The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1912-06-06
WORLD'S GREATEST
i AUTO RACE begun
INDIANAPOLIS, IND-special.-

INDIANAPOLIS, IND.-Special.--
Before n crowd estimated at
100000 the 5OO-milc automobile
race at the motor speedway was
started Thursday. Twenty-fOur ears
whose trials i'm the elimination
contest have shown them to he
the fastest ever entered i'm
speed contest i'm America. while
the best known and most daring
drivers at the wheel took part i'm
the contest
With the firing OF the starters
bomb at 10 o'clock the 5OO-mile
automobile race over the motor
speedway course began.
Five cars, lined up at the tape,
shot forward with the explosion
OF the bomb. Thirty seconds later
five Others were ON their way.
The others fOlIONC cd at thirty Sec
oDd intervals until the twenty
four monster cars had been start
ed on thCir hrCaknCCk chase. For
one lap. two aud OnC-tsnG miles,
the cars maintained a moderate
speed.
The drivers threw open their
machine thrOttlcS and the cars.
their mufflcr~ cut out and their
eXhaustS beating SatlinS gun
stacCattO. shot forward. The race
was on.
one hundred thousand motor en-
thusiasts save them roUsinS cheer.
A light rain had fallen during the
night. The weather cleared and the
speedway course was in its best pos
sible condition.
The temp, Lure rose slightly. much
to the delight of the thousands of
motor racing cans. who strcamcd out
to tn 60. before dav'"ht
That flying cars would smash
l fOrmel4N ,sto .ilSa,U rccorus az tnS
track is the prediction of the driN erS.
and that more ideal conditions for fast
driving could not be HAD is the YER
dict Of the men about the pits, and
the officials of the speedway. The
perfect track and the dustless con-
dition OF the field itself gave the spec
tators and drivers both advantages.
Long before daYbreak the crowds
were on their way to the track, which
is located six miles west of the city
limits.
The roads to the speedway this
morning were black with automobiles,
while thousands of other spectators
made the trip by trolley.
Militiamen had been camped in the
center OF the saucer all night. At
dawn the soldiers We're reused, and by
the time the crowds arrived had been
spread out about the course.
Forty thous5and persons nlied the
others were seated in parked auto
mobiles. while another thirty thousand
crowded about the track, pressing as
near the fences as they could.
Just outside the fences a line OF
militiamen formed clear around the
ing in the way of the speeding cars.
About the motor pits the racing
crews were astir early. Although the
big cars did not get away until 1C
O'Clock, mechanicians and drivers were
up with the sun, making final inspec-
tion of the machines testing the en-
gines and making a few final prepare
lions for quick tire changes and re-
pairs
Some Details of the Race.
At exactly 10 o'clock the final bomb
was fired Carl G. Fisher paced the
cars around the first lap.
Gil Anderson, i'm his Stutz, led
the field at the start. but on the
first turn dropped back and gave
way To Teddy TetSclaff. in his Fiat,
who thus gets credit for leading
on the first lap OF the long grind.
The others were strung out for an
eighth of a mile. Tetselaf led the
second lap, with Depalma at his rear
wheel. and the long grind was on in
earnest.
Depalma, in his big white Merce-
des, took the lead in the next lap,
with Wishast, in a Mercedes, second.
Bruce Brown, winner of two grand
prizes, was fourth.
Later Brown retired from the race.
The first car to retire from the race
was the Opel. a foreign car driven by
Ormsby. He broke his gasoline tank
connections and was pushed off the
track after pulling up at his pit He
only made seven laps before his mis-
hap.
The Case car, No. 3. driven by Dis
brow. was stopped at the pit on his
ninth lap. After a quick adjustment
he was off again, one lap behind the
leaders. on the tenth lap, Depalma
maintained the lead, with Bruce
Brown in second place.
Depalma'S time for twenty miles
was IA minutes and IS Seconds, less
than 20 seconds behind the worlds
record. Wilcox. in "a National, had
trouble with his engine on his twelfth
lap and was hel% at his pit for sew
eral minutes.
The first man to make a tire change
was Wishart in a Mercedes, who pull
ed up at his fourteenth lap.
New Worlds Record.
- At tho end of the fifty-mile lap tire
troubles began. Wishart lost the race
last season because of his many tire
changes. MatsOn, Milford and two
or three others pulled up at the same
time for right rear changes. De
palma's time for fifty miles was
$3.50.
This beats the previous record for
cars of this class by three minutes.
Depalma, at the end of the
elghtieth mile, had big lead. At
the end of the first hour he had
covered S212 miles.
The Lexington, driven by Harry
Knight, was Withdrawn after
seven laps.
DeIpaIna set a new worlds re-
cord for 100 miles on the speed
way. He drove the distance in 1
hour 13 minutes and 4 second.
The previous worlds record re-
gardleSS of class, was 1 hour ii
minutes and % seconds.
Quick Tire Change.
DePalmR and Joe Dawson both
stopped at the pits for the first
time. They started again almost
nj the same instant without losing
the lead. The time of the tire
change for each less than
forty seconds.