New-York tribune., 1910-09-25
BY George Robertson

minute / can. eat plent3 o 1ta+--F Si----f10
food. drink no alcohol and smoke no to-
bacco. That's all
An autonobile racing driver does not
train in the sense that an athlete prepa-s
ing for a track contest or a football play
sr trains The most valuaols thing hs can
do IS 10 drive car al he can
find that II am out OF the driving
seat for time the muscles OF my hand
forearm and upper arm get stale But ths
more I drive on the track. around toSc-
anywhere, the better shape 7 an In
There IS nothing specially that eat II
must be plain food. a4d Il must be nour-
ishing food I remember when we wsrs
lying at Crown Point. Ind. waiting fox
the Cohe trophy race we ali ate ham and
eggs three times each day. Thers vas
nothing else. Il did US good
Another thing that the racing driver
must be careful Of is his eyes. Now J
wear goggles. and IL ny eyes get bad after
a long course I wash them cur With
boracic acid. A drivers ewes are OF the
utmost service and importance 70 him
Now. as 70 the preparation for a bts
event Ike the Vanderbilt Cup The trss
thing man wants 20 do IS 70 ba satis-
fed with the car he IS going 20 drtvs-as
70 its speed. and more as 20 tts ability
20 stand Up under him. do what he makes
# do and develop no wealEnesses- 7 am
going 70 drive a Benz IN the Valderbilr
cup race. and YOU may be sure 7 would
not drive II unless I was satisfied that Il
was the car for me 20 drive.
Vanderbilt practice IS in the morning. be-
tween and 2 O'Clock.
go down 70 the camp about 8 80 a n
and am ready to take the car out about
daybrsak- The first thing on new course
is 20 study the curves, the banking, the
width and all that sort Of thing On a
course like tha Vanderbilt I'll take tha
car around perhaps ten times each morn
ing. III see how the car takes the turns.
md out how 7 should handle each ruru
and how 7 should handle the Stretches
Coming into and going out OF a turn means
a great deal IN a big road rsce-
Won know z man rides race WITH his
brain. His body does automatically 70 the
car whst Is necessary It's Ike walking
or anything else or that kind Ths body
comes ~ h4 a part OF the car but the
brain Is the thing that wins races
Now. a lot Or drivers try TO take a turn
without shutting OF. without slowing DOWN
They lose time that way. They viii skid and
slttheF. and precious seconds are lost sauar-
ing away Z viii come into a turn going
perhaps forty-dvs or hfty miles an hour
Then I'll brake hard. 80 that vixen an
al ths point Of The turn I'll be gpng re--
hans only four or five miles an he7Ir. But
tt's rha going our Of the curve fast thaC
counts This method Of taking curves
saves the car and the tires Two things
the racing car nesds-good brakes and auiCk
accelAration. always have the second
gear ready. coast into the curve ard throw
the second IN for getting our fast.
We take the car ont ana practise
II any little thing goes wrong IN the
course We stop and make the adjustment
right there Az have breakfast. ard
then my mechanic and myself wash the
car. Now. when Z say WASH it, r mean
fust that. To has bath OF kerosene from
the tires Up When it is through that
bath there IS not a speek Of dirt on IL any
where OF course. in this washing il gets
A most careful inspection
The inspection and washing ara 50 thor
ough that IL takes until about noon 20
finish the Job. I work myself. overseeing
the entire force OF men At the camp Then
in the afternoon we loaf around and per-
haps work on the CARTS alUays working
on the car. 10 make IL more perfect and
more right
So ft goes ever dav sometimes not
getting to bed Till pretty late until the
day before the race. The morning befors
III take the car cut for a lap or Two 70
see that she is all right
Then she'll ne brought in for her anar
grooming After she Is Pur into shapes
about noon The dsv before. nothing Is done
IN ner Till she is taken cut 70 the taps
the next morning
7 Hud that regular army suit IS rhe BEST
thing can wear 7 also wear a woollen
shirt because " keeps me warm and ao-
s0rbs any perspjrarion- 7 figure 70 cut
that the army must have thought n cut
pretty carefully. Then 7 wear KHAKI troUs-
ers and leather leEEings Z prefer the leg
ginzs to the puttees. because the IsggfnEs
are more solid They protect the legs
more in case OF accident r always use
A skull racing cap. with a haudkerchtar
tied 20 the ton 20 wipe OF my Eosglss-
AS SAID before. we thins more than
We drive. We are always thinking about
the fellow ahead Of US. When We pass
him We don't forget him. either although
IL is The mechanics duty % keen track
Of him. but We are wondering Row far
hacE, AZ us he is. when he IS going OF FOR
tires and gas etc. Z must know inst what
nv tires are doing. how my tanks are hold
ins out When am in the lead. then am
more careful than at any other tirue IN the
race never win a race TIL its over No
race is ever done or won till It's over
There is no fun II a race when a man
il vav ahead but when he Is being pushed.
when he has got 20 use his brain every
second. then 10 IS the finest sport N the
world Now as 70 danger. the practice
is as dangerous as the event itself. ot
course. and that e. one reason why driver
must he sure OF his car every minute
prafer long races myself. because they
eliminate the freak cars and weak drivers
sariv. and those are the things that make
a race dangerous.
have always driven carefully and have
had only one accident OF any account a.
Vet That was in practice iu ICES Ny
steering knuckIe broke and wrapped ths
car around a telegraph pole. one minuts
vas driving and the next 7 woke up IA
bed with a broken col'arbone- My me-
rhauic was smashed up worse.
But you never think OF the possiols
danger of the raCe-yOu simply Can't-Or
voli would never race. arrange all the
signals % let me know where I am from
nv pits. In a word the whole camp works
go. -. a.. ,-f, a,F r 1riVa fha car C~ou7.