammate's lead to 34 seconds at 450 miles. With just 25 miles to the finish, Moore signaled Holland "EZY" via his trackside chalk board, and Rose "10 TO GO." Holland slowed; Rose did not. With 20 miles left, Rose had aggressively reduced Holland's lead to just eight seconds. Realizing the situation, Moore grew concerned his two drivers would soon begin to flog his new machines to determine the winner... and possibly wreck them both when the race was already all but won. Wanting to avoid a hard, dangerous dash to the finish Moore signaled Holland "OKAY", and Rose "2ND". On the next lap, Rose, running about ten miles per hour faster than Holland, passed his teammate going into the backstretch - taking the lead as Holland happily waved him on. A pit mechanic readied a chalkboard message to tell Rose that he was "P1" —Moore warned him: "Don't let Holland see it." Clearly stroking the final laps, with further reminders to run "EZY," Holland followed Rose to the checkered flag.

After two extra "safety laps," now two-time Sweepstakes winner Mauri Rose victoriously approached the Speedway's fenced "winner's cage." Rose graciously explained to reporters there that he won only because engine trouble slowed Holland at the end. An upset Moore quickly and pointedly corrected the story, telling the press Holland had no engine trouble. Moore further explained that he meant to signal both cars to take it easy because they were well ahead of the field and he wanted them both to finish. He expressed regret for the confusion. At the winner's cage Rose, with the seat of his pants worn through from the rough bouncing he had just taken, was met by his longtime friend Wilbur Shaw and movie star Carole Landis.

Lou Moore at pit wall after Rose overtook Holland for win, 1947

Thinking he had won the race, Holland pulled into the pits, extinguished his engine, and heard the dumbfounding news: He had finished second. Confused and angry, he demanded of his crew: "Why did you keep flagging me down? I pulled over and waved at Rose when he went by. I figured I was still laps in front." No one answered him. Afterward, "loud talk" was reported heard from behind the doors of Lou Moore's garage, and Holland "looked definitely unhappy" when he left.

Only twelve of the 30 starting cars were running at the end. Despite the supposed quality of the machines and their drivers, only two ASPAR entries finished in the top ten, which many ascribed to the abbreviated and frantic preparation for the race. Rose's winning speed was 116.338 miles per hour, slower than Floyd Roberts in 1938 – and 28 seconds faster than Holland, who led 143 of 200 laps,. Ted Horn, although far off the lead due to a faulty valve that caused an oil tank to overflow, again claimed third money. Through eight straight Speedway races Horn had never placed worse than fourth – and had never won.

The next day's newspapers were headlined, "'Lousiest Deal I Ever Got,' Says Holland After Big Race."

"All I was getting was the 'EZY' signal" Holland told reporters, "I thought I had a lap on Rose. I was running half throttle when Rose went by - I waved to him. I guess I waved $10,000 to him. The first time I knew I didn't win the race was when I pulled into the pits and heard the man on the loudspeaker say, 'Holland second.' I asked the men in my pit why they didn't tell me, and they said, 'Moore would not let us.' I was going into the turns at 90 miles an hour after I got the 'EZY' signal. I thought I had it in the bag. I would have won the race by a lap and a half. The next time I'll have my own money in the car. I don't know if it was an honest mistake or not."

Moore quietly begged off, "I had no preference. I gave both drivers the 'EZY' signal. There are a lot of rumors going around, I know. I'm sorry if there was any misunderstanding. Bill has a wonderful future."

"I want to give a lot of credit to Holland," Mauri Rose offered. "If he hadn't slowed down during the last few laps I would have come in second and would have been just as happy. I thought there was something wrong with Bill's car."

"All I was trying to do was bring the cars home in one piece. I couldn't afford a wreck for I had everything I owned and could borrow tied up in the cars," Moore explained later. "Holland was still riding faster than 117 after my first EZY signal, and I told my pit men to give it to him again. He responded to that one too well, dropping to 114, and Rose passed him." Moore denied any favoritism because of Rose's employment by Blue Crown. "He took the job after I signed him up last August."

Moore offered Holland out of their two year contract, which Bill declined. "Holland is on good terms with me today and definitely has promised to drive my car again next year."

Norman Werking, a friend and noted Speedway reporter, wrote years later, "Race drivers as personalities or human interest stories meant nothing to Lou; if he could have used a couple of robots economically he would have done so, to abolish the chance of human frailty. That's the answer to the Mauri Rose-Bill Holland controversy—to Lou they were just Driver 'X' and Driver 'Y.'" If Moore had a preference, it may have been for a Holland victory. Rose was contracted for 40 percent of his car's race winnings for a victory; Holland for just 35 percent.

Years later, Mauri Rose, Jr., told an interviewer, "Dad had a saying that when the car was in the garage area or the pits, Lou Moore was the boss, when it's on the track, I'm the boss. And that's exactly what happened. Moore didn't care who won so long as they finished first or second. My dad wanted to win the race. That was what he was there for. If Holland waves him by, that's more power to him. That was his goof up."

Col. Arthur W. Herrington, AAA contest board chairman, swiftly responded to Holland's public complaint, declaring the race was run and won fairly, and that there was no basis for any investigation of the finish. "The drivers were advised in a meeting before the race that the sign board would show them their positions. I think Holland's unfamiliarity with the track caused his misunderstanding."

After the race Moore took his cars back to California, where he quickly made them ready for the '48 race by dismantling the machines, magnafluxing stressed members, replacing the worn parts – timing gears, crankshafts, rods, pistons and valves, clutch and even the radiators - making a few modifications, and quickly having them ready to return to the Speedway – ready to run on the first day.

And following the accounting of the event revenues, the Speedway sent additional prize money as Tony Hulman promised. The final payout, including accessory prizes, was $135,225.

The conflicted outcome had promotional value. The June 8th Championship 100-miler at Milwaukee was pitched as a Rose-Holland rematch. However, Rose did not appear at the track after his ride supposedly fell through, while Holland started on pole in the #8 Peters Special. Bill won in a track record time over Rex Mays despite a sour cylinder over the final quarter of the race. "I was lucky to win," he said. "I thought I was through when that cylinder started to act up."

Eastern promoter Jim Frattone announced "the bitterest feud in history of top-speed automobile racing" would be fought out August 17th in the George Robson Memorial 100-mile Championship race at Goshen, N.Y. "We have warned both Holland and Rose that any unethically dangerous tactics during the 100-mile race may disqualify either or both drivers. We want no accidents nor fatalities." Rose did not appear at Goshen, either, and it would have been surprising had he shown at either track as, like Shaw and others had before, Rose avoided the dangerous dirt circuit and raced only at the Speedway. Ted Horn eventually won the 1947 AAA National Championship, with Bill Holland second.

At a meeting on December 14th at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) was founded. Within a week William (Bill) France incorporated the organization, identified in the filing as its sole owner.

Leading up to the 32nd Sweepstakes in 1948, the press portrayed the race as a Blue Crown versus Novi showdown. The contrasting teams were a promoter's dream: Stamina versus Speed. The economical four-cylinder Blue Crowns versus the muscular supercharged V-8 Novis. Lou Moore's Blue Crown Spark Plug team returned intact despite the heated 1947 finish. The Lew Welch Novi Grooved Piston stable countered with Speedway veterans Chet Miller and Cliff Bergere. Altogether, a record 80 entries arrived for the race.

Conventional wisdom held that speed beat economy by making up time spent in the pits on the track. Moore calculated otherwise, that a hot car wouldn't necessarily make up the extra minute-plus lost on a second stop, which he estimated the equivalent of two full race laps. In avoiding stops, Moore considered tire wear and fuel the two most important race variables. As early as 1920, cars made the entire 500-mile grind on one set of tires. In 1941 Cliff Bergere made the entire trip without stopping, finishing fifth while averaging 113.528 miles per hour. Despite different conditions and car characteristics, the Firestone tires were certainly capable of at least the 250 miles Moore's plan required. The second variable was fuel consumption. An engine burning alcohol needed a much heavier cylinder fuel charge to deliver its power, and thus gave barely half the fuel mileage of gasoline. A supercharged engine used even more alcohol, getting only about three miles per gallon. Cars using gasoline could get by with a 50 gallon or smaller tank, saving at least 300 pounds at the start, and with less of a handling difference as fuel burned off. The lighter weight also saved tire wear. Moore's lean, efficient Blue Crowns carried just 40 gallons of fuel. The '47 win confirmed his conservative race strategy linking adequate speed and operating economy. One stop in the pits was Moore's strategic key, while other owners and mechanics schemed a nonstop run.

By 1948 Frank Kurtis, his midget car production falling, decided to build championship cars. He scaled up his successful midgets, extending them by two feet, and built five for the 1948 Sweepstakes. These dual purpose dirt and pavement cars were designated model KK2000.

When the Speedway opened on May 1st, "Tony" (Andy) Granatelli was the first out in his newly acquired Offenhauser-powered #85 Grancor Special. A car owner, along with his brothers, Andy was to drive this year, helped along by Wilbur Shaw and others. Granatelli passed his drivers test with no problem, and, as the first qualifying weekend approached, he posted a fast practice time over 125 miles per hour. "If conditions are right, it will take at least 122 miles an hour to earn one of the 33 starting positions," Cliff Bergere predicted, "and the winning average might be 120 to 121 miles an hour. Both of the Novis are capable of winning at that speed. So are the cars of Mauri Rose, Rex Mays, Bill Holland and Ted Horn."

Bergere spun his Novi days before qualifying after failing to make a turn into the runway behind the pits. The car grazed a pole, denting its rear. Recalling Bergere's spin and slow qualification a year earlier, Lew Welch publicly blamed the mishap on Cliff's showboating, which precipitated angry words. Bergere was quickly out – quit or fired – and Welch prevailed upon 51-year old Ralph Hepburn, who had come to the Speedway to drive the Don Lee Mercedes for his seventeenth Speedway appearance, to take the Novi again. Hep and the Novi still held the fastest lap record set in 1946.

Hepburn had been racing since age eleven when he took to the Los Angeles motorcycle board tracks. By eighteen he was barnstorming an Excelsior on Midwest dirt and board tracks. Hepburn joined the Harley-Davidson factory racing team in 1919, the team nicknamed "The Wrecking Crew" after sweeping the American Motorcycle Association's national championship schedule. In 1921 Hep won the last Fourth of July "Dodge City 300" by 12 minutes, shattering all the race speed records in the event's last running. Just two years after turning to auto racing under the tutelage of two-time Sweepstakes champion Tommy Milton, Ralph led the Sweepstakes for the first time in 1925. His motorcycle racing career ended in 1932 after his racing car went over the wall at a California dirt track and an injury made his left leg shorter. He eventually became the first man to lead the "500" in three different decades – 1925, 1937 and 1946.

On May 16th, while practicing in the #85 Grancor Special, Granatelli went into the first turn as the car's flywheel sheared its bolts and shot through the bodywork like a cannonball. Granatelli hit the brakes and intentionally spun his freewheeling car to avoid the wall, coming to a stop without collision. The damage dashed any hopes for a good starting position.

Ralph Hepburn

Posing for publicity photos in his Novi, a smiling Hepburn told reporters from the cockpit that he was just going out for a "few practice spins to see if the car feels right." Shortly afterward, after cutting loose on the backstretch, Hep crashed into the concrete retaining wall in the north chute, his collision speed estimated at 130 miles per hour. Trees blocked the grandstand view, leaving Italian Luigi Chinetti, the only foreign driver at the Speedway, the sole eyewitness to the accident. Chinetti explained that he was traveling at only about 85 miles per hour when Hepburn passed him. The Novi "weave like a fish" entering the turn, the Italian explained, and hit the infield dirt as Ralph fought to regain control. The car swerved back across the track and slammed into the wall. It was commonly thought that when a front wheel drive car's back end "stepped out" the proper driver response was to apply more front-wheel power to straighten and regain control of the car. Speculation was that Hepburn did exactly that, hitting the throttle just as one wheel got on the grass. Some surmised the severe traction differential between one drive wheel on slippery grass and the other still on the asphalt track could cause the powerful Novi to shoot up the track as Hepburn fatally accelerated out of the spin. Dr. E. Rogers Smith, the Speedway's chief surgeon, told reporters Hep died instantly, the impact fracturing his skull and crushing his chest. He was survived by his wife, Ada, and daughter Jo Ann.

Bitter after leaving the Novi team, Cliff Bergere, immediately charged in the press that the Hepburn car, his former ride, was faulty and a hazard. He said the other Novi car, a twin, was equally "wrong." "I don't think the Novi cars should be allowed to run," he said. Lew Welch denied all Bergere's allegations, and angrily demanded that he present proof. Adding to the controversy was Chet Miller, a fourteen time Sweepstakes starter who then quit the Novi team to drive the #31 Don Lee Mercedes, Hepburn's original ride. Welch hired Duke Nalon as Miller's replacement. Nalon first came to the Speedway as a driver in 1938, getting a ride in a "stove" that he hustled into the 33rd starting spot.

Speedway officials confirmed that both Novis met all American Automobile Association specifications before allowed on the track, further suggesting Bergere and Welch both "spoke out of turn." "Duke Nalon will attempt to qualify the remaining Novi special Saturday," one AAA official said. "If he succeeds, the Novi will run May 31." Nalon took to the track immediately. After then spinning the car himself, Duke said he thought he found the reason for the many recent spins – the brake and clutch pedals were so close together that an unwary driver could easily engage both when shifting gears. The actual problem may have been a design flaw. The Novi used a direct drive system rather than a differential, which equalizes the rotational force of a vehicle's wheels while turning corners, when the inner wheel travels a shorter distance than the outer wheel. Without a differential to compensate both driving wheels are locked to rotate at the same speed – and either the inner wheel spins or the outer wheel drags, potentially creating unpredictable handling. Bergere may have been correct in his assessment of the Novis.

Four days following Ralph Hepburn's death, his 83-year old father, James P. Hepburn, died. Their funeral services were held at Los Angeles Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 30 minutes apart. The elder Hepburn, who had been ailing, never learned of his son's death.

Pole Day was dominated by "Rapid Rex" Mays, driving the new #5 Bowes Seal Fast Special. Mays averaged 130.577 miles per hour on the last run of the day, over a mile per hour faster than the Blue Crown duo of Holland and Rose, who joined him in the front row. National Champion Ted Horn placed his venerable #1 Bennett Brothers Maserati in the field's second row. After his qualifying run Horn's crew discovered sandy grit in the engine crankcase and oil, which they saw an act of sabotage. Although mechanic Cotton Henning tore the engine down and cleaned all the parts, he knew grit probably remained trapped in some of the smaller orifices. The authorities were called in, and an investigation ensued involving the Speedway, AAA and Indianapolis police. "There was a familiar touch in this plan to wreck Horn's car," Wilbur Shaw told the press. "I have seen similar attempts when racing in Europe. If the would-be assassin is found, and there is a big hunt on, it will go hard with him." Armed guards remained in Gasoline Alley through the remainder of May, tightly patrolling the grounds. Fearing arson amid the drums of explosive methanol and gasoline, firefighting equipment was kept on stand-by. No further incidents were reported.

Nalon and his Novi ripped off 131.603 miles per hour on the third qualifying day, easily the fastest of the entire field – still well off Hepburn's '46 record speed of 133.944 – earning a fourth row starting spot. By the last qualifying day there were six spaces unfilled. About 4 o'clock, while attempting to qualify the #59 Grancor-Werner Special, Andy Granatelli crashed his third car, which turned over after a worn out tire blew at the southeast turn. Suffering what appeared to be severe injuries, he was rushed to the hospital, where it was determined Andy suffered a broken wrist and deep skin abrasions. Ironically, he was averaging 123 miles per hour through his three completed laps, and would have easily made the field had he maintained the pace. Andy's brothers Joe and Vince raced after the ambulance in their truck. After determining their injured brother was doing okay, Vince and Joe Granatelli quickly returned to the Speedway to prepare the patched-up #85 Miller-Offy for a qualification run. An hour later Andy was back with his wrist bandaged. He begged for the chance to take the #85 out, but officials refused.

After his Anderson Special was bumped, Travis "Spider" Webb jumped into the new #51 Fowle Brothers Special and spun two laps over 125 miles an hour. Then track officials turned on the caution light to terminate his run after Webb's car dropped a fuel pump handle. Manuel Ayuelo, who earlier failed to make speed with the #88 Weidel Special, jumped into the dicey #85 Grancor car and missed starting a qualifying run by seconds when the Speedway gun sounded precisely at 6 pm – and the crowd booed. The Granatellis had spent $31,375 and failed to qualify any of their three cars. "Only way to command respect down here is to come down and win this race," Joe said as he packed equipment. "I'm gonna win it." However, qualifications did not end with the gunshot. After a discussion among race officials, Webb was allowed to take the remaining two qualifying laps after the track had been closed, and he earned a spot with a four lap 125.545 miles per hour run. The fastest 33-car field in the history of the race was finally set.

Rex Mays took the race lead from the pole through the first 17 laps, setting a first lap record of 123.012 miles per hour. Horn then moved up and grabbed the point right at the "hundred dollar mark" on the front stretch. The other contenders ran comfortably behind as Horn stretched his lead to 30 seconds. "You might figure I'm about due to win," Horn said before the race. "On the other hand, maybe I'm due to finish one out of the money." Horn was the first among the leaders to pit on lap 73, taking a right front tire and fuel in a speedy 27 seconds. Mays retook the lead while Horn faded to fifth.

Holland took two front tires and fuel, pitting for 97 seconds. Nalon, meanwhile, was moving up, just 15 seconds behind the leader. Attempting a one-stop race, Nalon's Novi had a gigantic 112 gallon tank installed in its tail, up from the 87 gallon capacity of previous years, adding about 175 pounds to the weighty racer. Back on the track, Holland's Blue Crown car began to blow oily smoke from its exhaust and slowed as the engine note soured. Pressing the chase, Nalon lapped his Novi at 125 miles per hour. "It took me 89 laps to learn how to drive the Novi," Nalon said years later. "That's when I passed Rex (Mays). I was leading the race." He took the lead in the fourth turn with little dispute from Mays, but could only hold it ten laps until he finally pitted on lap 100. Pitting concurrently with Mays, Nalon overshot his pit area, almost losing control of his car. The one-stop strategy was operative as the giant fuel tank got the thirsty Novi halfway home. As four tires were replaced, methanol fuel spewed into the tank at three gallons per second, forced down the hose by pressurized nitrogen. Nalon left the car for a drink of water. Down the pits, Mays' Winfield V8 was as fuel thirsty as its Novi kin. While his pit stop was smoother, it was as lengthy as Nalon's. Despite the Novi engine's re-starting hard, Rex and Duke got off together in pursuit of the new leader, Mauri Rose.

Ted Horn and "Cotton" Henning

Horn stroked along with his plan to run an average of 120 miles per hour. As the leaders pitted, Horn was signaled "LITTLE FASTER" as his speed had waned to 120.337. Instead, while losing oil pressure, Horn's speed drifted lower. The leftover grit scored the piston rings and cylinder walls, the engine progressively leaking compression and power.

Rose surrendered point on lap 124, pulling into the pits after setting new speed records for 275 and 300 miles. As Lou Moore's pit crew efficiently did its business, Mauri jumped out for a drink. During the 69 second stop doughty Ted Horn regained the lead, with Rose rejoining the fray thirteen seconds behind. A split fuel tank forced Mays out of the race at lap 140, and two laps later Horn pulled his Maserati in for his second pit stop. Rose picked up the lead again with Nalon and Holland chasing. Moore posted the "P-1" sign for Rose – and "GET NALON" for Holland, whose car seemed to have recovered from its earlier troubles. As Horn pulled out, chief mechanic Cotton Henning heard ominous sounds from the engine. "It's the rod bearings. That sand!" Hennings told his crew.

Confusion set in as the scoreboard showed Holland running second, ahead of Nalon. Moore was confident, signaling Rose "OK-P-1." Still, he visited the scoring pagoda for confirmation. Returning to the pits Moore again signaled "P-1" to Rose. Almost simultaneously, the track announcer intoned, "Nalon is first." And on the track, Holland's transmission began jumping out of gear, hindering his charge. Suddenly Nalon coasted into the pits – excitedly pointing to his fuel tank while again overshooting his pit. Duke's Novi ran out of fuel! It was the 184th lap...Rose passed...Holland passed...Horn passed...and Nalon finally got back into the race in fourth position after fueling and restarting his stalled car.

Moore's Blue Crowns ran one-two, again. Holland, still bitter over his '47 finish, was chasing his teammate in a role reversal. Chalkboard signals went out – To Rose: "OK", to Holland: "P-2". Nalon's pit signaled "GO" as he entered the final 10 miles with all four leaders still running at a record pace. On the next pass down the stretch both Blue Crown drivers were signaled "FASTER." But when Rose apparently tried to widen the gap to Holland, Moore slowed him with an arm signal – a clear back-off message to the ever-aggressive Rose. As Rose gained his third Sweepstakes victory, Holland trailed, and Duke Nalon overtook a slowing Horn for third. Moore signaled Rose, nearly two minutes ahead of his teammate, "TAKE TWO MORE."

Overcoming the Novis, Lou Moore's Blue Crown Spark Plug team scored another Rose-Holland one-two sweep, again demonstrating how fuel and tire economy would beat speed and horsepower at Indianapolis – even when winning at a record setting pace. While Nalon and Horn each made two stops, Rose and Holland made one apiece, and that made the difference. Nalon's attempt to complete the race on one stop was foiled by the fueling system's pressurized nitrogen agitating the methanol mix. The foaming overflow caused the fueler to mistakenly think the Novi's tank was full and to stop the flow too early, leading to the prematurely drained tank.

Inside the victory lane fence cage, now three-time winner Mauri Rose was met by Ruth Wentworth, a South Bend, Indiana, gift shop employee, who happily announced that the couple would be married June 13th. As movie starlet Barbara Britton approached, Rose told her, "I'll shake hands with you and save the kiss for Miss Wentworth." Wentworth, not Britton, got the greasy winner's kiss. Offered a bottle of beer, Mauri waved it away and asked for water before downing a pint of milk. After the various presentations, Rose turned to Wentworth, "Come on, let's go to the garage." Observers noted that for the first time, while not officially "allowed in", women were not escorted out of "Gasoline Alley." It was in the victory cage that it was noticed that Rose's windscreen was hit by a piece of debris, leaving a "bullet hole" in the glass, leading many to speculate what might have happened had the debris hit the driver in the face during the race.

Victorious Mauri Rose and Lou Moore, 1948

Johnny Mantz took the pole at Milwaukee for the 100 mile Championship race that followed Indianapolis June 6th. On lap 3, Duke Dinsmore, starting last in the field of eighteen, clipped the wall with his car's back end in the south turn. As his car flipped end over end, Dinsmore was tossed onto the track, where he laid suffering from multiple fractures, including his skull, right arm and left shoulder. Behind him, with little choice but to hit Dinsmore, Rex Mays instead spun his car into the wall. He dismounted and began waving other drivers aside to protect Duke. Emil Andres won the event, and Mays earned another measure of immortality, his heroism later memorialized with a bronze plaque mounted on the race track's wall.

Two-time defending National Champion Ted Horn easily defended his Number One yet again, despite scoring just a single big car win. He clinched his third straight championship at the Du Quoin, Illinois, Fairgrounds Mile on September 6th. The Championship season's last race was another at the Du Quoin Mile on October 10th, and Ted felt obligated to appear. After qualifying fourth, Horn went into the turn on his third race lap when his car's steering spindle broke, flipping the champion's ride high into the air. Ted was tossed, landing near the outside wall amid mayhem. His wife of just 17 days, Gerry, was in the stands to witness the wreck. Twenty minutes later Horn died at Marshall Browning Hospital suffering from a concussion, crushed chest, and fractured left leg. He was 38 years old. Normally meticulous about the upkeep of his cars, before the race Ted had deferred changing an axle spindle thinking the part was "good enough" for the last race of the season. His protégé and friend Lee Wallard collected Horn's personal effects and accompanied the body home on a train to New Jersey. In the process Wallard came to possess Horn's lucky dime, which he always kept in his racing shoe. Horn's funeral drew 800 mourners.

"Horn undoubtedly was the greatest day-to-day race driver I ever saw," Cotton Henning said upon hearing of his death. Eight weeks later, December 10th, Harry C. "Cotton" Henning, Horn's Indianapolis master mechanic and car owner, died in the Indianapolis Veterans Hospital after a heart attack at age 52. Wilbur Shaw, who drove two winning 500-mile races for him, was at his bedside. Henning had been a fixture at the Speedway for more than a quarter century, with his cars winning four Sweepstakes.

Ted Horn, National Champion 1948

Shaw presented the National Championship trophy to Horn's widow at a dinner hosted by the American Automobile Association's contest board. It was noted that Ted, the only three-times in succession national champion, held 87 track records at his death. His memory was also honored by countless "Ted Horn Memorial" events throughout the country, several of which continue to this day – including a late summer race at the Du Quoin State Fair Mile.

The 1949 AAA National Championship season began April 24th at Arlington Downs, Texas, where 30-year old Johnnie Parsons won the 100-miler, finishing more than a lap ahead of Rex Mays. It was the only big car race preceding the 33rd 500-Mile Sweepstakes. His victory made Parsons a favorite to win the 500. "I have been dreaming about an Indianapolis victory since I experienced the thrill of my first ride in a race car almost a quarter of a century ago," Parsons told reporters. "That may sound like hokum, but it's true."

At the Speedway, meanwhile, a green, British Austin Atlantic convertible set 53 class speed and endurance records as three English drivers took the tiny 88-horsepower car 11,850 miles on Dunlop tires, averaging 70.54 miles per hour for a week.

When the Speedway opened for practice in May, the two-time defending race champion Blue Crown team returned. Lou Moore's garage added a rear wheel drive Baby Blue Crown" somewhat smaller than the two Deidt-chassied machines. It "was fielded to allow Bill Holland to run the entire championship series, including the dirts. Veteran George Connor was assigned the ride for the Sweepstakes, joining Rose and Holland, team mates for a third year.

Among the entries was the #66 Bothwell Special, a four cylinder 1913 Peugeot that won the Sweepstakes under Dario Resta in 1916. Resta drove the racer to victory at an average speed of 84 miles per hour. It was expected that a minimum speed near 125 would be needed to qualify in 1949. Owner Lindley Bothwell planned to drive the race with a friend in the mechanic's seat.

The Henning #6 Maserati, driven so successfully by Ted Horn since the resumption of the Sweepstakes, was sold to a group of local businessmen, who entered it as the Indianapolis Race Car, Inc. Maserati Special. Pete DePaolo, the 1925 Sweepstakes winner, was named team manager of the three-car stable that also included the #15 Maserati and #23 Miller. These were assigned to Chet Miller and Hal Robson after Lee Wallard chose Horn's aging Maserati as his ride in tribute to his close friend.

"Rapid Rex" Mays left the Bowes team to drive one of the Mobil Novis, the rebuilt Hepburn car, with Duke Nalon again piloting the other. As always, the Novis were heavily favored to take the pole. "You'll have to do 135 miles an hour to sit up front this year," Novi owner Lew Welch predicted. When qualifications started, Mauri Rose was the first driver on the track with his #3 Blue Crown Spark Plug Special, making his four laps at 127.759 miles per hour. Just as Rose finished his run a section of ramshackle Grandstand B collapsed. Witnesses reported there were about 15 persons in the venerable wooden stands near the southwest turn when "the boards just opened up like a zipper." After the injured were removed from the debris, Holland qualified his #7 Blue Crown machine at 128.673 miles per hour. Qualifying for his twelfth Sweepstakes, Mays, who won pole position in 1948, gunned his #5 Novi Mobil Special over the 10-mile qualifying run at 129.592 miles per hour, nearly a mile per hour slower than last year. Observers commented they had noticed a melancholy in Mays, some concluding that he was deeply missing his friend Ted Horn. Then Nalon ran his #54 Novi Mobil Special 132.939 miles per hour, just shy of Hepburn's all-time qualifying record of 133.844. Some suggested Nalon held back out of respect for Hepburn. Nalon explained, "There is about one inch on the throttle of that Novi that I don't want anything to do with," saying that Hepburn eliminated that inch with a wooden wedge under the pedal. Jack McGrath, making his second Indianapolis appearance, surprised everyone by taking the outside first row spot at 128.884 miles per hour with his #33 City of Tacoma Special, a Kurtis Kraft KK2000. Overall, eleven cars qualified the first day.

In practice youthful West Coast "hot rodders" like Parsons, Johnny Mantz, Jim Rathmann and Troy Ruttman found a new, faster groove around the Speedway, pushing their rear drive machines to compete with the front drive Blue Crowns and Novis. Rather than cutting off power and hugging the inside line through the turns, they kept power and better maintained their speed and momentum by drifting out from the low line. This new, aggressive line prompted some to express concern as speeds mounted. Parsons, who qualified on the second day, could have beaten Hepburn's track qualifying record if not for owner Ed Walsh suffering an apparent attack of speed-prompted nerves. After Johnnie had hit 126 miles per hour in his five practice runs, chief mechanic Harry Stephens thought the silver and red KK2000-Offy could hit 129 as top speed. Both Walsh and Stephens were shocked as they watched their #12 Kurtis-Kraft Special zipping over the track at 133 miles per hour for the first two laps - and Johnnie still building speed. Walsh immediately signaled Parsons to slow down. Johnnie eased up a bit and went on to post a four-lap average speed of 132.900, third fastest in Speedway history.

Thane "Pop" Houser finished a distant 13th in his Abell-Miller in 1926, barely getting half way through the 500 miles. Twenty-one years later, he and son Norm brought a car to Indianapolis with the dream to qualify the younger Houser for the 1947 Sweepstakes. However, its stock Ford engine kept blowing cylinder heads until no more replacements could be found. The last one came off a display rack, allowing Norm to complete his rookie test before it cracked, too. A wreck later that year badly injured the young driver, and father and son had to wait two years to try again at Indianapolis. Finally back at the Speedway, "Pop" repeatedly tore the # 71 Troy Oil Special and its Ford engine apart searching for enough speed to make the field. The last scheduled qualification day arrived. "Pop, if I'm over 125, don't signal me," Norm said climbing into the car. "If I'm under, call me in." Houser took his warm-up laps and signaled flagman Seth Klein; he was on the clock. As he came around one of the official track observers said, "Holy smoke, this guy must be on rails." Norm took four laps averaging 127.746 miles per hour – fast enough for an eighth row starting spot.

A mixture of rain, wind and cold limited Speedway activity to four runs that last qualifying weekend. Teams got an extra chance to qualify for the race Wednesday, then Friday after mid-week rains. When qualifications finally ended on Saturday the Novis were the fastest for the fourth straight year. The 33 drivers in the field ranged from three time Sweepstakes winner Mauri Rose to a "22-year old" rookie, Troy Ruttman – whose true age was only nineteen – one of three 1949 rookies who would someday become 500 champions. Five cars were bumped from the lineup that last day. And the ancient ex-Resta #66 Bothwell Special only mustered 103.250 miles per hour. While a world's record in its class, the speed was nearly 23 miles per hour short of the 125.800 needed to make the race. "I'm well satisfied," Lindley Bothwell said as he packed his antique equipment.

The experienced Novi tandem were solid favorites to win the race. "We have no special strategy", chief mechanic Bud Winfield told reporters. "Whoever takes the lead can have it." Nalon and Mays agreed to split all prize money if they finished one-two. Wilbur Shaw observed, "Rex Mays is the man who will tame that race car. The only thing that can keep him from winning this race is the car breaking." Mays, who piloted his own Lockheed P-38 Lightning racing airplane, had a reputation at the Speedway as a charger hard on his equipment.

While the Novis hogged the headlines, there was still the unbeaten Blue Crown duo of Mauri Rose and Bill Holland, who finished first and second respectively in each of the last two races. Lou Moore had one more trick to play, secretly fitting Holland's car with a 58-gallon fuel tank. If the tires held up under the added 150 pounds of fuel, Holland could go the entire 500 miles without a stop. Non-stop races had been run at the Speedway before, first in 1931, when Dave Evans drove the Cummins Diesel Special to 13th place. His slow, economical pace was ten miles per hour slower than the winner's. Cliff Bergere drove the gasoline-fueled Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special in a non-stop run in 1940. After leading the race for ten laps Bergere was debilitated by fumes, heat and exhaustion going into the final 100 miles, where finally overtaken by the charging Mauri Rose on lap 162. His collapse to fifth place convinced many that a competitive non-stop run had become too grueling.

Sixteen military jet aircraft streaked across the skies above the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on race day. Duke Nalon confidently told the assembled thousands, "I'm ready to go, and so is the machine." Among the spectators, as a guest of the Hulmans, was Jane Fisher, widow of Speedway founder Carl Fisher.

Wilbur Shaw pulled out in the Oldsmobile pace car, and the field followed. As the front row starters crossed the line, Nalon and Mays asserted themselves, jumping the two Novis into the lead. Nalon charged so hard that he passed the pace car. "I shifted after I got out on the back straightaway," said Nalon. "I shifted into second and motored away from all of them." The screaming tandem tore up the backstretch building their lead. The first lap ended with Nalon leading Mays, Duane Carter and Holland...setting a new first lap speed record...126.564 miles per hour. On the second lap George Lynch spun in the south turn and crashed, suffering a broken ankle. Still, the record pace continued... 5 laps... 10 laps... 20 laps... Nalon and Mays drove furiously...when on lap 23 only Mays came down the front stretch, frantically signaling the Novi pits as he flashed by.

The yellow lights flashed caution! In the north dark smoke rose into the bright blue sky. Entering the Northeast turn the axle broke on Nalon's #54 Novi Mobil Special. The racer lost its left rear wheel and slid sideways into the wall, bursting into flames as the car continued backwards down the track when its fuel tank ruptured. The vicious blast ripped the seams from Nalon's driving suit. A rivulet of flaming fuel ran down the banked racing surface as the driver quickly jumped from the car. Cars scrambled into the infield to avoid displaced wheels and a "wall of fire" flowing from the Novi. The crowd hushed to hear the PA announcement: "The official observers report Nalon's car caught fire after it hit the wall. The Duke climbed out and walked to the ambulance." The crowd erupted at the news! Nalon's mother, seated along the main straightaway, where the wreck was out of sight, fainted when she heard the details of her son's crash. Later, in a Methodist Hospital bed, where his burned feet rested in slings and his bandaged hands resembled white boxing gloves, Nalon rationalized, "It is only by the grace of God I got loose. If I'd been knocked out I would have fried. I'm a fatalist, I guess. I expect I just wasn't intended to win that race. When I do win it, I'll appreciate it all the more."

Meanwhile, Mays and his #5 Novi Mobil Special kept the lead, with veteran Lee Wallard, driving the ex-Horn #6 I.R.C. Maserati, second. On lap 36 Wallard and his ancient mount swept by Mays on the front stretch, and then almost met disaster on lap 40 as his pit mistakenly signaled Lee when trying to bring in team mate, Freddie Agabashian. Realizing their mistake, Wallard's crew waved him on – but significant time was lost to the oncoming Mays. The "Novi Jinx" then struck again – Mays' engine quit on lap 48. Wallard regained the lead and Holland inherited second, with Carter and Rose following. After he pitted on lap 54, Wallard was back on the track before the pursuing Holland could pass. But slowed by mechanical trouble out of the pits, Wallard dropped out on lap 55.

Holland took the gifted lead and was never headed. Rose ran second, nearly a lap behind. The Blue Crowns were 1-2 again! A reporter remarked to his colleagues, "I've seen this race before." As laps passed, the field strung out further behind the relentless Holland – twice runner-up to Rose. By mid-race Holland had set a new speed record as the Blue Crown team was running first, second, and, with George Connor having moved up the "Baby Blue Crown", fourth. The team then started its planned pit stops, with Connor first in, taking 72 seconds for fuel and a tire check. Rose came next, with many speculating whether the stop would eventually provide him an advantage towards winning his third consecutive Sweepstakes. Rose was serviced and out in 78 seconds. Then, abandoning his no-stop plan, Lou Moore signaled Holland to come in. With the commanding lead Moore had become concerned about Holland's tires, deciding it was better to play safe. But Holland did not agree. As Joie Chitwood began to press a bit from second place, Holland wondered whether he was also trying a nonstop race run. But Moore became insistent, pointing to the spare tires. Holland instead turned up the speed, lengthening his lead by 48 seconds before finally pitting on lap 147. As he pulled in Holland pointed to his right front tire, and Moore himself changed it. Both front tires were changed and 15 gallons of fuel were pushed into Holland's car as insurance. Fifty-two seconds and out – Holland retained his lead over Chitwood and Rose!

Race officials flagged Chitwood to the pits when his car's front grille was seen dragging. The 90 second stop to tear the grille off dropped "Indian Joe" to sixth place. Moving up behind Holland, Rose and Connor created a 1-2-3 Blue Crown phalanx. With 50 miles left Johnnie Parsons began his move. He passed Connor, but couldn't gain on Rose. With just 20 miles remaining, Rose's car belched smoke as it ran the backstretch and failed to come around. Parsons assumed second behind Holland as Moore quickly signaled the leader to be safe, although Bill already recognized his situation – he had been keeping a wary eye on ever-aggressive Rose.

Seth Klein waved the checkered flag for winner Holland, who led 146 of the race's 200 laps. Parsons finished second and Connor third. The victory was worth $51,575 in total purse and accessory money to the roller rink owner who once skated 296 miles to win a 24-hour marathon. The total prize fund was a record $179,150.

For the third consecutive year car owner Lou Moore ran to the victory cage to greet his winning driver – this time Bill Holland. "I feel wonderful," Moore said, with tears rolling down his cheeks. "I thought even before the race this was Bill's turn. He had it in the bag right along."

Bill Holland, 1949

Rose offered Holland his hand. "You really drove a nice race, buddy," he said.

"I'm sorry you didn't make it," Holland replied, "but you already have a good batting average."

"You just don't take chances at the 500," Holland told reporters. "I had some trouble with the engine and couldn't go nearly as fast as I could have in the straightaways, but I made up for it in the turns."

As photographers snapped, Holland was kissed repeatedly by movie star Linda Darnell, who presented the winner's trophy. For his victory, Holland also collected the Oldsmobile pace car, a television set, a miniature replica of the Borg Warner trophy, a Ringmaster trophy ring, and a year of free meals from Wheeler's, the Indiana restaurant chain that operated the Speedway's infield cafeteria. Holland told reporters his plans were to return to Reading, Pennsylvania, and look after his roller skating rinks. "But I'll be back next year, providing I'm still in good health. You never know in this business."

The race was also a sweep for the Meyer-Drake Offenhauser engine, the only powerplant still propelling cars as the race ended. The highest-placed non-Offy was a supercharged Sparks at 20th. Lee Wallard, who finished 23rd, had the leading foreign engine in his eleven year old supercharged Maserati. After the race, Moore told reporters he was "through" building cars. "I've got all I can handle now, but we'll see if we can't make a grand slam next time." Rose placed 13th. Angry with his chief mechanic over the breakdown, Rose confronted Moore in the garage. Moore told him that he could have had second had he not pushed it chasing Holland. That led to the end of a 14 year team relationship between the two.

Johnny Mantz proved his mettle after the fuel pump on his #98 Agajanian KK2000 failed at the 40-mile mark. Mantz hand-pumped fuel while driving for the final 460 miles, becoming one of just three drivers to finish the race non-stop. His average speed of 117.142 miles per hour for the distance earned him seventh place, and an exclusive "100 Mile an Hour Club" membership. It was the only time Mantz ever finished the race. It was owner J.C. Agajanian's first 500 entry.

Alfred Neubauer, racing director for Mercedes-Benz, appeared at the Speedway and was seen taking measurements of the equipment. Rumors soon spread that the European manufacturer would have cars ready as soon as the next race.

Duke Nalon spent four months undergoing skin grafts to repair his burn injuries. His hand grafts were so tight that they impaired Duke's ability to grip the wheel tightly. Released from the Indianapolis Methodist Hospital on June 30th, he was flown to California in Lew Welch's private plane. Nalon would remain hospitalized in California until September, setting his comeback sights on the 1950 Classic.

The driving relationship between Mauri Rose and car owner Lou Moore, which dated back to 1937, publicly dissolved over summer. When his three-year contract expired Rose told Moore to "look for another driver." Rose later said, "I didn't think it would work out. Moore and I had our differences. I'm satisfied with things, and turned down his contract to drive in the 500 next year." Mauri said he had four or five cars in mind for next year's race. Later, at a Studebaker automotive safety campaign stop in Milwaukee, Rose denied retirement rumors, telling reporters "I'll be at Indianapolis next Memorial Day, in a front drive car owned by Howard Keck of Los Angeles."

Rising star Johnnie Parsons won five AAA big car races, and clinched the 1949 AAA National Championship with two races left on the season schedule by winning the October 16th Langhorne, Pennsylvania, 100-miler.

Rex Mays was killed November 6th during the championship season's last race at Del Mar, the first southern California AAA big car event in fifteen years. As part of a drivers committee, Mays inspected the track, more famous for its horse racing, between qualifying and the race. Asked about the course's inside railings, Mays told a reporter, "They won't bother us any. If anyone should happen to slide into the infield, they'll just snap off the posts like match sticks." Asked where the drivers might get into trouble, he said, "The first turn always takes a beating and usually digs up a little." From the start Jim Davies immediately grabbed the lead, with Mays closely behind. On the 13th lap, still second to Davies, Mays' #15 Wolfe Special apparently hit a pot hole on the one-mile track. The car skidded and spun into the inside track railing coming out of the first turn, tearing out a section of the wooden railing and a furlong pole. As Parsons passed him, Mays' car overturned, tossing him to the track. He landed and rolled out face down in the track dirt as a string of cars rounded the turn. The first two cars avoided Rex, the third ran him over. With 15,000 spectators watching, his body was flung up as his crash helmet was torn off. Two-time AAA National Champion Mays never wore a safety belt, preferring that "the car dump me than stay in it if something happened. I learned that from experience, and the hard way. I one time rolled over and fell out in the middle of the track. The car continued on and was demolished. All I got out of it were a few bruises." Mays survived the initial spill, the track physician confirming the fatal injuries were caused by his being struck. "He was all crushed up," according to Deputy Coroner Dave Bone. "He was undoubtedly killed on the spot."

"It seems impossible that something like that could have happened to as fine a driver as Rex," Wilbur Shaw said. A Waukesha (Wis.) Daily Freeman newspaper editorial offered a Mays anecdote: "Last summer while this veteran of so many seasons was preparing for a 100-mile grind at State Fair Park, he glanced up at a circus aerial act being performed by a young woman on a high swaying pole. Mays shook his head and looked away. 'What a way to make a living,' he muttered as he climbed behind the wheel of his powerful red racer."

The American Automobile Association investigated the accident behind closed doors. Officials would not identify which car hit Mays, although newspapers speculated it was George Connors or Paul Russo. Both claimed they had missed him. AAA representatives, mistakenly believing the photographer hired by the association had the only pictures, immediately ordered an embargo of any made of the accident. "We don't consider it the best publicity to show fatal accidents," said Gordon Betts, AAA zone supervisor. Within a week, photos of the accident were in the daily newspapers, and Life magazine featured a gruesome picture series of the wreck. Soon, movie theaters advertised slow motion film of "REX MAYS KILLED AT DEL MAR" along with "Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff." The opening AAA race of the 1950 season scheduled for Del Mar was canceled after Mays' death.

Rex Mays, Two-time AAA National Champion

Rex Houston Mays was one of twenty-two American race drivers to die in 1949. He was 36 years old, leaving a wife, Dorothy, and two children. Nearly 270 floral pieces filled the Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California. "In all things, Rex Mays believed in the strenuous life," eulogized Rev. Dr. Clarence W. Kerr. Dorothy Mays fainted during the service, attended by some 500 mourners. According to court papers, Mays left an estate valued at $12,000, his will directing that his racing equipment and airplanes be converted into cash to be held in trust and divided among his wife and two children when his children reached 21.

#  Chapter Three: To Please a Lady (1950)

Lou Moore announced his 1950 Blue Crown Indianapolis team in January, expanding to four cars – the original two front wheel drive cars for Bill Holland and Lee Wallard, the Baby Blue Crown again for George Connor, and a new rear drive car for Tony Bettenhausen. Although Bettenhausen had already signed to drive the #99 Belanger Special, he pursued the Blue Crown ride as a one race deal thinking it offered him a much better chance at Sweepstakes victory. Mauri Rose joined with oilman Howard Keck, driving the race tested Offy that had finished sixth the previous year.

In early March the Speedway announced that cars powered by diesel engines would be permitted in the 1950 classic, allowing a Cummins Diesel entry powered by a six-cylinder, 401 cubic inch, supercharged engine. The engine created 340 horsepower and was based on an engine block commonly used in heavy equipment. It was the first diesel entry since 1934, also a Cummins. Veteran Jimmy Jackson was announced as the driver.

The Società Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati entered two supercharged cars, one for grand prix star and three-time Italian champion Giuseppe "Nina" Farina, the other for Franco Rol. However, as qualifications were to open, Rol and Farina cabled Wilbur Shaw from Milan, Italy, that the team would not appear, unable to prepare their cars as "vital parts" were unavailable.

The ex-Boyle, two-time race winning Maserati 8CTF, first run in 1939, was again entered by I.R.C. without a named driver. Lew Welch announced his Novi entry – again sponsored by Mobil Oil – with Duke Nalon nominated to drive the 1949 machine in which he was badly burned. Chet Miller, veteran of fourteen "500's," replaced the late Rex Mays in the other.

A young California Army Air Corps veteran. Abram Joe Watson, known from birth as A.J., scrounged together $10,000 from personal savings and friends to build his entry, which shortly became better known as the "Pots and Pans Special." The $250 entry fee was provided by Joe Norvelli of the Ben Hur oil refining company, whose interest was piqued when the racer zoomed by his limousine on the road one morning. Other citizens and merchants of Watson's hometown also stepped up to contribute in what evolved into a civic cause. Watson's #45 City of Glendale Special was assigned to Dick Rathmann, a 23-year old hot rodder with four years' racing experience, and brother of Speedway veteran Jim Rathmann. Altogether, 17 completely new cars were entered for 1950's Sweepstakes.

Defending race champion Bill Holland turned the fastest laps of early May, stroking his familiar Blue Crown Special around at 125 miles per hour. Holland also announced he was forming his own auto thrill show, The Indianapolis Auto Daredevils, which would appear at fairs and other events through September.

The driver roster was subtly changing with only ten drivers nominated having pre-war Speedway experience. There were 23 veteran drivers entered who'd run their first 500 after the war, and another 23 rookie drivers, one of the largest groups ever. Some Speedway observers and writers complained the cars were increasingly becoming "big midgets", with the drivers, particularly those from the West Coast, using the style perfected on small dirt tracks to get around the Speedway faster. "Youth is doing it," Ed Wintergust, the so-called "Mayor of Gasoline Alley," said. "They're driving harder and farther into the corners than ever before. "

Fuel injection was among the innovations taking root at the Speedway. While in military service, Stu Hilborn created a system that tuned the midget Offenhauser engine's fuel/air mixture to the speed range anticipated during the race. Its dirt track success led to use on the larger Offenhauser engines powering the big cars, adding about 30 horsepower over carburetors by opening the engine's air intake. For 1950 thirteen cars replaced their carbs with fuel injection, which figured to be worth an extra mile per hour, or two in qualifying. For the race, however, trusty carburetors would replace the injection system.

Mauri Rose flashed his fuel injected, front drive #31 Howard Keck Special at 131.9 miles per hour, the season's top practice speed. According to Hilborn, "We started right off with the (fuel) injector. Mauri liked the car and ran well in practice with the fuel injector on." Later Rose made a 25-mile fuel consumption test averaging 128 miles an hour. Clearly, the Keck Special was a favorite to win. Holland's record speed in winning the 1949 race was 121.327 miles per hour. Passing the four Blue Crown cars in the pits Rose, a caustic needler, sarcastically noted, "Well, it looks like I'll be fifth this year." Then he loudly proclaimed to reporters that his Keck Special was "the best car I ever had."

On the eve of Pole Day qualifications rookie Walt Faulkner posted a 130 mile per hour lap in his final trial run. The #98 Grant Piston Ring Special felt good, and it was reported Walt felt that he would be able to put up a noteworthy qualification run with some luck. After the run, Faulkner's mechanic, Clay Smith, lent the car's wheels and tires for use by Troy Ruttman, a Speedway veteran, although just 20 years old. Ruttman, who claimed to be 22 on his entry form each year, had established himself as the favorite for the pole position by turning a practice lap at 133.2 miles per hour that afternoon. He told his pit crew he felt he could "go a little faster if the shock absorbers are adjusted better." Back on the track after adjustments, Ruttman first turned a lap over 134. Then he lost control going into the first turn and crashed his #55 Bowes Seal Fast Special. Jim Pittaway, a Faulkner crew member wrote, "Ruttman went out and not only ground out a 134-plus lap, but also proceeded to try something a lot of guys have tried before . . . grind down the cement wall on the first turn." Ruttman sustained a scalp wound, a slight concussion, a wrenched back and burned elbow. Faulkner's fast set of wheels and tires was destroyed.

On May 13 Guiseppe Farina won the inaugural race of the FIA "International Formula One" World Championship series at Silverstone, England. The seven race championship series included six European races and the Indianapolis 500. The initial formula included naturally aspirated engines of 4500 cc or supercharged engines of 1500 cc, with no weight limit. The Indianapolis rules differed in allowing supercharged engines up to three liters. Although the Sweepstakes did not comply with the engine formula prescription, the event was included in the points table because it was the most prestigious in the United States, which the FIA thought was essential to validate a legitimate world championship claim.

Handsome Freddie Agabashian was the first Pole Day qualifier in the bright yellow #28 Wynns Friction Proofing Special. He set the mark at 131.195 miles per hour. Tony Bettenhausen came out with the ex-Rose, two-time winning Blue Crown car, and was waved off after only running 127. All four Blue Crown cars were taken back to the garage. Behind the Blue Crown pits, Mauri Rose further needled his former team. "Get moving," Lou Moore snapped at him. "You've said enough about these cars already. You can't possibly be that interested." Rose took a puff on his pipe and quietly walked away.

As the Blue Crown team retreated to Gasoline Alley, Rose decided it was his turn to qualify. "Well, what do you say, I'm ready to take it." His dark blue #31 Howard Keck Special was brought to the line. With increasing speeds over each of his four laps, Rose turned 132.319. "Never had a better ride," the cocky three-time winner told the press after his run. "We're ready for the race." When the Blue Crowns reappeared, Holland was first out in his #3 front drive – posting a qualifying speed of 130.482. George Connor in the #5 Baby Blue Crown bettered that with 132.163. And, yet, neither caught Rose, who smugly held the pole.

With its wheels and tire set ruined in the Ruttman crash, Faulkner's car was stranded, unable to practice or qualify. Jim Pittaway recounted the interesting Pole Day afternoon in the Agajanian pits:

"When I showed up at noon, Ol' 98 was ready to go except it didn't have any wheels. A little bit later on somebody yells that Aggie (Owner J.C. Agajanian) has arrived and he's got the wheels that Danny (Jones, Clay Smith's partner) sent . . . so we all go to work."

"Things went all right while Walt burnt in the rubber. Walt finally pulls into the pit after deciding that the rubber is all right for the speed test . . . so he goes right out."

"After a warmup lap he comes hell bent for election and the stop watches click. A minute and 12 seconds later here he is ... and there he goes. We caught him at about 125 miles an hour. He zips through another lap at the same speed, but as he goes by he slows down and we see him shaking his head. A couple of minutes later he pulls in and I ask 'whazzamadder, Walt?"

"'Jim,' he says, 'this darned thing wants to go to the right and Ruttman didn't make a big enough hole in the fence to go that way.'"

Pittaway made adjustments and sent Faulkner back out. "This time he comes in after a fat 126 lap. 'She still ices up (slides) in the turns,' Walt explained."

"I begin to worry about whether we were going to get in under the deadline so I turned to the Mahatma (owner Agajanian) and asked the time and he tells me 5:20. All of a sudden Clay (Smith) says 'Well, I guess what we need is a little smaller rubber like we had yesterday (16-inch wheels instead of the 18-inchers they were using).'"

"The Great Mahatma spoke up with 'Men, I know that (owner of the two Tuffy's Offy entries, Charles) Pritchard has the rubber we need. I'll go ask him if we can borrow it for a little while.'"

"'I'll even buy the rubber from him,' The Mahatma dared say, but somehow we get too busy to think of saying the same thing to Pritchard."

"We slap the borrowed wheels on and Walt is off. We have 18 minutes left to qualify.

Car builder Frank Kurtis was clocking Faulkner's speeds...up to 132 miles per hour. "Better qualify him," Kurtis told Agajanian. "He seems to have it."

Aggie told Clay Smith to bring him in. "'Can't, we haven't got enough time and the rubber on the right front wheel is no good,' Smith spoke up." From the pits, Agajanian tried to wave Faulkner down to stop, but Walt didn't see him. The next time around Aggie bolted to the middle of the track and waved his big white Stetson hat to pull Faulkner in. "When we get back to the pit a guy comes up and says that if we're gonna qualify we had better get back to the line and beat Lou Moore's car (Tony Bettenhausen) onto the track. When we get ready, though, Tony is on the track and getting his final instructions. Pretty soon off he goes and they turn to us. An official says we had to have the car on the track and under its own power across the starting line before the cannon went off at 6 p. m. or it's all for fun. It was almost 5:55 then."

As Bettenhausen finished his second qualifying run at 130.947, Faulkner got underway – behind him the six o'clock gun sounded. "Tony called for the time as he completed his second lap. That was a real break because it was my impression that he was under orders to take three practice laps ... which, had he taken all of them, wouldn't have left us time to get onto the track."

"When the white flag dropped we started the engine and when the checkered flag dropped on Tony, we started shoving and I'm sure that Walt barely had three wheels on the track when the cannon went off. We weren't sure if we had made it until a short time later they announced that the try would be official. They said we had been officially clocked onto the track at 5:59.57 p.m. How lucky can you get?"

"As Walt disappeared down the track we all settle down. 'The loud speaker was blaring forth the praises of Tony in Lou Moore's car, which had just qualified. Finally, the announcer said 'Ladies and gentlemen, the car on the track is a Long Beach, California, entry ... car 98 driven by ' and he probably asked who the driver was before saying 'Walt Faulkner!' By this time half the fans in the grandstand began filing out because the announcer has given the impression that nothing else is going to happen ... that Car 98 wouldn't do much."

Walt Faulkner

On the verge of quitting racing, the slight Faulkner got the Agajanian big car ride as a substitute for Johnny Mantz, the 1949 Pacific Coast AAA big car champion, who retired from the game in April. Smith and Danny Jones, the car's mechanical "masterminds", agreed that Faulkner "would be more aggressive than an older man." Jones told a reporter that Faulkner had a "'feel' of a car ... that certain touch which all good race drivers must have!"

"Suddenly Walt roared into the straightaway. Up went his arm, down went the flag. He started his run without any practice lap as all of us sat with our mouths open. The loud speaker was still talking about Moore and Bettenhausen as the stop watches clicked. Outside of that it was pretty quiet. Nobody was moving in the pits. Some clock watcher spoke up. 'He's about out of the third turn,' he said. 'Like Hell... here he is,' someone else shouted.

"'Almost 133,' Aggie said. Clay writes it on the board and walks out on to the track and had barely got it raised when a little cream speck suddenly became a big car with a little guy in a red shirt at the wheel... and is gone again with nothing left but the noise before it was realized what he had done."

"It's a fast one..." the track announcer let the drama build as Faulkner went into his second qualifying lap. "...1:08.80...132.743 miles per hour!" Suddenly everyone was running to the wall with a stop watch. The remnants of the crowd of 50,000 stopped leaving, standing in the aisles as Faulkner flashed by finishing his second lap.

"All over the place guys were making double takes at their watches in disbelief. They looked at the guys next to them to see what they had. Many put their watches in their pockets and pretended they weren't timing the thing . . . believing they had timed it wrong."

"134.811...that's a new track record!" Ralph Hepburn's titanic one-lap mark of 134.499 fell! The railbirds could hear that Faulkner was not cutting his throttle until he was almost into the turns, and he somehow kept the car under control. Lap three...the cream and red KK 2000 was still on it.

"A big argument was going on between Aggie and some other guy. Finally it was decided that the other guy read his watch wrong and they both had the same time... giving Walt 136.013 mph—fastest lap ever turned in. History had been made."

"The fans still in the stands sensed it too, and stayed where they were. Meanwhile, the loudspeaker was still singing the praises of Lou Moore and his car."

"Nobody knew what the official clocks had recorded and Clay wrote down 135 (on the pit board).

"136.013! Another new track record!!" the announcer called...with Faulkner into his final lap.

"Walt comes by and saw that he had it made and cruised the fourth and final lap of the 10-mile qualifying stint."

Although Walt slightly eased off, his final lap was 132.743. He had turned a four-lap average of 134.343 – bettering Hepburn's epic 1946 mark of 133.944 miles per hour. He became the first speedway rookie to start on the pole since Frenchman George Boillot in 1914.

"The crowd went nuts . . . the stewards and other officials went nuts . . . Wilbur Shaw went nuts along with the rest of us," Pittaway wrote. "Newspapermen rushed up to our little group and asked for Walt's background. 'What did they say his name was?' was the most common question. If I answered it once, I answered it 20 times. It wasn't until then that I first became aware of the loudspeaker coming to life with the statement that Walt had turned in some very fast laps and that they were checking the time more closely. Final average was 134.343. Walt comes in then and when the reporters get a look at the size of him, he is made insofar as the newspapers were concerned."

At five feet four inches, and just 124 pounds, Faulkner was so small compared to the five foot eleven Mantz that extra seat padding was added to allow him to see over the front cowl.

"They asked Walt what he had to say about it. He thought a moment, then drawled 'Anybody who'd drive this track is crazy!' Well, from then on he's really 'in.' Aggie, of course, wrung the situation dry of all its publicity value. One of the first things he did was to knock 15 pounds off Walt's weight. Faulkner said it was 124, but Aggie tells the reporters the little guy was telling little white lies because he only weighed 109 and can prove it. The press ate it up."

Ten of the eleven pole day qualifiers bettered 130 miles an hour. Observers attributed the changes to "heavy footed drivers", a smoother track, and the many minor adjustments made to the cars. Ike Welch, AAA's chief observer, noted, "These boys are punching the throttle so hard their wheels are breaking traction — like a dog digging in gravel." Wilbur Shaw explained it was a myth that front drive cars are faster around the Speedway. "'Put a Novi engine in my old Maserati and it can do 150 on this track. Wheels are staying on the ground better and giving better traction," Shaw pointed out. "And the cars ride better."

Among those drivers looking for a ride was midget pilot and two-time West Coast United Racing Association champion Bill Vukovich, the "Swift Slav" from Fresno, California. After searching for a car, friends found the #10 I.R.C. ex-Boyle Maserati, entered for its ninth 500 since first taking the track in 1937. Drivers like Rose, Shaw and Horn drove it to victory and near-miss glory. Despite its lack of speed, it still produced enough for Vukovich to pass his rookie test for next year.

One-legged veteran Bill Schindler took the $500 prize for the third day's fastest qualification as he drove the #67 Auto Shippers Special to the sixth fastest qualifying time ever, 132.690 miles an hour. Lee Wallard fielded the newest of Lou Moore's four Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials at 132.436, the best time for any of the Blue Crowns. He was placed 23rd on the grid.

As the last day for qualifying approached rain threatened to freeze the grid with many teams sweating overnight preparing for a last shot at the field. Both popular Novis remained unqualified after Lew Welch fussed with Tony Hulman over appearance money for his fan-favorite cars. The two cars were slowed by carburetion problems and plagued with an epidemic of mechanical ailments compounded by a shortage of repair parts and having garages downtown, miles away from the Speedway. Now they were in danger of not making the race. Welch was asked if he planned for his cars to break the qualification record. "I don't tell my drivers how fast to go, but Nalon doesn't intend for grass to grow under him," he replied.

It looked bleak as the morning arrived amid drizzle. It took until 3:28 p.m. to open the Speedway for qualifications – leaving just 152 minutes to make the field. After two cars successfully bumped into the field, Duke Nalon brought out the #38 Novi Mobil Special as an expectant crowd cheered. As he built speed on the backstretch to begin his run, the car suddenly slowed - the supercharger shaft broke! The car was helplessly towed back to the pits. Chet Miller followed in the last hope #43 Novi Mobil Special. Blowing blue smoke, it pulled into the pits with a sour engine... even if Miller's engine could be revived the qualifying line held a dozen cars. Wilbur Shaw talked to owners of cars with no chance at the field, lobbying for sportsmanship as time dwindled. Ralph Pratt, the next car in line to try, was not underway when the gun sounded...qualifying was over...and Pratt just let his engine run futilely for the next several minutes. Miller dejectedly sat fifth in line. The Novis were out. "It just wasn't meant to be," Nalon mumbled.

The 33 qualified cars averaged 131.045 miles an hour, compared with 1949's previous record field at 128.361, a gain of about 10 miles per hour since '46. Except for Faulkner's record qualifying run, the spread of the field ranged within just four miles per hour, with the slowest car hitting 129.208. There were 23 veteran Speedway drivers – only six with pre-war starts - and ten rookies. All but one car – the #61 Cummins Diesel Special – were powered by a Meyer-Drake Offenhauser engine. The prevalent chassis, under 13 cars, was a Kurtis-Kraft. It was the first race since 1936 with no foreign representation in the field.

Stu Hilborn recalled preparing Rose's Howard Keck Special for the race. "Our chief mechanics told Mauri that as soon as the car was back together and the carburetors installed, they wanted to run some practice laps. Mauri appeared to be shocked. He asked, 'Why do you want to go back to the carburetors? This is the smoothest, strongest, best running engine I have ever driven.' Our mechanics answered, 'We don't know if the fuel injector will go 500 miles.' Mauri replied, 'You never will know unless you try it. I don't ever want to drive another car with carburetors.' That settled it. We would run the fuel injector and take our chances."

The teletype machine spit out the Weather Bureau's race day forecast: "Official weather report wind ESE 10 mph. Broken clouds in afternoon with showers possible after 1 p.m." A bright morning sun belied the fact rain was expected. The possibility that the race could be shortened was discussed at Saturday's drivers' meeting. Everyone knew what could happen if the rain fell.

Johnnie Parsons' bright yellow #1 Wynn's Friction Proofing Special looked ready to fly, but his mechanic Harry Stephens discovered coolant seeping out of a crack in the new Offy cylinder block. Unable to switch out the engine, Stephens filled the crack with metal sealer, added a coat of paint over it, and quietly gave Parsons the word that if the engine could survive the first 50 miles it would probably be okay, that the heat should tighten the seal.

At four minutes to eleven starter Seth Klein commanded, "Gentlemen, start your engines." As every year, the air was shattered by 33 engines grasping for their breath. The pace car began the first of two warm up laps. As the 33 cars came down the front stretch at precisely eleven, Wilbur Shaw stood in the speeding pace car as it eased into the pits clasping his hands over his head in salute...and the green flag dropped.

Mauri Rose took the opening lap lead and held it over pole sitter Walt Faulkner. Freddie Agabashian and Parsons followed. Given the uncertainty of his engine, Parsons felt that he could not afford to nurse his car along. "I saw my chance and I wanted some of that lap money"—$100 per leading lap. Although he started fifth, Johnnie took over the lead from Mauri Rose after just eight laps - with Rose staying close, "right at the end of (Parsons') exhaust pipe," according to one report. A.J. Watson's #45 City of Glendale Special went out with a broken oil line on the eleventh lap. The dream realized was quickly dashed.

When Rose passed for the lead in the 34th lap, Parsons came right back just a few hundred yards later, reportedly driving with one hand and waving to the cheering crowd as he reclaimed the front spot. The two drivers maintained the order until lap 105, when Parsons pitted, replacing a rear tire and adding fuel, a mix of benzol, alcohol and 100-octane aircraft gasoline. Johnnie spent 1 minute 15 seconds in the pits. Rose came in on lap 108, taking tires and fuel, and leaving the car for a quick drink. Suddenly a fuel spill ignited – Jim Travers, the fueler, was splashed and the hot exhaust pipe ignited the errant methanol. The pit fireman triggered his CO2 extinguisher as Travers tore away his invisibly burning clothes and leaped over the pit wall in his underpants. With a cup of water in hand, Rose calmly stood by amid the confusion with building smoke and extinguisher fog, then he jumped into the car and roared back into the race. It was later reported that Travers had $2000 in his burning pants pocket, and three other dollars that belonged to Rose, who was too superstitious to carry the greenbacks during the race.

Running a one stop strategy, Bill Holland inherited the lead for the Blue Crown team, but only shortly before he also pitted on lap 117, putting Parsons back in front. Holland had to make another lap under the Speedway's rules when he overshot his pit, dropping him from serious contention.

Parsons told his crew before the race to give him a chalkboard sign showing two vertical arrows if rain threatened. Before the sign came out, Parsons saw a black storm cloud around the 300-mile mark. "I pointed to that big cloud up there. I saw it before they did," Parsons said later. "I didn't know whether it was going to rain or not. But I was running the race on that chance, anyway." By then he had averaged a record 124.607 miles per hour, compared with Holland's 1949 record speed of 121.809. Driving his record-setting car, Holland's second place 122.838 miles an hour also bettered his winning time of the previous year. "Everything was shaping up. I was leading, I had lots of gas, the car was running swell," Parsons explained. Suddenly a hard, driving rain fell for only a minute or two, enough to immediately turn the oily brick and asphalt track into a slick danger for all.

The yellow light blinked first. Then Jack McGrath and Jackie Holmes spun, causing the race to end after 138 laps, the first rain-shortened since 1926. "Boy, I never had it so good," beamed winner Johnnie Parsons. His triumph earned the one-time child vaudeville performer $57,458.63 and four victory lane kisses from actress Barbara Stanwyck. It eventually also gave Parsons the dubious distinction of having his name misspelled on the Borg-Warner Trophy, where engravers mistakenly carved "Johnny." After the race Parsons told the press the cracked block was no problem. "Harry Stephens told me before we began that the block had a slight crack. But it certainly didn't bother any. That car was running like a top all the time." Responding to the critics of "hot rod" drivers Parsons said, "I've had the best training in the world for this business, the midgets. There are some people who think if you're a midget or hot rod driver, you can't drive this track so fast. They're wrong."

The Sweepstakes win could have been Parsons' final drive. Johnnie once promised his father he'd stop racing when he won at Indianapolis. After the race he called his father, asking whether he should quit. "Since I was the National Champion and had just won the biggest race in the world, and if I still liked what I was doing, (he said) that it would be fine with him if I would keep on doing it. I thanked him. That was as important to me as winning the 500," Parsons later recalled.

Johnnie Parsons, 1950 Sweepstakes Champion

There were various disputes following the race. The unofficial post-race results initially placed Tony Bettenhausen, driving relief in the #17 Wolfe Special for Joie Chitwood, in second. Rose had been placed fifth, behind Green, and had posted a complaint that Green illegally passed him under a caution. According to Stu Hilborn, the Keck team thought there was a scoring error. "Mauri ran strong and aggressively, always staying up close to the leaders. Then late in the race he started moving up. The race ended with a down pour of rain at the 345 mile mark and our car in second spot. Then we noticed something was wrong. The public scoreboard listed us in third position. We always kept a careful lap count on our car. The car the officials were showing in second place, we had passed while it was in the pits."

"The scoring system used at Indianapolis was pretty primitive. They had one person assigned to each car with a bundle of 200 cards. Every time their car crossed the finish line during the race, they were supposed to flip over a card. At the end of the race, the cards were counted and the number of laps the car had completed could be determined. The chance for errors was great. In a moment of inattention, a car could slip by unnoticed and not receive credit for the lap. Or, two cards could be flipped at once by mistake, giving a car an extra lap."

"We filed a protest with the officials, claiming we had passed the car (Holland) they had put in second place, while it was in the pits. They went off to study whatever scoring records they had. The next day they denied our protest. To this day we believe we were cheated out of second place." A complete timing audit shuffled the order for the official standings posted the next morning. Holland was officially placed second, ahead of Rose, and earned approximately $15,000. Rose was placed third, ahead of Cecil Green by 99/100th of a second. Although it was the first time in years that a Blue Crown hadn't won the race, many thought Lou Moore's strategy would have been victorious for a fourth consecutive race had the event run its full course. But Moore didn't feel badly. "We had Holland second, Lee Wallard in sixth and George Connor eighth."

During the summer of 1950 Firestone tested a new speedway tire derived from an old board track design. McGrath, Nalon, and Chet Miller all made higher speeds around the Speedway on the new rubber, and the company put the tires into production.

On September 4, 1950, the "First Annual 500 Mile Auto Race" - the first 500-mile race ever for stock cars - was run under NASCAR and CSRA co- sanction. Seventy-five cars lined up in 25 rows of three to inaugurate the high-banked 1.25-mile Darlington Raceway, constructed on what had been South Carolina cotton and peanut fields. Harold Brasington, the track founder, initially got the idea while attending the 1933 Indianapolis 500. Johnny Mantz, whose Bill France-owned Plymouth was the slowest qualifier, won by nine laps over Fireball Roberts, averaging 75.25 miles per hour. His advantage was using truck tires that gave much longer wear, saving time on pit stops. Gov. Strom Thurmond proudly noted, "They have the Indianapolis 500 and we have the Southern 500." The race immediately acquired a name.

Start of "First Annual 500 Mile Auto Race," 1950, Darlington, SC

Bud Winfield, the man behind the Novi engine, was fatally injured in a traffic accident near Fresno, California, returning from a sprint car race at the Clovis, California, Speedway. Race driver Walt James, who was behind the wheel, sustained multiple injuries that forced him to lie still for months, steel rods holding his shattered leg bones together. Troy Ruttman was supposed to have been along, but changed plans at the last minute.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer opened its romantic-action movie "To Please a Lady" in theatres on Thanksgiving Day atop a double feature with the likes of B-western "Wyoming Mail." The film, starring Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck, was studio touted as "a picture that packs thrill after thrill in an absorbing story that unfolds an unusual romance against thunderous auto-racing spectacles." Mostly it was another comeback vehicle for Gable, the pre-war "King of the Movies" who had since not regained his Hollywood box office magic. Scenes were filmed during daily activity around the Speedway through the month of May, and during the race. A staged track scene using much stage dust was later blamed for damaging the engine in Myron Fohr's #2 Bardahl Special. Gable's film car was Joie Chitwood's race mount. Both stars were frequently seen around the track, especially Gable, an automobile fancier who enjoyed visiting around Gasoline Alley and riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Several drivers appeared in the released film, either as themselves, other characters, or as extras. Mauri Rose was featured driving his Keck Special determinedly racing Gable side-by-side in the film's concluding scenes. Oddly, rather than playing himself, "Helldrivers" stunt boss Chitwood was portrayed in the film by William C. McGaw, general manager of his thrill shows. After the racing season, the Chitwood-Gable race car was taken on a national publicity tour to promote the film.

Former Army P-38 pilot and midget driver Rodger Ward secured his first AAA National Championship ride in a 100-miler at the Arizona State Fair's one-mile dirt oval at Phoenix on November 12th. Driving a Kurtis-Kraft 2000 too slow to qualify at Indianapolis, Ward started 16th and finished tenth in a field of 18, two laps behind the winner, Jimmy Davies.

A crowd of 8,000 withstood unusual near-freezing December temperatures to see the final race of the 1950 AAA National Championship season, a 200-miler around South Carolina's Darlington Raceway. Johnnie Parsons completed the 160 laps in one hour, 54 minutes, 47.24 seconds, an average speed of 104.651 miles per hour. By winning, Parsons collected $4,800 of the $20,000 purse. Bill Schindler finished second by 18 seconds. Henry Banks captured the AAA National Championship by taking third in the #8 rear drive Blue Crown Special. The race marked the competitive debut of Firestone's new synthetic rubber speedway racing tire. Bill Holland did not race at Darlington after AAA indefinitely suspended him for participating in an unsanctioned stock car race November 14th at the Opa Locka track near Miami, Florida.

The post-war Blue Crown era established a Speedway dynasty that quickly led the Sweepstakes out of any residual depression to an era of technological expansion that caught and kept the fancy of everyday Americans in a time of great national optimism. It was an era of American industrial and scientific dominance fulfilled annually for the public on the brick and asphalt oval. The leading competitors were expensive investments in leading race technology, a far cry from the junk formula of the Depression, and the dusty post-war leftovers dragged from garages for one last Sweepstakes pay day in 1946.

Fundamental and clear differences in competition draw passion. For that reason the Blue Crown and Novi "500" rivalry clearly ranks among sports' greatest, although it is often overlooked or forgotten. These cars represented American automotive excellence and neither principal, Lou Moore or Lew Welch, spared expense – $50,000 apiece – to pursue the riches offered the winner. Moore particularly used the lessons offered by wartime aviation engine development to further refine and maximize the potential of the Miller-Offenhauser engine, a design which had essentially been around since the early days of the century, and which retained much future potential. Moore leveraged steady economy into three consecutive Sweepstakes wins – twice sweeping the top two spots. While no one would dispute the quality of his principal drivers, Mauri Rose and Bill Holland, one could fairly ask whether driver skill or a race strategy favoring fewer pit stops and eschewing blazing speed for reliability was the basic ingredient of the three wins – especially as the results between the drivers are interchangeable, particularly if one considers Rose's controversial 1948 win.

Welch turned an engine into a legend. The Novi V-8 was the heavy puncher taking on the finesse opponent in the Blue Crowns. The Novi was big, uniquely loud, and singular in its power output. Its aura was unbeatable, despite its annual failure to win. There was always a reason, and the reasons always sprung from its ascribed beastly nature. Its drivers were all top notch, from Ralph Hepburn through Cliff Bergere and Rex Mays, to Duke Nalon – and there remained an annual question whether any of these drivers could sufficiently "tame the Novi monster" to win.

The era was costly in terms of lives lost, and death played no favorites on the tracks around the world. Event advertisements screamed "death defying," with races often accompanied by "thrill shows" featuring stunts and crashes galore! All concerned, especially these who risked lives, knew the potential – a potential much higher than the contemporary sport with five point harnesses, high tech helmets, flame-proof suits, crash tubs and destruction zones designed into the cars, and "soft" retaining walls. It was a dangerous game that all involved understood well, and came to face often. The stars who fell included George Robson, Ted Horn, Ralph Hepburn and Rex Mays. Others, like Rudi Caracciola and Duke Nalon, barely escaped "the big one."

The growing demand for racing led to the establishment of racing circuits with nearly nightly events. Some, like Granatelli's Hurricane circuit, played to enormous crowds at places like Chicago's Soldier Field. As auto racing moved into the Fifties it was booming, with even better days ahead.

#  Chapter Four: Kurtis Roadsters and the Fresno Flash (1951-1953)

In 1946 the AAA National Championship included only five "big car" events. By 1951 the Championship season offered 16 such races, of which only two were on paved ovals, including the "500."

The key to the racing business outside the Speedway was race promoters, the guys who secured the purse, secured sanction, hustled entries, owned or rented the track, posted bills, placed newspaper advertising, strategically announced entries, and then peddled tickets and concessions to recover the investment and make a profit. The business of racing was a carnival-like combination of showmanship and competition. Promoters frequently presented music, vaudeville, fireworks and thrill shows – even rodeos - to attract and amuse spectators. Race cards often included stunt driving exhibitions and other novelty attractions – for an added promoter's fee to the participants. Driver Joie Chitwood made as many as 15 appearances a week between racing and his "Hell Drivers" thrill shows.

Many, like Babe Stapp, who had raced on board tracks and twelve times at the Speedway, were former drivers. Others were local fairground impresarios. None were bigger than Sam Nunis, who Fortune magazine referred to as the "promotional king of the dirt tracks." Nunis owned or controlled a substantial circuit of major rings in the eastern United States and had "first call" on many star drivers. "Slippery Sam" got his start with impresario Ralph Hankinson after quitting his job with Ford Motor Company to follow Hankinson's auto racing show. Nunis drove until he crashed through a fence, and his car landed atop him in 1926. After an 18 month recovery, he swore off the cars, instead learning to promote events from the master, eventually becoming the eastern and central states manager for Hankinson Speedways.

Hankinson's unexpected death in August 1942 threw auto racing promotion east of the Mississippi River wide open, with Nunis chief among those grabbing at the legacy, planning for a post-war revival. After the war ended in August 1945, Nunis quickly returned to promoting auto races, putting on his first show September 5th at Trenton. In October he offered a dirt track program with "28 high speed events" at the Greensboro, North Carolina, Fair that featured "Joey Chitwood, 1939-40-42 Champion, Bill Holland, 1941, Bob Sall, 1937, Lou Heller, 1938." Sharing the bill were "The World's Champion HELL DIVERS" and a "TRANSCONTINENTAL BUS JUMP—Car Crashed End Over End—Plunges Through Fire." In 1946 "Sam Nunis Speedways" promoted 62 events, many billed as "record-shattering race presentations" with appearances by stars he had under contract, such as Ted Horn, Tommy Hinnershitz, and Holland.

Promoters publicly posted the event purses, usually a guaranteed portion of the gate and generally at least $9,000 for a National Championship race. A winner might take $5,000 or more in prize money, while the payment was scaled back quickly dependent on finishing position. Generally, car owners kept 60 percent or more of the purse winnings, while a driver generally received 25-30 per cent of prize money. The rest went to the crew. And the enterprise earned nothing if the car finished "out of the money." On the side, promoters quietly offered preferred car owners and star drivers "appearance money" to secure their entries to headline their promotion. Circuit promoters had some owners and drivers under contracts to ensure quality fields for his events, which were extensions of the fairs, midways and carnivals with which auto racing often shared the bill.

There were staged "hippodrome" match races where the split of "winner-take-all" money was often arranged with the participants beforehand to save the machinery. The show was more important than competition. Even the Indianapolis Motor Speedway arranged such race exhibitions for the amusement of conventioneers and visiting dignitaries, with Speedway President Wilbur Shaw occasionally appearing behind the wheel.

While some drivers were year 'round professionals, following the various circuits as the seasons changed, many more had jobs outside racing – as mechanics, heavy equipment operators, even bartenders, barbers, gas jockeys and car salesmen. Many drove on no more than a handshake with an owner, while others commanded a guaranteed minimum as "job drivers" to drive an event. "Hell, if you make $10,000 a year as a top driver, you're lucky," Tony Bettenhausen said in an interview. A recognized star, Bettenhausen owned a car dealership, worked his farm, and raced about 40 times each year. The driver's sanctioning body membership fees normally included medical and hospitalization insurance for injury. And life insurance. They were careful to run within sanctioning association rules, or face a lengthy suspension.

The Speedway and AAA helped maintain the lean economics of the game, careful not to add needless equipment expenses, keeping the technology conservative and competitive over a period. When made, changes by rule were usually phased in over three or more years to ease the financial shock and ensure amortization. While the big money owners/sportsmen targeted the "500" with unique equipment, those who pursued the national championship were generally racing lifers to whom even small dollars mattered.

Economics helped propel Kurtis-Kraft, to the front of the Championship auto racing equipment business. The company was the brainchild of Frank Kurtis, who built his first Indianapolis car from salvage in 1941. Working the war years in the aircraft industry, Kurtis determined to replace the traditional race car channel construction with a tube frame. With the world war's end, Kurtis built cars to run the popular California "doodlebug" midget circuit, and in November 1945 Lew Welch commissioned him to build his innovative, front-drive Novi, with another ordered in 1946. By 1947 his plant was producing nearly a midget per day to meet demand. He designed and entered his own Speedway racer in 1948, the Kurtis Kraft Special, a dual-purpose championship car that could run well both on the dirt tracks and paved speedways like Indianapolis. Tommy Hinnershitz drove the car to ninth place at the Speedway, slowed by magneto problems. Later, at Langhorne, Pennsylvania., Walt Brown brought the racer to victory, and Johnnie Parsons won with it again at DuQuoin, Illinois. Demand grew quickly for the versatile and successful car, with the 1949 Indianapolis field featuring seven KK2000s and various other older Kurtis chassis. Kurtis' own car was driven to a second in 1949 and then to victory at Indianapolis in 1950 by Johnnie Parsons. By then, as demand for his dominating midget racers had totally evaporated, the big car business became most important to Frank.

One other aspect reportedly separated Kurtis from many other builders: Kurtis looked out for a driver's welfare and safety in his designs and craftsmanship. Since he started building race cars in 1932, his guiding principle was to build his cars with the best materials "as if the boys' lives are at stake." Further, after releasing his cars to customers, Kurtis provided them practical track advice and technical knowledge. During the entire month of May at Indianapolis he was commonly seen observing his cars at the turns. Kurtis, it was said, could tell by sight whether his racers were performing properly, and he was an active advisor to all Kurtis car owners and crews.

The 500-Mile International Sweepstakes was the first race of the 1951 AAA National Championship season. In addition to the $75,000 guaranteed purse, $32,500 in special prizes was posted in January. Speedway management also promised a bonus if justified by gate receipts. However, Wilbur Shaw, speedway president, suggested that a "500" victory should be worth $150,000 to any enterprising driver through advertisements, endorsements, and appearances. As he traveled around the country Johnnie Parsons discovered his fame of winning the "500" had its price. He was often greeted by police and debt collectors threatening arrest and demanding to collect on bad checks and unpaid debts accumulated by impostors.

Lou Moore sold his famous three-time "500" winning front wheel drive Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials to William B. "Bill" Ansted, Jr., owner of the Rotary Engineering Corp. of Indianapolis. The Ansted family had long been associated with the automotive industry, and had been involved with manufacturing the Auburn Cord line of automobiles. Moore remained as the cars' chief mechanic. Holland's 1949 winner became the #27 Mobilgas Special assigned to Duane "Pappy" Carter after Holland's suspension. Mauri Rose's 1947 and 1948 winning car, the new #5 Mobiloil Special, was assigned to Tony Bettenhausen. The "Baby Blue Crown" rear drive car was sold to Lindsay Hopkins, to be driven by National Champion Henry Banks as #1. The other rear drive car went to Charlie Marant, an associate of Moore's who wrenched Bill Holland's 1949 winning mount. The cars retained Blue Crown sponsorship.

Lew Welch organized a new plan for his Novis, including an early arrival at the Speedway after air freighting both cars from California. With Bud Winfield gone, Jean Marcenac assumed his chief mechanic role for the Novis. Before his death Winfield had redesigned the combustion chamber, improving reliability by more efficient cooling. Chet Miller, who quit Welch during the 1948 Bergere controversy, would again drive one of the powerful racers.

In Lowell, Indiana, Murrell Belanger rebuilt and modified his #99 Kurtis-Offy in the second floor machine shop of the Belanger Farm Equipment Co., once the last harness shop in town. Frank Kurtis originally built the "stretched midget" in 1949 for three-time Sweepstakes winner Lou Meyer. As the Meyer-Drake factory car, it was powered by a supercharged Offy engine. It failed to make the field under Tony Bettenhausen when it debuted in Milwaukee, finished last at Springfield, and finished 15th in the State Fair race at Milwaukee. Bettenhausen surprisingly won at DuQuoin, Illinois, and rumors circulated of Meyer-Drake engine tricks denied regular Offy customers. The customers quickly complained about getting beat by their engine supplier. Meyer hurriedly sold the car to Belanger. Two weeks later, the car and Bettenhausen won again at Detroit. After setting a new track qualifying record, the car met tragedy at Sacramento, California, when Tony tried to pass Walt Faulkner during the eleventh lap of a 100-miler. Claiming he was blinded by dust from the dirt track, Tony ran up over Faulkner's rear axle, flipped over, and crashed through a safety fence. The car struck four persons, and snapped a five-inch tree. Although Bettenhausen walked away from the crash, suffering bad cuts on the shoulder and face, a spectator died.

Belanger's strategy was to combine speed and economy in a light, rear-drive car needing fewer fuel stops while racing at the high speeds. #99 weighed just 1,530 pounds after Belanger's changes. He cut the stroke of the 270 Offy reducing displacement slightly to 263 cubic inches, allowing the engine to safely sustain higher rev counts. The freer revving Offy churned 330 horsepower. Belanger also figured that Firestone's new speedway tire design would allow cars to maintain more speed through the turns.

As in '50, with Belanger's blessing, Bettenhausen signed an Indianapolis-only deal with the Ansted team, thinking his chances to win the Sweepstakes were better in a Lou Moore-prepared car. He was sold on front wheel drive, which he thought was easier on tires, and convinced running with a four-time winning team was more conducive to winning the big race. Still, "The Tinley Park Express" was noted for his heavy foot, never finishing any previous "500" run.

Belanger hired New Yorker Lee Wallard to drive his car at Indianapolis. A former bulldozer operator and reputed a rough and tumble midget driver, Wallard eased his wooly style after he landed a midget racer in the fourth row of the grandstands, also becoming an "abstainer." Befriended and mentored by Ted Horn, in 1949 Wallard drove the ex-Horn #6 I.R.C Maserati to 23rd in the Sweepstakes, and piloted the #8 "Baby Blue Crown" to sixth in 1950.

At their Long Beach, California, machine shop Clay Smith and Danny Jones assembled two "500" specials for J.C. Agajanian. Eddie Kuzma designed the new #2 Agajanian Grant Piston Ring car for driver Walt Faulkner. It was smaller and lighter than most Speedway entries to provide the 130 pound driver a further weight advantage. It sported aircraft brakes, fuel injection and twelve-pound magnesium wheels replacing the traditional 40-pound steel rims. Smith estimated the cost of the car at $15,000, including its $6,000 Offenhauser engine. Troy Ruttman's # 98, the veteran ex-Faulkner KK-2000, was lowered to improve handling and its fuel capacity increased. It would be fueled by a hotter blend of benzole, alcohol and gasoline to compensate for the added weight – including the outsized Ruttman.

Thirty-year-old Rodger Ward was first to complete his Speedway rookie driving test. While serving in the Army Air Corps as a P-38 pilot instructor, he talked his way into a mechanic job at the quarter-mile Wichita Falls, Texas, Speedrome. One night, substituting for a driver who failed to show, Ward took the wheel of the midget, suffering a cut chin that took stitches – and that brought him trouble with his commanding officer. Ward was given a choice of giving up auto racing, or mustering out of the Army. "I thought about it a little while," Ward said, "and decided 'what the hell' and I got out." His first win was a consolation race at Amarillo, Texas, in August 1946. Racing weekly at the Phoenix Speedway, "I bragged about how great I was in Texas," Ward said. "Nobody believed me, and I couldn't prove it to them. But I did get rides." Ward's fame exploded out West when he piloted a nitro-laced Ford V8-60 powered midget car to a victory at Gilmore Stadium at Los Angeles, breaking the track's long Offenhauser winning streak, which helped Ward score his first big car ride on the AAA National Championship trail at the Phoenix, Arizona, mile.

Stu Hilborn, inventor of the constant flow fuel injection system which later accounted for 34 Sweepstakes wins, worked for Howard Keck's team. He recalled a problem with outfitting the front wheel drive #16 Pennzoil Special for Mauri Rose: "We had ordered some new wire wheels for the car. It was almost qualifying weekend before they finally arrived. We looked the new wheels over and didn't like what we saw." Hilborn was concerned. In August 1947 he was left in a body cast for months when a a broken wire wheel sent his car barrel rolling down the the Harper Dry Lake, California, course at over 140 miles per hour. "The wheels were furnished by (Firestone). The head man examined them and pronounced them okay. Since there wasn't enough time to have new ones made, we reluctantly put them on the car."

Two years after he nearly lost his life Duke Nalon returned to the Speedway. Driving the #54 Novi Purelube Special with the redesigned engine he smashed Walt Faulkner's year old qualifying records. His 136.498 miles per hour four-lap average obliterated Walt's record 134.343. Nalon also set a one-lap record of 137.048 miles an hour, beating Faulkner's 136.003. Wallard and McGrath completed the front row.

Faulkner took his new, smaller car to practice on the third day of qualifications. His throttle stuck open entering the first turn forcing Faulkner to fight through the next two turns before regaining control on the backstretch. Admittedly scared by the experience, Walt realized he could take more speed through the turns. When the time came, Faulkner took one warm-up lap and took the green flag to begin his attempt. Faulkner hardly backed off - his first lap came in at 135 plus. "Listen to that little devil drive those turns," board track veteran Harlan Fengler told those near him. His second 137.279! A new track record!! Car owner Agajanian was jumping around in the pits as Faulkner continued. Lap three was slower. Then he opened up again for his last trip around, timed at 138.122 miles per hour – a four lap average of 136.872. Walt and the #2 Agajanian Grant Piston Ring Special broke Duke Nalon's week old marks of 136.498 and 137.049, reclaiming his Speedway speed crown.

Among rookies that day Ward, Bill Vukovich and Chuck Stevenson each qualified for the first time. Despite a broken water hose clamp terminating his first qualifying attempt after one lap, Rodger Ward cheated the rain and qualified the #48 Deck Manufacturing Company Special on his second attempt at 131.867 miles per hour. Vukovich, California's "Mad Russian", turned a four lap run at 133.725 miles per hour. Although a rookie at Indianapolis, he was an experienced champion midget driver out West. Bill finally came to Indianapolis in 1950, driving the tired ex-Ted Horn Maserati to pass his rookie test, never taking a qualifying run. He won the National Midget Championship that year, and was highly considered as a threat to win the Sweepstakes in his first try. "I don't see how he can lose," said one observer, "because he doesn't know anywhere else to run, other than first." After he had spun off the track into the infield, rookie Jimmy Bryan failed to make the field in the #72 Viking Trailer Special.

Chief Steward Tommy Milton canceled final qualifications on a rainy Sunday, announcing a final four hour qualifying period ending at 1 p.m. Monday. Chet Miller blew the #32 Novi Purelube Special through his ten mile trial at an average of 135.798 miles per hour. It brought him a starting position in the tenth row. The field averaged 133.570 miles per hour, filled with the fastest cars to ever start a "500."

The overall average speed jumped 2.5 miles per hour in one year, and 5.5 miles per hour in just two years. Several factors combined to create the higher speeds. New metal alloys leading to lighter cars were atop the list. Faulkner's new racer, for example, weighed about 300 less than older cars. Another factor was the wider use of Ted Halibrand's magnesium wheels, which first appeared at the Speedway on Pat Clancy's six wheeled entry in 1948. The wheels' advantages were their light weight and cornering rigidity. By 1950 the wheels were credited for providing Duane Carter a two mile per hour advantage in Speedway testing. Walt Faulkner used them in the 1950 "500" and during his record 1951 qualification run. Some cited the combination of improved tires, new gear ratios and eager drivers. Firestone's new tire, which featured a wider profile and thicker sidewall, gave more traction allowing higher speeds in the turns. Others noted the lower gear ratios and higher engine speeds.

Wilbur Shaw admitted concern. "We're considering putting in mechanical restrictions to slow them down," he said, "but it would be a shame to do it when they're really improving the breed of cars. We won't do it until we give it a lot more consideration, and then only as a safety factor. But if we should slow the cars, there's another consideration. Driving a slower car, drivers will take more chances to win, and that might be worse than letting them improve the cars while remaining within our present restrictions. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody hits 140 by next year."

Sportswriter Dale Burgess surveyed the contenders. "There was no question but that the (Novis) had the speed to win the race, but owners and drivers of the other 31 vehicles had only one question, 'Will they hold up?'" A fair question as a Novi had only finished the race twice, once in 1947, again in '48. Wallard, Nalon and Parsons were the most popular picks among the drivers to win the race. And Duke Nalon, the popular favorite, said "Rose always is the man to beat!"

The race day weather forecast predicted partly cloudy skies and a high temperature of 76 degrees. The pre-race program followed the familiar order and pageantry; the Purdue University band paraded up and down the front straight as the colorful race cars were pushed to the line by their crews. The annual panoramic photograph of the drivers and mechanics was taken. Then Frank Parrish, an Indianapolis radio singer, rendered "Indiana" as the balloons were released. And, at last, "Gentlemen, start your engines."

As the field fired its engines there were the usual hard-starters. Sam Hanks, the last off, finally rushed out to join the field for the parade lap. When starter Seth Klein dropped the green flag, Jack McGrath took the first turn lead from the middle of the front row as Nalon slowed from the pole position. Wallard finally wrested a six foot lead in the free-for-all, holding it through the first three laps. McGrath took point on the fourth as Wallard fell back before regaining the front for two more turns around the Speedway, then dropped behind McGrath again after the seventh lap. But on the 16th lap of the duel Wallard was back front. Nalon and his #18 Novi Purelube Special meanwhile had stopped on lap five to fix fuel injection nozzles. Although he returned to the race the stop took him out of contention early.

Wallard set a new race speed record at 50 miles, averaging 129.530 miles per hour – with lap speeds still increasing! He and Cecil Green, who overtook McGrath, diced closely in a wild trophy dash, reportedly never more than 10 feet apart until lap 27 when Wallard was overtaken for a single turn of the Speedway. On lap 50, while leading the race by a lap, Wallard lost his exhaust pipe in the north chute and quickly made his only pit stop. His car was getting better than six miles per gallon on a blend of methanol, gasoline and benzol. The Belanger crew worked to speed him on his way in just a minute and 13 seconds, after changing both right tires, refueling, and patching the exhaust –Wallard dropped to fifth.

Chet Miller's Novi quit the race on lap 51with ignition problems. Rookie Jimmy Davies, on leave from the Army, took his #76 Parks Offenhauser Special into the lead for the next 62 miles, setting a new 150 mile race speed mark at 128.453 miles per hour, until a sputtering engine sent him to the pits on lap 77. Green, who had qualified his #4 Zink Special at the second slowest speed in the field, had the lead for only three laps before his engine threw a connecting rod. From there, 73 seconds ahead of rookie Mike Nazaruk in the #83 Robbins Special, Wallard ran the field into the bricks.

On his lap 126, while running third more than four minutes behind Wallard, a collapsed wheel caused three-time winner Mauri Rose to fishtail his front drive #16 Pennzoil Special into the northeast turn infield, flipping the car upside down in a spray of mud. Rose quickly crawled out unhurt but shaken. "Our worst fear happened," Stu Hilborn explained. "One of our new wheels broke. So much for the credibility of the wheel expert. We should have followed our first instinct and rejected those wheels." After 178 laps, having spun into the infield to avoid a stopped car in front of him, Tony Bettenhausen and his front drive #5 Mobiloil Special quit with a broken brake drum. Like all his previous Speedway runs, his expectant ride with Lou Moore ended futilely. Still, due to high attrition, Tony scored in the money, taking ninth place.

With a rear brake cylinder hanging uselessly, missing a shock absorber, Wallard stroked the last 30 miles to the finish - the race no contest if his car finished. More than two laps ahead of Mike Nazaruk, Wallard finally took the checkered flag, and then drove his "hurricane on wheels" two extra safety laps. He last crossed the finish flashing a big grin while sitting on the car's tail, his feet on the seat, waving the useless brake lever overhead for the crowd to see. In his pocket Wallard carried the "lucky dime" that his close friend Ted Horn had in his shoe when killed.

At Victory Lane Wallard was first met by Wilbur Shaw, who handed Lee an engraved silver cup filled with "Water from Wilbur." Loretta Young departed from the custom of kissing the winner by insisting that Wallard should kiss his wife. Miss Young hugged them both. Behind them loomed the giant silver Borg-Warner trophy. Wallard finished in 3:57:38.05, the first time ever under four hours, and almost five miles per hour faster than Bill Holland's 1949 record. All six cars that completed 500 miles bettered Holland's mark, with 25 of the 33 racers failing under the intense pace. Wilbur Shaw's pre-race prediction of new speed records came true – they indeed knocked out every record in the book.

"I wasn't worried," Wallard told reporters in Victory Lane, saying any pressure for higher speeds lifted with 50 miles left "because I had no brakes and no competition. I just tried to keep moving and stay out of trouble. I didn't have any race planned. I just went along as it went with me." Belanger's gamble on simplicity, light weight and quick acceleration off the faster turns paid off. The "blue jewel" #99 car had shattered the accepted post war strategy of winning the "500" by cruising economically at planned speeds. AP reporter Dale Burgess gushed, "Lee Wallard has made it a driving contest again. He pushed his hardest all the way." Wallard and his pursuers drove "as if the big oval were a dirt track, cutting in front of each other on the turns." For winning, Wallard collected a record purse of $63,612. The total prize fund also set a record, $207,650. Wallard soon received a telegram from his proud hometown of Altamont, New York: "Congratulations. The whole village of Altamont and everybody in the surrounding area feel highly elated over your great victory. - Edwin S. Sanford, Mayor, and Trustees".

Lee Wallard, 1951 500-Mile Race Champion

Speculation immediately began whether Wallard would still run the dirt tracks, which in recent years claimed George Robson, Ted Horn and Rex Mays. Some previous Sweepstakes winners, including Mauri Rose, turned their backs to the dangerous surface. Wilbur Shaw said, "I raced on the dirts for 15 years and finally decided it was not worth the battle. The chances you took just weren't worth it."

Wallard agreed the day after the "500" to race at the Reading, Pennsylvania, Fairgrounds half-mile dirt oval. There, in his first race after winning the "500", Lee just finished fourth in the 30-lap feature when a defective carburetor sprayed methanol, causing the car to catch fire on the home stretch. He told reporters he sensed no danger until the last turn, when the flames erupted. He bravely drove his flaming machine 50 yards beyond the grandstand to the outside of the track. After he leaped out, his trousers and shirt ablaze, Wallard continued to warn people away from the burning car. Although spectators and track officials quickly smothered the flames, the driver suffered severe second and third burns of the arms and legs, and was hospitalized in serious condition. In Schenectady, N.Y., the Chamber of Commerce quietly canceled its planned "Welcome Home" luncheon for the Sweepstakes champion.

Tony Bettenhausen resumed driving for Murrell Belanger, taking the wheel of "Number 99" for the championship season. Bettenhausen won eight of 13 remaining races, along with scoring two seconds, and easily earned the National Championship. Explaining the team's success Bettenhausen explained, "You've got to have a man with money, a good car the money's being spent on, and, of course, the car has to be steered."

Speedway President Wilbur Shaw served as the official starter at the All-America Soap Box Derby finals in Akron, Ohio, since 1937. After running up the race course hill to join the opening parade, Shaw suddenly felt nauseous. After the parade, still feeling ill, he left his car and slumped into a chair, saying "I guess the heat's got me." A doctor was called over the public address to help the stressed Shaw as his chest pains increased. The arriving doctor, a cardiologist, immediately summoned an ambulance; the 48-year old was stricken by a heart attack, confined at Akron's City Hospital for several weeks.

After 121 days under acute care, Lee Wallard was released from an Albany, N.Y. hospital. His surgeon, who grafted 37 eight by four inch pieces of skin, said that the champion had made an "exceptionally good recovery!" He walked using crutches to the waiting Chrysler pace car he had won at Indianapolis, telling reporters, "I'm the happiest guy in the world right now. I feel fine." Lee and wife Esther drove to their new home near Altamont, where the town had rallied to support Wallard's recovery. The Altamont Enterprise newspaper, organized a "buck for luck" campaign that asked supporters to send Lee a birthday card with a dollar enclosed. Over 2000 readers did. Two drive-in movie theatres held a "Lee Wallard Night" for his benefit. The Kiwanis chapter painted the family's new home's interior, and graded and seeded its lawn. Although Wallard was thought a long shot for recovery, he was said to be quietly confident he would race again, despite an arm that wouldn't bend properly and a stiff leg.

" _One of the breaks of the game."_

Lee Wallard in Reading, PA, Hospital Following His Accident

Wallard made his first public appearance at the Williams Grove, Pennsylvania, Speedway on October 19th. From his wheelchair, he thanked the fans who raised $5000 through a benefit race to help defray his medical bills. As the National Championship season drew to a close on the West Coast in November, Tony Bettenhausen told an interviewer of his four children, the youngest just a week old. "His name is Tony Lee. I named him Lee for Lee Wallard, a close friend of mine." On the eve of the 1951season finale, the General Petroleum Company sponsored a benefit dinner for Wallard at the St. Francis Hotel in Oakland, California. "Auto race drivers," said one of the speakers, "are the most courageous, the most competitive and the most sportsmanlike of all athletes."

Wallard was again the honored guest at a banquet given at Indianapolis by Wilbur Shaw and Tony Hulman. In speaking to the crowd, Wallard said he would compete in next year's race "if all my hands and legs are here." At the banquet Murrel Belanger announced Wallard would have his choice of two cars, either the "Number 99" in which he won, or a new identical racer which Belanger said would be finished shortly. On returning home it was Altamont's turn. November 23rd was "Lee Wallard Day." Van Vessem of the Kiwanis spoke warmly. "Certainly we would all agree that Lee deserves a tribute, not only because of his race victory, but because of the more important, and more difficult, later victory of making a gallant recovery from his severe accident. That is where the CHAMP in a man shows up!" Asked whether he would drive the Speedway in 1952, Wallard confirmed, "Yes, if I can get into physical condition. 'Mama' hopes I won't make it, but I'm going to try." The Schenectady Chamber of Commerce held a unique benefit for Wallard: A $2.50-a-plate "luncheon" where no one attended. The Chamber sold souvenir tickets for the "imaginary" luncheon and pledged all the proceeds would be turned over to Wallard to help cover his growing medical expenses.

In December the AAA contest board refused Bill Holland's reinstatement, his suspension apparently extended beyond the usual year because he continued to criticize AAA publicly. Bill placed seventh in the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) sprint car standings, also running a few NASCAR events.

Entering 1952 there were media and public expressions that the Sweepstakes was getting stale, with near universal Offenhauser engines and more manufactured chassis entering the race. Some drew parallels to the shrinking interest in midget racing as Kurtis-Offys came to form entire fields on many circuits and crowds dwindled. The last foreign Sweepstakes entry was six years ago.

Ferrari Tipo 375 in Grand Prix configuration

By the end of the World Championship season, the new Ferrari Tipo 375 with its V-12 engine proved itself the best car in European grand prix racing. It earned Ferrari's first formula one victory at the British Grand Prix. To remain competitive Ferrari's rival Alfa Romeo needed to redesign its obsolete racing cars. However, Alfa could not afford the cost and disbanded its competition program. Faced with a World Championship season that would be contested by Ferrari against inferior competition, the FIA quickly adopted a smaller 2.0-liter engine formula hoping to open competition. Ferrari installed a compliant four-cylinder engine in its new Tipo 500 chassis for the 1952 World Championship season – and was left with several obsolete 4.5-liter 375s. Luigi Chinetti, Ferrari's primary American dealer who had once tried to make the Indianapolis field, suggested racing the surplus Tipo 375 GP cars in the Sweepstakes, whose rules allowed the 270 cubic inch V-12s. Three Americans were found to each purchase a leftover 375: Gerry Grant, owner of the Grant Piston Ring Company; Howard Keck, an oil company heir; and Johnny Mauro, an auto fancier who had run the "500" in 1948. They each reportedly paid Ferrari about $30,000. Preparing for an early-January AAA sprint car event at Bay Meadows, California, Johnnie Parsons, slated to drive Grant's Ferrari at Indianapolis, announced he would also pursue the world's driving championship in 1952. Parsons told reporters that following the "500," the only American race counting toward the championship, he would take the Grant Ferrari racer back to Europe.

On January 29th, three-time Sweepstakes winner Mauri Rose announced he was fully retiring from racing. "I can't afford to take the chances I used to. I want to devote my life to my two motherless children. Besides, there is no use defying the odds." Rose had been racing since he first took his Ford jalopy, a gift from an aunt, to Buckeye Lake, Ohio, where he won a race and fifty dollars – then wrecked the car driving home. The sixteen year old was forbidden to drive for two years. He earned his engineering degree at UCLA, and attended the prestigious General Motors Institute. Working as a mechanic, Rose was pressed into driving again to satisfy the sponsor of a car. Often billed as "The Jewish Speed King", Rose became one of the "Three Musketeers," along with Bob Carey and Larry Beckett, racing around Dayton, Ohio, in the early thirties. Rose first appeared at the Speedway in 1932, wrecking his #36 Jones-Miller Special in practice. He eventually made sixteen Speedway starts. Sportswriter Dale Burgess described Rose as "a cocky little guy with a big moustache and bigger pipe. If he ever knew fear he didn't show it. He smashed his car to pieces in the 1946 (500-mile) race. A few minutes later he was strolling calmly through the pits, charging his pipe." As Mauri matured he raced less, eventually driving only the "500." He often said he saw himself as an engineer, not a race driver. While working at the nearby Allison Company, Rose would cross Sixeenth Street from his job to practice at the Speedway throughout May. At his retirement from racing Rose was working as an engineer at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, California.

With Rose's retirement "Howard Keck got all of us together to discuss plans for the 1952 race," Stu Hilborn recounted. "Howard had always admired the new aggressive type of driver. Several of these had come up from the midget car ranks. He asked for suggestions. A couple of names were discussed, then I brought up Bill Vukovich. I still remembered his impressive performance in our first midget race. There was a moment of silence then a chorus of 'Yeah.' Howard wasn't too familiar with Vukovich, but our co-chiefs (Frank Coon and Jim Travers) had raced against him in the midgets. When it came to aggressive driving, he was the ultimate. After listening to our description of Bill's driving technique, Howard liked what he heard and immediately decided. We would try to hire Vukovich." When the AAA midget racing champion was offered the ex-Rose #16 Pennzoil Special ride, he turned it down. "That old shitbox?" he asked derisively.

"Then Howard dropped a bombshell on us," Hilborn wrote. "He wanted a new car. For many years the best cars at Indianapolis were front-drive cars. The theory was that they could go through the turns faster. Our present car was built on that traditional design. However, the last two Indianapolis races had been won by rear-drive cars driven by younger, hard-charging drivers. It was this new trend that caught Howard's attention. One of these winning cars had been built by Frank Kurtis. Howard thought we ought to pay Frank a visit."

For the upcoming Sweepstakes Frank Kurtis worked with Cummins engineers to mount an oversized model NNH diesel engine in an innovative race car he designed for the "500". The engine, intended to power trucks and heavy equipment, was a supercharged, in-line six cylinder unit displacing 401cubic inches, and much heavier than an Offenhauser racing engine. It differed from supercharged powerplants by having its blower driven by a high speed turbine spun by the escaping exhaust stream, minimizing any mechanical power losses. It was the first "turbocharged" engine at Indianapolis - making 380 horsepower at 4000rpm, about 30 more at a lower engine speed than an Offenhauser. The engine's size made it impossible to install upright in a race car; its high cowling would block a driver's vision. So, Kurtis laid it nearly flat on its side, common positioning in its commercial applications, leaving a slight five degree tilt to keep its lubricating oil circulating. He placed the heavy crank on the left and brought the driveshaft straight back beside the driver, further offsetting weight to the inside. Seating the driver on the floor allowed a sleek body profile, standing just 23 inches at the cowl with merely a four inch track clearance. And yet out of this careful design there was an Achilles heel – the low placement of the turbocharger's intake behind the radiator grille.

"We've got a rocket ship here."

Cummins Diesel Special with Freddie Agabashian

Cummins was not new to the Speedway. In 1931 a Cummins diesel-powered car completed a 13,535-mile endurance run to promote the engine's reliability, while a Cummins Special was the first diesel machine to compete in the Sweepstakes, running the 500 miles without a stop. Kurtis recommended that Cummins hire Fred Agabashian to drive the new $100,000 car. With Freddie in the cockpit, the car then went through wind tunnel refinement to tune its streamlining. The car's smooth bodywork, covering the shock absorbers, tie rods and other parts exposed to the wind on other cars, was adjusted to ensure stability at high speeds. The testing showed it took over 60 horsepower to push the original windshield through the wind at 140 mph, so its size and shape were modified reducing the final demand by 50 horsepower. Louvers allowed the driver to open and close the front radiator air inlets to minimize losses on the long straights. Wind tunnel modifications eventually saved 90 horsepower. During an April practice run at the Speedway Agabashian discovered the speed potential of the "wickedest looking race car" with the diesel engine. When he finished, he told his team, "We've got a rocket ship here."

"Frank had been weary of proposing new designs and having the race crowd say no," Freddie Agabashian recalled. "He was on cloud nine, having someone enthusiastic about a new concept and be willing to pay for it."

Kurtis offered Keck a choice of two cars: His standard model, or "a radical new design" that included several innovations pioneered with his Cummins Diesel car. "Boy! It was radical," said Hilborn. "Kurtis wanted to lower the center of gravity by tipping over the rather tall 4-cylinder Offenhauser engine 36 degrees." Like the Cummins, the driver was lowered down into the car by several inches, lowering the center of gravity and the car's silhouette. According to Hilborn, after Coon and Travers suggested the conventional racer, Keck told Kurtis, "Let's build the new design." Soon afterward Keck tempted retired Mauri Rose saying he had a car that would revolutionize racing, and that Rose was the man to drive it. "Do you know how many times I've heard that?" Rose asked. So, after turning down Keck's offer of the ex-Rose #16 Pennzoil car, Bill Vukovich agreed to pilot the new machine. "I am anxious to get behind the wheel in Keck's new rear drive creation and see what I have," Bill told reporters at the announcement. It took Travers and Coon six weeks to complete assembly.

Meanwhile, Ferrari busily refabricated three of its Tipo 375s, including Keck's, reportedly investing 4000 man hours to rebuild and modify each grand prix car for Speedway competition. Promoting the race in February, Wilbur Shaw expressed hope the "500" would be more international than recent years. "The Ferrari team, with Piero Garuffi and Albero Ascari the likely pilots, and Argentina's world racing champion Fangio - have indicated they plan to be here," he told the press. Since 1950, in the absence of a United States Grand Prix, top Sweepstakes finishers earned points towards the Worlds Driving Championship. The race was generally ignored by the European teams, despite the purse, because the equipment was not compatible, and racing at Indianapolis meant missing the Grand Prix of Monaco.

Shaw said he knew of at least 12 new cars to be entered, suggesting Belanger's was the team to watch. Days later, Murrell Belanger announced Lee Wallard would not defend his Indianapolis victory, saying the driver's wife asked him not to race. Still undergoing skin graft operations, Wallard wrote Belanger that his burns had not healed sufficiently, suggesting that Duane Carter replace him. Belanger had already disclosed that National Champion Tony Bettenhausen would pilot the #99 Belanger Special, the car that Wallard drove to his Indianapolis win, and Bettenhausen chauffeured to the National Championship. The famous blue car also had a newly-built twin carrying #1.

Wallard's display of record race speed and one-stop fuel economy forced Lou Moore to reconsider his strategy for the "500". A rule change permitting gear changes after qualification also contributed to Moore's calculations. The change allowed cars to effectively switch from all-out qualifying sprinters to 500-mile marathoners. Although he thought few would do it, Moore expected a strategic shift to speed for the race so he hired chargers Johnnie Tolan and Leroy Warriner to drive his two front wheel cars, plus switched to alcohol fuel for more speed.

Johnnie Parsons, mechanic Hubert "Swede" Jensen, and owner Gerry Grant flew to Italy in March to pick out the new Grant Piston Ring Ferrari Special at the Modena manufacturing plant. "The car has a cruising speed of 185 miles an hour, with a top speed of 210," Johnnie told reporters. "It weighs 1750 pounds." Ferrari claimed 390 horsepower from its V-12 engine. The factory meantime provided Parsons a Barchetta sports car in which to practice, anticipating the eight event summer European driving adventure apparently packaged with the sale to Grant. On April 6, Parsons was to drive a Speedway-bound 375 in the sixth Gran Premio del Valentino at Turin. Race officials kept him out of the event under the pretext of the car failing to meet mechanical specifications. Somehow avoiding those issues, Farina crashed another of the Indianapolis-bound Ferraris near the end of the race after setting fast lap. Gigi Villoresi won in another of the ex-formula one racers. The day after the Turin race Ferrari publicly announced that a factory entry was coming to Indianapolis, filing its entries the next day. The Ferrari factory cars, with frames strengthened, wheelbase lengthened, and a carburetor change, became the "Tipo 375 Indy." The team named Dr. Nello Ugolini team manager, and Stefano Meazza the chief mechanic. Farina and Alberto Ascari were named to drive, making them the first foreign drivers in six years. "It seems to me I'm Christopher Columbus in miniature. I, too, am going to discover America," Ascari said. "I'm going gladly, because I think that Indianapolis is an essential test for a good driver. For the moment I'm a pioneer, going to learn."

Frank Coon and Stu Hilborn traveled to Italy in early April to arrange the delivery schedule for Keck's machine with Ferrari. There they ran into Parsons and Jensen, who were about to return home. Eventually meeting with Enzo Ferrari in Maranello, the volatile Ferrari balked at the requested delivery schedule until Hilborn agreed to build a fuel injection system for him. Ferrari provided him a two-cylinder slice cut from an engine for his design needs. On May 3rd Coon left Modena by train with the Keck's Ferrari. Both arrived at Indianapolis Sunday May 11th, days after the Ascari and Mauro racers.

On April 21st, a warm Sunday afternoon, fourteen thousand spectators watched a 100 mile "big car" race at the banked Dayton, Ohio, Speedway. Gordon "Flash" Reid, a driver with Indianapolis aspirations, gunned into third place in the ten-lap event when his car, the Engle-Stanko Special, spun wildly in the turn onto the front straightaway. Reid's right front wheel then locked into the guard rail and rode it for about 100 feet, careening under a footbridge. The car suddenly hurtled into the spectators gathered along the rail before hitting the grandstand. Reid and three others were killed, with 50 injured – nine hospitalized with serious injuries. According to accounts, the crash clipped off Reid's head and also decapitated a woman. Speculation was that the car's steering malfunctioned. The car's owner, Charlie Engle, said, "I could see it coming. Reid was just trying too hard. That's all there is to it. He tried too hard."

Among the twelve cars in Gasoline Alley when the Speedway officially opened was the sleek, new, yellow and red-trimmed Cummins Diesel. The #98 Agajanian Special was assigned Troy Ruttman, 1951 Midwest dirt track champion. "Seattle Madman" Allen Heath, a speedway rookie, was given the new #97 after Walt Faulkner split with Agajanian. According to Ruttman, Faulkner was fired for selling a Chrysler sedan given him by Aggie. "(Agajanian) said he'd fire us if we sold the car before six months. I figured if I could get Walt to sell his, I would get his (race) car. I stashed mine in a garage in Indy and made sure Walt saw a lot of me without the Chrysler. I hinted around that I'd sold it. Sure enough, Walt sold his. The next time I saw Aggie, I said, 'How come you let Walt sell his car and you told me not to?' He fired Walt on the spot. It was pretty callous, but that's how bad I wanted that car. I just knew I could win the race if only I could somehow get Faulkner's ride."

The AFL Teamsters Local No. 188 sent dinner invitations to Speedway drivers, car owners and mechanics in what the Indianapolis Times reported union officials "frankly admit is an organizing effort." Local president Everett Davis thundered that the 500-mile race purse was insufficient, the sparse dinner crowd told that if those invited joined his union, "We have the teeth to take it from there." Wilbur Shaw retorted that "The relationship between car owners and drivers with the Speedway has never been at a higher level," Shaw said. "Everything possible has already been done in the best interest of the racing fraternity...without the expensive advice of outsiders. Surely, no car owner or driver will want to pay someone who knows nothing about the business to tell them how to run their affair."

Despite their failure to qualify for the Sweepstakes a year earlier, the two Novi entries were favored for the Pole. Outwardly appearing unchanged, the powerful, supercharged V-8 engine had been re-engineered and rebuilt. Owner Lew Welch noted, "We believe we've got the bugs out." Duke Nalon and venerable Chet Miller were back in the revamped cars.

Shifting, chilly winds and a threat of rain hung over Pole Day. Jack McGrath took Jack Hinkle's new dual-purpose KK3000 out and set a new four-lap qualifying record, 136.664 miles per hour that morning. Just after noon Andy Linden, driving the #9 Miracle Power Special with a small fuel injected and supercharged Offenhauser engine, moved the four lap qualifying record up to 137.002, although he missed the one lap record. When he heard the news, Linden jumped from his car and excitedly grabbed his wife, shouting "Queenie, we did it!"

The Cummins team succeeded in not drawing attention to itself prior to qualifications as it discovered the potential of its racer. Freddie Agabashian "sandbagged" whenever practicing, not going full out down the backstretch on one lap, then cruising through a turn on the next. The machine was devalued as a non-competitive novelty. On Pole Day he took a few laps early and enthused to reporters, "It's the best car I've ever had at the 500, and that's saying something." Finally, with twenty minutes left to qualify, Freddie grabbed the pole, breaking Linden's five hour-old record, turning 138.010 miles per hour over four laps, his first a new track record. "We couldn't believe our watches," said crew chief Nev Reiners, a Cummins engineer. "We had him clocked at 139.104 with three watches on the first lap but we just didn't believe the car had gone that fast. We didn't expect any record or to get the pole position. We would have been happy with 135 miles per hour." Moments later Duke Nalon failed to top Agabashian, qualifying the #36 Novi Pure Oil Special at 136.188 miles per hour. The last of the seven Pole Day qualifiers, his time was good only for a second row spot.

Despite finding the two left side tires in tatters after Agabashian's record run, the Cummins team wasn't worried knowing Agabashian would pace himself during the race. Reiners was certain the yellow-and-red Cummins could safely average at least 128 miles per hour in the race. "We could run non-stop on 50 gallons of fuel," he said, "but we won't because we'll have to stop to change tires, anyway."

Walt Faulkner and his new car, #3 Sid Street Special, finally left Long Beach by air for the Speedway on May 19th. "The Long Beach Comet" said the remaining preparation work would be completed in time for final qualifying runs. In the meantime, 49-year-old Chet Miller, veteran of fifteen Memorial Day races turned a practice lap clocked unofficially at 140-plus miles per hour in his #21 Novi Pure Oil Special – better than Agabashian's record. Allen Heath crashed into the northwest turn retaining wall practicing with the #32 Engle-Stanko Special in which Reid suffered his Dayton fatal. The car was unrepairable for any qualification attempt.

As the last weekend of qualifications approached, the American Ferrrari entries were practicing well below anticipated qualifying speeds, stuck at 133 or 134 miles per hour. Keck's crew dyno-tested their engine the day the car arrived to discover it delivered 100 horsepower fewer than Ferrari claimed. When Hilborn installed his fuel injection system he discovered the engine's valves were smaller than those in the cutout Ferrari had given him for design. "A section of the head had been cut out at each port location and an insert with a small port had been welded back in," Hilborn claimed. "Somebody had gone to a lot of work to make sure the horsepower was less than the standard engine. I told the fellows, 'I bet money they didn't put in the high compression pistons either. Let's check the compression ratio.' The answer was as I predicted, low compression. I think the whole thing was devised by the factory to make sure that the factory team car was the best Ferrari at Indianapolis."

Keck's crew rebuilt the engine, installing larger valves, adding over 125 horsepower to the anemic motor – ending with more output than Ferrari originally claimed. Although Bobby Ball reportedly got the car up to 134 miles per hour on May 22nd, Travers argued with Keck to withdraw the Ferrari so that he and Coon could concentrate on Vukovich's roadster. "We were busting our asses to get the roadster assembled, and I figured the Ferrari didn't have a prayer," Travers said. "Ball was running faster than Ascari, but I still thought the car was a shitbox with no chance of winning." The Grant team, apparently unaware of the engine's hidden shortcomings, used lighter Halibrand magnesium wheels and a streamlined windscreen to increase speed, but their Ferrari still ran four miles per hour slower than the diesel. None of the American-owned Ferraris ever took the track in qualifications.

Rain through the week gave teams fewer than three days to get cars and engines tuned for the final qualifications. The threat of scattered rain and thunderstorms through the weekend forced the best remaining cars to make a quick run Saturday at qualifying, knowing that the field of 33 cars could otherwise be filled and the final day of qualifying canceled. Bill Vukovich was the first out in the #14 Fuel Injection Special, named for Hilborn's invention. "Keck disliked publicity immensely," Hilborn recalled. "He asked if I would like to have the car entered as the 'Fuel Injection Special.' I asked why he didn't get a big name sponsor. 'Because then I would have a bunch of advertising and public relation asses hanging around.'" Taking his turn qualifying, Vuky did not disappoint the railbirds, breaking Agabashian's week old speed records in his new Kurtis-Kraft "roadster." Bill averaged 138.212 miles per hour over his four laps, with his second turn of 139.427 miles per hour topping the one lap record.

Less than an hour after Vukovich set his qualifying record, Tony Bettenhausen rode Belanger's "No. 99" into the southeast wall on his third qualifying lap. He spun and banged into the concrete three times wrecking the car badly enough that it could not be repaired for the race. Chet Miller cracked Vukovich's one lap record with a turn at 139.600 miles per hour on a qualifying run, and was well on his way toward a new 10-mile record when his Novi V-8 fused a piston.

Alberto Ascari qualified the Ferrari factory entry at 134.308 miles per hour after his car was modified by its designer, Aurelio Lampredi, who flew from Italy on orders of Enzo Ferrari bringing a new intake manifold with three four-barrel Weber carburetors. Ascari's lap times were extraordinarily close – each lap time within 8/100ths of a second. The third and fourth laps were identical 1:07.00. Ascari wrung out enough speed by reportedly downshifting into the turns to overcome the Ferrari V-12's lack of torque accelerating into the long stretches, although that is disputed. While Lampredi and the factory crew worked behind closed doors to prepare Ascari's car, there were grumblings about how the Ferrari technicians and engineers failed to provide their Americans customers any technical help, a behavior said more common to European racing than the American tradition. Johnnie Parsons finally gave up his Grant Ferrari ride, and apparently his European drives, too. Gerry Grant was so desperate to get his Ferrari into the race that he is said to have offered Parsons $1100 to try to qualify. Parsons, apparently deciding the car was hopeless, demurred and instead got into the race on the last day in his 1950 winner, the #5 Jim Robbins Special. As last resorts Grant put midget pilot Danny Oakes, and finally Walt Faulkner in his Ferrari, but to no avail. After his run, Faulkner told the crew, "If this is the great Ferrari, they can take it back to Italy." No American Ferrari entry made the race field. Howard Keck consigned his to the garage. According to Stu Hilborn, "He was very disappointed in that project and particularly with the questionable ethics of the Ferrari company."

Sunday offered the last chance to make the grid. At least a dozen cars were ready to run for the last two starting spots. Due to rain, Chief Steward Tommy Milton scheduled six qualifying hours Monday to fill the field limited to those who had shown speed in excess of 135 miles per hour. The spotlight shone on ancient Chet Miller and his repaired #21 Novi Pure Oil Special. Miller became the fourth driver to break the track qualifying record in 1952, going ten miles averaging 139.034 miles per hour. "It wasn't running quite right, yet," Miller said smiling after his run. His wife, escorted by Wilbur Shaw, was the first woman officially allowed on the track – a tribute to the estimable Miller and his record-making feat. Ultimately, nineteen of the 33 qualifiers were Californians.

As the race approacehed, Bill Vukovich admitted, "The only feature I hate about the race is the 30 days of preparation. It is the same grind day in and day out, trying out your car, going over this part of the motor and that, tuning, adjusting, sometimes rebuilding—all leading up to the qualifying tests. I'd rather go right back there and take off and get it over with. It's the toughest 30 day period I ever put in." He claimed to be unafraid of the Speedway's turns. "I know several drivers who (are) and don't get into the money either. They can race elsewhere and cop big prize money but the Indianapolis track 'gets them.'"

Pre-race speculation centered on several standout choices in the field. Among them was the perennial favorite Novi Pure Oil team, with two 550 horsepower cars under warhorses Chet Miller and Duke Nalon. Miller had accumulated 4,797 competitive miles on the Speedway, and now held the qualifying speed records, but he had never won. Nalon's Speedway experience and his car matched Miller's in potential. Miller predicted no new record. "It's going to be slower than last year despite all the speed so far. The boys are going to change their gear ratios and conserve their engines." Nev Reiners, the Cummins crew chief, told the press before the race that his car had been geared for lower speeds in practice, and that the race setup would "provide all the horsepower that will be needed."

Louis Meyer told reporters he expected much attrition by the end of the race because his Meyer-Drake Offenhauser engines were only designed for speeds of about 125 miles an hour. He noted that although Speedway rules permitted gearing down for the race to lower engine speeds, many mechanics chose to keep engines running at higher speeds hoping they would hold up.

Race day skies were clear; the temperatures in the 70s. Agabashian understood his diesel didn't accelerate like the other cars and asked Wilbur Shaw to bring the field to the line at a higher speed than usual because he needed to be moving fast to overcome the heavy diesel racer's inertia in accelerating to race speed.

Shaw, "with a feeling of sincere gratitude to God," gave the command to start engines, and the field left to form for the parade lap before starting the race. The start was uneven, with Jim Rathmann jumping the green flag and rushing from his fourth row position to run among the leaders when the starting flag dropped. As the field pounded down the front stretch to start the race Agabashian fell behind. Jack McGrath led the first lap, with Chet Miller's record-setting Novi running dead last. Meanwhile, Rathmann was up to second. McGrath held the lead until scrambling Bill Vukovich overtook the fading pole sitter on lap seven with Troy Ruttman shadowing at 132 miles per hour.

Ruttman took the lead on the twelfth lap. Out after the $100-a-lap prize money, Vukovich soon grabbed first position back again, holding it to 61, when he made an early one minute 20 second stop for fuel and four tires. Ruttman popped back in front. "We decided to build our race plan around our greatest asset, Vuky's driving ability," Hilborn said. "We would let him run as fast as he wanted, and make as many pit stops as it takes to keep him in tires. As a result of our pit practices, we thought we could make up for the extra stops by doing them quicker."

Ascari, running a heady race with his factory Ferrari, kept pace in the top ten. "I made the first laps at a reduced speed, wanting to study my opponents and the behavior of our engine," Ascari explained. "When I was persuaded I could throw myself forward, I accelerated from 21st up to seventh place." Ferrari had been warned about using wire-spoked wheels at the Speedway, told that the wheels wouldn't hold up. The warning was ignored to Ascari's detriment when a wheel collapsed on the 40th lap, the spokes reportedly broken off the hub by the high lateral stresses – which team engineer Lampredi later ascribed to defective materials. "(Ascari) returned to the pits," Lampredi related. "He did not say a word for the rest of the race." He averaged 128.71 miles per hour until his wheel failure; the race winner eventually averaged 128.92 mph. Lampredi claimed to see an easy Ferrari victory in sight "and we had lost our chance."

Despite running a reasonable pace, the Cummins Diesel's tire problems began early. Ascari's spin and the yellow flag allowed Agabashian to replace his worn tires on lap 47. He was in the pits for more than a minute. Blowing heavy black exhaust the Cummins machine abandoned the race on lap 71 when its poorly placed turbocharger became clogged with rubber sucked up from the track surface by the compressor's inlet. The diesel may also have suffered a broken camshaft, a defect reportedly kept quiet by Cummins not wanting to compromise the engine's commercially valuable image of reliability.

Down 44 seconds, Vukovich re-took the lead on lap 83 as Ruttman went to the pits. A fire suddenly flared in Ruttman's pit when fuel spilled on the hot exhaust. Mechanic Clay Smith threw himself over his driver to protect him from the flames. Both Smith and Ruttman's father suffered burns – and two precious minutes were lost to the hustling Vukovich. At the halfway mark Bill held a 36 second lead over second place Jim Rathmann. After his pit mishap, Ruttman was third, ninety seconds behind Vukovich - and steadily gaining on the leader. The race passed at a record pace: 130.142 miles per hour at the 250 mile mark. The pace had taken its toll. Broken superchargers eliminated both Novis, and Bettenhausen's front-drive Blue Crown stalled in the pits. Rathmann faded.

Pit Fire! Ruttman Enveloped in Clouds of CO2

Vukovich and Ruttman swapped the lead with their pit stops. Ruttman pressured Vuky, trailing by less than 30 seconds in the closing laps. Hilborn, working in Vukovich's pit, said, "I kept the stopwatch on Troy and we would flash the time difference to Vuky each lap on our signal board. Every time Troy moved to 10 seconds behind, Vuky would pick up the speed. He could handle Troy easily enough."

Still setting new speed records, Vukovich maintained his lead with only 25 miles to go and Ruttman still hustling. Hilborn remembered, "As we completed 191 laps, with nine to go, one of our head mechanics said, 'you know we could win this race.' Almost immediately, an announcement came over the public address system, 'Vukovich had crashed into the wall in turn three.'" Less than 22 miles from the finish, with a 19 second lead, Vukovich suddenly skidded and smacked the northeast wall. He escaped uninjured, quickly jumping over the outside wall to safety. Coming upon the wreck, Ruttman realized he had inherited a three-lap lead with only eight to go, and slowed down. Troy ran the fastest race ever, averaging 128.922 miles per hour. He finished over four minutes ahead of Jim Rathmann.

Ruttman began racing in 1945, when the lad entered a roadster race at San Bernardino, California, driving the family car. He drove home a winner – and won 19 of the 21 races. Ruttman became a two time California Roadster Association Champion, as well as a feared midget driver, winning 23 main events and the United Racing Association's Blue Circuit driving crown in 1948. In 1949 nineteen year old Ruttman left California for the Midwest's AAA Sprint and Championship car circuits, winning the next three Sprint Car Championships. His first Indianapolis ride was in 1949, driving the #64 Carter Special to a twelfth place finish after falsifying his age to enter. Twenty-two year old Troy Ruttman became the youngest driver ever to win..

Troy Ruttman, youngest driver to win the 500, 1951

Keck's boys discovered the reason for Vukovich's wreck. "We found the main pivot pin for the steering linkage had slowly twisted like a barber pole until it finally broke," Hilborn explained. "Tests at a lab showed the one inch pin was cold rolled steel. It should have been made out of high strength steel." Vukovich blamed Kurtis for his failure to win the race, caustically nicknaming the car designer "Cold Roll." Kurtis maintained that the steering gear was precisely what the Keck team ordered for the car, and not his choice.

A week after the "500", Johnny McDowell hurled to his death on the State Fair Park dirt mile oval in Milwaukee during a time trial for the AAA Championship Race when his car rolled after its right rear wheel collapsed in the south turn, throwing "Old Smoothie" out of the car, a tragedy witnessed by his wife, Nellie, and 26,132 spectators. McDowell was also survived by two children. Mike Nazaruk won the race in the track record time of 91.35 miles per hour, beating the previous year's mark of 88.4 miles per hour set by Tony Bettenhausen. With McDowell's death, Bettenhausen decided he'd get off the dirt tracks, racing only in the "500."

Troy Ruttman suffered a skull fracture and broken right arm when his car crashed through a fence at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on August 18th. The Sweepstakes champion had set the fifth fastest time at 25.60 seconds on the half-mile track, which, according to news accounts, was in such bad condition that the "competition was both difficult and dangerous". While the six cars in the second heat race were taking a slow, 15 miles per hour preliminary lap before the start of the race, an All-Iowa Fair crowd of 8,200 saw Ruttman's car inexplicably turn right in the track's first turn, break through the guard rail and plunge down a 15-foot embankment before overturning. The husky, 245-pound Ruttman was pinned under the "#98 Jr." racer when his father got to the wreck. "Dad, the steering gear broke," Troy told his father just before he passed out. His boot was cut away to remove him from the wreckage. Troy's father, Ralph Ruttman said he had checked the steering "a few days ago, but something must have sheared off when he turned the wheel." His attending physician said he wouldn't be driving for "four or five months or longer." For a second year the "500" winner was an accident victim.

Weeks later veteran Bill Schindler was killed in the first lap of a 25-lap event on the half-mile dirt track at Allentown, Pennsylvania, when his sprint racer struck an axle assembly that had fallen from another car. The car launched through a backstretch fence and struck a tree, decapitating Schindler.

The American Automobile Association contest board reinstated 1949 "500" winner Bill Holland in December. In the interim Holland raced NASCAR stock car and International Motor Car Association (IMCA) "big car" events, doing his own mechanical work on the #29 Blue Crown Special. Again eligible to drive at Indianapolis, Holland claimed having offers to drive several cars.

Bobby Ball was severely injured January 4th during the first race of the AAA national championship midget schedule after he and Andy Linden locked wheels at Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California. The two racers rolled over and crashed into the wall on the first turn of the first lap of the 100 lap feature race. Linden suffered minor injuries, while Ball's skull fractured and he lapsed into a coma. Ball finished eighth in big car championship points for 1952.

The Speedway opened the Sweepstakes to turbine engines beginning in 1953, with no restrictions on size. "We do not expect any turbine entry this year," Speedway President Wilbur Shaw said, "But experiments of this nature have advanced to such an extent that we know two cars of this type are already under construction." Shaw also announced early 1953 Sweepstakes entries for Tony Bettenhausen, Henry Banks, Johnnie Parsons and Chuck Stevenson, all National Champions. Stevenson won the 1952 title by just 30 points over Ruttman. Still chasing a "500" crown, Bettenhausen gave up on the declining Blue Crown cars. He announced joining J.C. Agajanian for his tenth Speedway run, replacing injured defending champion Troy Ruttman in the famous #98. "This year I hope I have a car I can finish in," Bettenhausen said.

By the close of entries, 82 cars entered to compete for one of the 33 starting positions. Among them was the Keck #14 Fuel Injection Special and Bill Vukovich. The entire team returned intact, including mechanics Frank Coon and Jim Travers. Among the nominated drivers was injured champion Troy Ruttman. The performance of Vukovich's Kurtis roadster prompted Troy to find one like it for 1953. He found housetrailer magnate Ernest Ruiz, an experienced race car owner with a new Kurtis Kraft KK500B, making his first attempt at the Speedway. Ruttman's departure from Agajanian was friendly, and master chief mechanic Clay Smith also contracted to work on Ruiz's car. "I've got the best driver and the best mechanic in the business and will have one of the best cars," Ruiz enthusiastically told the press. "There are only a couple of drivers who can give us much competition. The car Ruttman drove (last year) is the same kind they were driving ten years ago. Vukovich had a brand new buggy and yet Troy was only seconds behind when Vukie crashed. Think what Ruttman can do in an up-to-the-minute car." Although Ruttman's entry ended the stories of an injury-forced retirement, many still thought Big Troy was physically unfit to drive – with rumors swirling of ballooning weight (reportedly up to 265 pounds) and heavy drinking. Eventually Speedway doctors refused to clear Ruttman, whose right arm required a special metal sling.

J.C. Agajanian

After a display of its cars for the press, the defending Sweepstakes champion Agajanian team air freighted its equipment to Indianapolis, arriving May 11th. Clay Smith and his partner Danny Jones stripped #98 to its chassis and rebuilt the racer at their Long Beach garage in the days before its shipment east. Agajanian and Smith, teamed since 1948, had middling success in the Sweepstakes until finally winning in '52. "We have made very few changes in '98.' In fact, there's little that we can do. I think probably the most important contribution to higher speed performance this year will be the new racing tires which will be used. Research shows that they are two per cent or more faster than the old ones," Smith told reporters. "I honestly expect all records to be broken this year if the weather is good and no caution lights are flashed on the track during the race. Best I can say is that we'll try to make the race. You know, luck is a big, big factor. After Indianapolis, we'll take '98' out on the dirt track circuit."

On May 9th Cliff Griffith, a veteran Speedway pilot and two-time Midwest Dirt Track Racing Association champion, chatted with reporters as he posed for publicity photos in his car, Ed Walsh's new black #24 Bardahl Special. When the session ended Griffith took the machine for a few practice laps wearing his street clothes. Drivers often took to the track for practice and the race with no particular protection against burns. Simple t-shirts and coveralls were common wear. The heat of the track and the engine combined to make driving particularly uncomfortable for those wearing the borax-treated "flameproof" coveralls, leading to constant complaining by drivers about developing heat rash. Going into the first turn Griffith spun, hitting the wall twice. The car's fuel tank ruptured and exploded, shooting flames up 50 feet. He suffered a pelvic fracture and severe second- and third degree burns over almost half his body. Griffith was rescued, only to be nearly ejected from the ambulance when the unsecured back door flew open on acceleration. Upon arrival the hospital reported he was in "very serious" condition.

Driving since 1924, the acknowledged "dean" of the Speedway drivers, 50 year old Chet Miller, decided that this would be his last Sweepstakes. Although never a winner in sixteen tries, he was officially the Speedway's fastest man. Having already pushed the fearsome V-8 Novi Special to the track's unofficial fastest practice lap, Chet climbed into the car on May 15th. Seated in the cockpit, he was photographed in the pits with Novi teammate Duke Nalon and Father Leo Lindmann, the Speedway's Catholic chaplain. Immediately after the photo session, while taking a hot practice lap clocked at 139.5 miles per hour, Miller crashed into the southwest turn wall where Griffith suffered his serious injuries days earlier. Observers said he drove into the turn too low when the back end of the Novi swung wildly toward the wall before hitting it nearly straight on. Miller died on the track, upright in the cockpit. As Chet was laid to rest at Crown Hill Cemetery early Monday the track was closed.

Rain and lingering track surface dampness delayed the Pole Day qualifying until Sunday afternoon. A somber Duke Nalon expressed his thanks for the delay after Miller's death. "This certainly has been a Godsend for me." Bill Vukovich beat the rain and six other drivers, taking the pole position by qualifying his #14 Fuel Injection Special at an average speed of 138.392 miles an hour for the 10-mile trial. "Gentleman Jack" McGrath won the outside front row position, his fourth front row start in five years, qualifying the new #5 Hinkle Special at 136.602 miles per hour. Many considered the outside as the best position from which to take the lead on the first lap, which McGrath had done in the last two races. Fred Agabashian, who sat on the pole last year in the Cummins diesel, took the spot between in the new Grancor-Elgin Special at 137.546 miles per hour. It was an all-California front row.

Of the previous year's 33 starters, ten were missing when the Speedway ran its last qualification weekend. Five had been killed in racing accidents, four others crippled by track injuries, and Alberto Ascari failed to arrive from Italy. Filippo Theodoli, the Ferrari spokesman at the Speedway, read reporters an Enzo Ferrari cablegram saying "last minute difficulties" prevented the team from participating.

The weather forecast made third day qualifying imperative. Scattered showers and thunderstorms threatened to eliminate Sunday's final qualifying day, so a record number of cars were prepared to take a run at the field Saturday. Johnnie Parsons, winner of the 1950 race, was the day's fastest qualifier, clocked at an average of 137.667. Already the field's average qualifying average of 136.137 miles per hour was the all-time fastest, and there were several quality cars to make a run. "The boys are sticking their necks out farther and farther in order to beat the rest," Wilbur Shaw observed. "Competition has grown so keen in the past two years that the boys are taking unusual chances and having to drive harder than ever before." Earlier, to save equipment, a group of owners lobbied to ban nitromethane as a fuel additive, claiming it was too unpredictable and dangerous. Like the earlier ASPAR settlement, the rule change would only be adopted if all entants agreed. When one owner refused, nitromethane remained a legal additive.

After an early morning rain the sun shone and made conditions ideal Sunday for those still waiting to make the field. The #49 Crawford Special, grocer Ray Crawford's new KK500B, was originally assigned to rookie Edgar Elder, who failed the driver test. Crawford, an air force war ace, decided to drive his own car, then failed to pass the test himself. He finally put sports car driver John Fitch, an Indianapolis native and fellow veteran combat fighter pilot, into the seat. But Fitch, who had just earned a win at the 12-hour sports car endurance race at Sebring, Florida, could not get the car up to speed, topping out at just 129 miles per hour. Crawford offered the ride to Bill Holland, who had already been bumped. Holland, expected to qualify another Lou Moore car, the #6 Wynn Friction Proofing Special, surprised everyone by accepting Crawford's offer. Although he had never driven the car before, Holland posted the second fastest qualification run of the field, 137.861 miles per hour. Six drivers eventually bumped into the field. The first bump in was rookie Arizonan Jim Bryan, who hit 135.506. By day's end, the all-time record field qualifying speed average went further up to 136.397. Fourteen of the 33 race-qualified cars had California drivers. Three others were native Californians. And the number of drivers with pre-war Speedway experience had dwindled to three: Sam Hanks, Paul Russo and Duke Nalon.

Early race day morning temperatures reached ninety, with stifling humidity. The infield hospital tents began filling early with people seeking relief, including a Purdue University band majorette suffering convulsions. By ten o'clock, as the traditional race day spectacle unfolded under a blazing sun, all the cars were in their places on the track, surrounded by their crews. The stands were slow to fill as people hid in the shadows to avoid the sun. The National Anthem was sung. Taps was played. The group picture was taken. And Morton Downey sang "Back Home Again in Indiana." Drivers got into their cars as the minutes drew to starting time. Vukovich, Agabashian and McGrath, the front row drivers, were tucked into their roadsters. Vukovich explained his race strategy, "I'm going to try to stay in front all the way, if possible. I don't plan on many pit stops, two at the most." At race time, according to tire engineers, the Speedway bricks had already warmed to 130 degrees under the fierce sun.

The annual soundblast of roaring racing machines crashed through the grandstands when Wilbur Shaw gave the command to start engines. Soon, the Ford pace car, driven by young William Clay Ford, pulled away to lead the preliminary laps. Fans nationwide could follow the entire race on radio for the first time as the Speedway assembled a 110 station national network to deliver the full-coverage broadcast. Veteran race broadcaster Sid Collins anchored a supporting cast of strategically-placed reporters posted around the track.

The front row accelerated from 90 miles per hour as the green flag dropped, Vukovich inserting his Fuel Injection Special into the lead. On lap 27 he posted the race's fastest lap, 135.870 miles per hour. The blistering heat and stinging nitro-charged exhaust fumes turned the race into an endurance contest unlike past events. Through the first 48 laps Bill led the field, earning $150 with each front-running orbit. After lapping all but three cars, Vukovich made a lap 49 pit stop for fuel and four new tires, returning to the track in fifth place. Freddy Agabashian held the lead for one lap, with Jim Rathmann and Sam Hanks taking point respectively as the stops cycled through the leaders. Vukovich regained his lead on lap 54.

After he had driven 70 laps, veteran driver Carl Scarborough came into the pits for routine service. Stopping in the pits, Scarborough left the car without assistance, spoke to his fueler, and wiped his face and took fluids. When an engine fire broke out, carbon dioxide, a heavier-than-air gas, was used from several bottles to quickly extinguish the flames as Scarborough calmly stood by. Returning to the cockpit Scarborough soon became distressed and reportedly collapsed. The stricken driver was quickly removed and taken by ambulance to the Speedway's hospital, where doctors began treating him for heat prostration. At the end of the confused two minute-plus stop Eddie Johnson jumped into the car as a relief driver. Johnnie Parsons and Jerry Hoyt, both overcome by the heat, were also treated at the track hospital with wet sheets and ice. "I don't remember a race with weather conditions as bad as this," Parsons later said.

Carl Scarborough Exits #73 McNamara Special Unassisted

By the halfway mark, Vukovich relentlessly opened a nearly two lap lead over the field. After pitting 50 seconds on lap 113, Bill returned to the track with a 50 second lead over Sam Hanks, who had unlapped himself once. Meanwhile, three doctors attended Scarborough, whose body temperature had risen to 103.6 degrees. The battle to save his life quickly escalated as a resuscitator was brought in. Twelve bottles of oxygen were eventually administered.

On lap 115 Pat Flaherty apparently fainted from the heat before his car hit the northeast retaining wall. Flaherty was not seriously hurt. By lap 150 Vuky's lead was back over two minutes. Shortly afterward, Sam Hanks fainted during his pit stop and was relieved by Duane Carter. An exhausted Hanks was quickly seated on the ground in the shade up against his pit wall. Before his last pit stop on lap 172, Vukovich was given the sign for relief from his pits. "We got a driver to stand by for possible relief," Stu Hilborn remembered. "We are all set, and in he comes. He doesn't get out of the car, so I hand him a big cup of water. He downs it and holds out his hand for another. I give it to him and he pours the entire contents down his back. I am watching him closely and I guess he noticed it, for he gave me a wink and roared out of the pits." Overall, 15 relief drivers were used during the race.

Carl Scarborough's chest was opened and his heart manually massaged by rhythmic compressions in a final effort to save his life as he slipped into cardiac arrest. Father Lindmann, who officiated at Chet Miller's funeral service, administered the Church's last rites. Just after two o'clock, Scarborough died.

Flashing past checkered flag impresario Seth Klein, Vukovich won the race by more than three minutes. Bill took $29,250 lap money for leading 195 circuits. After Gene Hartley and Duke Nalon spun into the infield race officials decided to end the race - only three cars finished the entire 500 miles. Emergency teams were assembled and dispatched to Gasoline Alley with supplies of adrenaline and intravenous salt solution to provide relief and treatment. Both Rodger Ward and Tony Bettenhausen collapsed in their pits, given the wet sheets and ice cool down treatment at the hospital. Altogether eight drivers were treated at the hospital. Vuky celebrated in Victory Lane by briefly kissing movie actress Jane Greer. He saved the longest buss for his wife, Esther. Asked how it felt to win the race, an obviously tired Bill told the radio audience, "Oh, it feels alright. Everybody's happy to win!" Asked whether he ever wanted relief during the grueling race, Bill quickly answered, "No!"

Bill Vukovich, 1953 Sweepstakes Champion, Recovering in Garage with wife Esther

Ten minutes after Vuky entered Victory Lane, the public address system passed along that Carl Scarborough had died. He left a wife and three children. Back in his garage, still wearing his race grimy, sweatsoaked clothes, Vuky drank cold water from paper cups while sprawled in a chair next to wife Esther. He claimed he wasn't particularly tired from the day's work, telling reporters he "never wanted relief." Asked how he felt winning the race, the introverted Vukovich uttered, '"Lucky." He explained his strategy as "just running in front as long as I can—and this time it was all the way. I wasn't in bad shape at any time, but I noticed new chauffeurs in some cars every time I came around." Asked about his future plans, Vuky first said he had none, then added: "Guess we won a pretty good pile." Asked how he could stand the heat, Vukovich laughed, "You think this is hot? You should drive a tractor in Fresno in July." Shortly after the reporters and photographers left, Vukovich fell asleep atop a work bench, his head beneath a damp cooling towel.

The officially posted results showed some changes from the unofficial list published after the race. The heat had disabled the track's new electronic scoring system. Art Cross was moved from fourth to second place after the audit of timing records. Agabashian/Russo were moved down to fourth, with Hanks/Carter in third. The awards dinner was absent the traditional presence of Speedway Vice President Pop Myers, who was ill. With Wilbur Shaw acting as Pop's replacement, the checks were handed out, as usual, in reverse finishing order. The last name called was Bill Vukovich. The introverted Vukovich suffered through the public presentation of his winnings. After the scoring details were established, Bill took $89,496.96 for his work - $40,996.96 from the race purse, $29,250 for lap awards, and the rest accessory awards from companies like Firestone Tires and Champion Spark Plug. He was also awarded the Ford V-8 Sunliner convertible pace car. Among the awards was a rare standing ovation.

In his only other championship trail appearance, Vukovich failed to qualify at the October 25th Sacramento 100-miler. Driving the Auto Shipper's Special, Vukovich complained that the front end bounced through the dirt mile's turns. "But I have no alibi," said Billy. "I'm sorry I didn't make it but that's the luck in auto racing." Prior to the race, while Vuky and promoter J.C. Agajanian were publicizing the event, Art Rosenbaum of the San Francisco Chronicle, spoke with Vukovich about rumors he was quitting racing. "Yeah," Bill admitted, "I did say I'd quit after winning the 500. The percentages are against you. But I can't escape the old itch. If I don't get behind the wheel I'm too fidgety." Rosenbaum said Bill explained that he had earned $60,000 winning at Indianapolis, and that this 100-miler in Sacramento wouldn't mean anything financially because of his high income tax bracket. He had to feel the wheel, that's all, Bill told him. "Maybe I'll retire soon, at that," Vukovich continued. "If I win once more at Indianapolis, you can bet that's the end for Vuky. I'm 34 now - not too far to go. Yeah, I'll retire soon, but not right away."

Sam Hanks won the National Championship, and his Bardahl team, with mechanic Harry Stevens and owner Ed Walsh, was voted the outstanding team of 1953 by sportswriters polled by the AAA Contest Board. Bill Vukovich was voted "most likely to achieve immortality."

###

## Bibliography

Research sources include:

Books

Bloemker, Al; _500 Miles To Go: The Story of the Indianapolis Speedway_ ; Coward-McCann; (1961)

Catlin, Russ; _The Life of Ted Horn American Racing Champion No. 1_ ; Floyd Clymer (1949)

Clymer, Floyd; _Indianapolis 500 Mile Official Yearbooks_ ; Floyd Clymer (1946-1969)

Davidson, Donald and Shaffer, Rick; _Autocourse Official History of the Indianapolis 500_ ; Icon Publishing Ltd. (2012)

Devany, John and Devany, Barbara; _Indianapolis 500: A Complete Pictorial History_ ; Rand McNally & Co ,U.S. (1978)

Fox, Jack C.; _Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500_ ; Carl Hungness (1975)

Granatelli, Anthony; _They Call Me Mister 500_ ; Henry Regnery Company (1969)

Hilborn, Stuart; _The Autobiography of Stuart Hilborn_ **;** nitrogeezers.com (2010)

Kramer, Ralph; _Indianapolis Motor Speedway: 100 Years of Racing_ ; Krause Publications (2009)

Leerhsen, Charles; _Blood and Smoke: A True Tale of Mystery, Mayhem and the Birth of the Indy 500_ ; Simon & Schuster (2011)

Popely, Rick and Riggs, L. Spencer; _Indianapolis 500 Chronicle_ ; Publications International, Ltd. (1998)

Shaw, Wilbur; _Gentlemen, Start Your Engines_ , Lane (1956)

Whitaker, Sigur E.; _Tony Hulman: The Man Who Saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway_ ; McFarland (2014)

White, Gordon; _Indianapolis Racing Cars of Frank Kurtis 1941-1963 Photo Archive_ , Iconografix (2000)

White, Gordon; _Kurtis-Kraft: Masterworks of Speed and Style_ ; Motorbook (2001)

White, Gordon Eliot; _Offenhauser_ ; Motorbooks (2004)

Yates, Brock; _The Indianapolis 500: The story of the motor speedway_ , Harper (1961)

Magazines and Periodicals

The Automobile; The Class Journal Company; New York, NY

American Motorist; American Automobile Association; Stamford, CT

Automobile Topics; New York, NY

Boy's Life, Boy Scouts of America, New York, NY

The Billboard; Various Publishers, New York, NY

Car and Driver; New York, NY

Good Roads; Emil Grossman & Bros, Boston, MA

The Horseless Age, New York, NY

Motor, New York, NY

Motor Age, Chicago, IL

Motorcycle Illustrated, Motorcycle Publishing Co., New York, NY

Motorcycle Magazine, New York, NY

Popular Mechanics; H.H. Windsor; Chicago, IL

Popular Science; The Science Press; New York, NY

Newspapers,Wire Services, and Press Associations

Unless noted in the text:

Indianapolis Star

Indianapolis News

Chicago Tribune

Los Angeles Times

Milwaukee Sentinel

Milwaukee Journal

Bob Gilka

New York Times

Associated Press

Dale Burgess

International News Service (INS)

Jack Estell

Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA)

Chet Hagen

United Press International

Kurt Freudenthal

Oscar Fraley

## About the Author

Brian Boettcher developed his interest in motorsports in the Milwaukee Mile's south bleachers, and has a lifelong fascination with the Indianapolis 500 and National Championship racing. He was born and raised in Milwaukee, graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a degree in Mass Commmunications. His career took him to postings in New Mexico, Germany, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Illinois. This is his first book.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ BrianGBoettcher

Facebook: http://facebook.com/ BrianGBoettcher

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## Other Books in this Series

Volume Two: Roadsters and Laydowns (1954 – 1958)

Volume Three: The Flying Ws (1959 – 1962)

Volume Four: The British Invasion (1963 – 1966)

## Upcoming Books in this Series

Volume Five: Whooshmobiles! (1967 – 1969)
