Arizona republican., 1914-11-10

mat lllt 0HtN IOltl WIS checked IN one
second before the Stutz of Oldfield.
Never has such shaving of figures
been necessary in a Phoenix road race.
The carrying of the time into seconds
would not have resulted today had not
Oldfield mistaken the wildly waving
arms at the checking station to mean
signal to come on. He did and then
had to back up. thereby losing two
or three seconds Meantime the little
always present Chevrolet, with Durant
at the wheel slipped in with half
dozen watches clicking The advan-
tage of such a wee bit of time is in
the start at daybreak in the morning
BY Durant being first on the check
ing sheet he will be the first to be
released from control for the run to
Prescott, the place of the second
nights rest.
Oldfield's elapsed time for the dis
lance from Los Angeles was hours
40 minutes So seconds which means
he covered the course with the amaz-
ing average of 34S miles per hour
This is four miles faster than the rec
ord average for the race last year by
Olin c. Davis in driving to victory
Phoenix races always furnish a sur
prise The driving of Durant in the
Chevrolet. which has only 16S cubic
inches piston displacement, was the
upset of all calculations today He
was continuous and persistent fac
! tor at all times, and Louis Chevrolet
! in the other car bearing his name also
made wonderful drive. on the very
| few stretches which permitted such
| speed he showed 20 mile san hour In
the rough and heavy going he logged
| along complacently with the higher
| powered machines.
The race resolved itself into a speed
| uel between Oldfield and Durant from
he time Cajon pass was reached. They
| later led out in front of the field, out
stripping the others of the first flight
and the Howdy Special itself. which
rolled along at a high speed in an eff
| fort to beat the leaders into Needles
! Oldfield made good his promise to
beat the Howdy into the first night
control and he greeted the race root
ers as they piled off the train with
Durant close by. Davis and T. j.
Beaudet also were members of this re-
versed reception committee the four
having figured their schedules faster
than the Santa Fe
| When Oldfield. with the persistent
| Chevrolet hidden in his smoke, dashed
through COTS. word was telegraphed
ahead to Needles 40 miles away. I'M
| me- n FOL ba Il MI CT ba
road machine shops blew a long loud
blast. Then Needles stopped work. 1t
was the signal that one of the biggest
occasions Needles ever saw was at
hand. This is the first Phoenix race
to be run by this route, and the citi-
zens were deeply interested.
Merchants closed their stores. Rail
road work. except that necessary for
the actual operation of trains. was
stopped Even the schools were closed
land the children were released to flock
to the roped race course.
The racers were given a noisy recep-
ton Then the tOwnsmen turned their
ttention to the depot, where the How
dy Special, with all its noise making
instruments aboard in full blast was
lpullng in. As the Howdyites with
their red, black yama-ya effects
lflocked off the train, they lined up to
the air of Il Love You, California
lpIayed by vigorous Indian band. The
Howdyites formed in a line and began
their noise making anew. The band
iquit before such overwhelming odds
land then their march through the
principal streets to the night control
where the arrived drivers and theil
mechanicians had to be greeted ovel
land over again.
Don Lee led the drum corps, while
H. L. Owensney, staggering along I'M
der an immense bass drum which haC
been fixture in the band" ever since
there was a Phoenix race.
Starting under the most unfavor-
liable weather conditions that eve
greeted a Phoenix race, the time wa
made half an hour slower by the slip
perry condition of the boulevards be
tween Los Angeles and San Bernar
dino.
At 1915 a tiny dust-gray car, tn
Chevrolet No .. shot into the deser
town of Ludlow. Driver Durant ha'
driven the little car the first 1877 mile
of the great road classic in hour
land % minutes and was apparent,
unwearied.
! Durant swung the LATHE car aroun
q right angle turn at the railroad trac
and was off down the desert road.
Just one minute later, but first /
point Of actual time, Barney Oldfiel
came in with the once White Stutz NJ
\ The veteran driver apparently tax
| ing things easy yelled a greeting
Teddy Tetzlaff pilot of the press ca
which was waiting in Ludlow.
The next ribbon of gray white aus
visible for miles west of Ludlow re
| solved itself into the Simplex No.
with DIN Davis at the wheel. Dav1
stopped three minutes to take on wa
ter. The car was hitting perfectly bt
not taking the rough road as well q
the Stutz and Chevrolet, but Tetzla
pronounced them all apparently in goo
mechanical condition.
Oldfield passed Durant between II
towns of Ludlow and Fenner southea:
lof Needles Durant led Oldfield b
Ludlow, 1877 miles from Los Angeles
one minute. Although the road is s
narrow few believed Oldfield cou
PASS his rival, Barney managed to g
past. He was leading Durant by tN
minutes actual time when the ca