Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-06-26
TRACKS PUZZLE MOTORISTS
Los Angeles Board Track and Indian.
spolis Brick Cause Guesses.
WHICH is BEST, is QUESTION
WORLDS aud American Records
Galore Have Been SnRtched On
Both Tracks. aud IFS Hard 10
Figure Their Merits.

NEW YORK june lE-The recent whole
sale slaughteriue Of worlds and Ameri-
can records at Los Angeles and Indiauap-
oils has caused considerable confusion in
the minds Of many and the question OF
which Is the faster board or brick SUR
face and which course actually holds the
class record is not clear to many \ COM
paiison OK the marks made at these two
motordrames shows that taking every
class OF car into consideration, the Los
Angeles mile board track proved faster al
all distances save one mile and under. The
reason a speeder mark at one mile could
be set al the Hoosier speedway than on
the wooden course, is because Indianapolis
is two and a half mile circuit with mile
straiehtawsy stretches, calling for no turns
within this distance, while the Los An
geles one Is a perfect circle. one mile in
circumference, making constant turns nee
essary
For instance compare the 10O-mie mark
al Indianapolis with Harroun's board
track figure for the same distance. Kim
Caid, in a National. on the former course
got over the ground in S3:23;43; Harrouu's
board track mark was 1921. or seven min
utes faster. In the free-for-all at the ten
mile distance, Bragg, who made the best
indianapolis mark, was clicked in the Fiat
30 in 1902, while Robertson. in the 30 Sim
pick, on the mile board course at Playa del
Fey. scored 6:35. The five mile free-for-all
figure for the brick speedway is 3:34.9 made
by Bragg while on the Los Angeles saucer
De Palma in a car Of the same make. made
the figure of 3:153-more than eighteen
seconds faster.
In the 451GOO cubic inches displacement
class, where the same distances were run
on each course, Oldfield i'm Knox covered
five miles in 342:2 on the boards. while
on the other local the same car and driver
was clicked at 4:Ol O3-nineteen seconds
slower OH the bricks. At ten miles, with
the same car. Oldfield holds this class rec
ord Of 1:22:92 made at Playa del Rev, as
against his mark of 1907 on the Hoosier
course-twenty-eight seconds slower. Take
the SO1-45O inches class where comparisons
are possible: At the Los Angeles saucer
Nikrent in Buick, covered five miles in
S:5s:6S against klncaids mark of 4O5:7 with
National at Indianapolis. Nfkrent also
made the ten-mile fast record on the coast
6:56:6S, while Athens Indianapolis mark I'm
this class was 7:57:0l-a full minute slower
Again in the 231-300 inches class Harroun
IN Marmon on the plank circle made the
five-mile mark of 3;55:97 while Dawson. in
the same car required 4:41:O3 for the In
dianapolis mark The ten-mile marks in
this class are 1855 for Nikrent on the coast
and s:lS for Harroun on the Indiana course
Even in the 1920 inches Baby" class, the
board track proved faster Nikrent's Buick
covered ten miles in S:4O:l7 at PLAYA del
Rey, against the Chevrolet's Buick figure
OF 903:6 at Indianapolis
OF course, all of the Los Angeles records
were made under American Automobile as
sociaton class c, governed only by piston
displacement, because at that time the 1elt
rules and definition Of stock car had moi
been announced, although in nearly every
case competitors at Los Angeles drove
STOCK machines. The Indianapolis class
marks were made under class B. and there.
FORE stand as purely stock car records
nevertheless the comparative speed posi-
bllities are conclusively demonstrated above
Tor In numerous events the identical cars
ana drivers competed at each course and in
every case OF a race OF more than one mile
proved that the board course Is the faster
Plans for a circuit of these board tracks
are now maturing, so many cities being in.
tefested and various promoters wantine
board motordromes While the above mon.
toned phenomenal records were made /,
should be remembered that not single
serious accident occurred on the PLAYA del
Hey saucer the seven days meet and three
weeks of practice, which I'm itself 10 .
notable record