The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1915-03-11

: winning three Of the important II
!: o a races and finishing fourth In -
: two others. Motor Age and the |
/: motoring world selects Ralph De Il
/: Palma as the American roa rae Il
F.: ing champion of 1914. 81
Unq%uestionably only three pilots can
pionship-De Palma. Pullen and Old
field. and when the evidence is sifted
to the bottom it leaves De Palma bow
ing that h laurel wreath may be
placed on his brow. De Palma won
three of the five big road races of the
at Santa Monica last February, and in
both events at Elgin, the Chicago Au-
tomobile club cup and the Elgin Ma
tional trophy. His other two starts
We're the grand prix at Santa Monica
and the recent Corona speed duel. In
the former he finished fourth, after
having once been in the lead. In the
latter he also was fourth and both
tunes the winner was Pullen.
PuIIen's Fine Showing.
On Pullen's side one finds that he
has a record of two first and a second
IN his five starts, twice being unable
to finish. He and De Palma competed
In the same five races, which makes
the comparison easier. Pullen started
the season at Santa Monica with al
victory in h grand prix, which fol-
lowed his elimination in the Wander
dit at a time when it looked as If he
would be a winner, a broken wheel, the
result Of taking Death curve too fast,
stopping him when he was far out in
the front.
At Elgin Pullen again stacked up
with De Palma and the honors went to
the Italian, who shattered precedent
by winning both classics. Pullen failed
to finish h first day, but OF the sec
ond he was runnerup to De Palma, es-
tablishing a nonstop record which was
beaten only at Corona by Oldfield IN
the Maxwell. Pullen's championship
stock went up a notch at Corona. where
he established a worlds road racing
record that is sc sensational that crit
les still are gasping at the dizzy speed.
Stacking up the respective claims Of
De Palma and Pullen. one must admit
that, while to the Italian belongs the
championship title, yet the most ar
dent admirers Of the Mercedes pilot
must admit that Pullen stands very
close to the throne.
Oldfields Consistency Record.
Oldfield drove in the same five clas-
sizes as did his two rivals and he went
them n better by participating in the
cactus derby in which he carried off
the honors. The six starts of the
master driver Of the world netted
him one first, two seconds, one third,
one fourth and one time not finishing.
Surely that is a showing which en-
titled the veteran to some considera-
ton and SO Motor Age hands out to
Barney the consistency title.
The Oldfield ticket shows that il
the Vanderbilt Barney was runner-up
to De Palma, a puncture on the last
lap slowing the veteran when it looked
as II he would break into the lime
light. In the grand prix he made a gall
liant showing as long as he was run
ming. In both these Santa Monica
events Oldfeld drove a Mercer. At
Elgin in a Stutz he landed fourth in
the Chicago Automobile club cup race
and third in the Elgin national. The
next big race vas the cactus derby,
and when Oldfield. in a Stutz, was de-
clared winner in the gruelling grind
from Los Angeles to Phoenix it marked
Barney's first road race victory. Shift
ing to a Maxwell at Corona he was a
gallant second to Pullen.
Many Speedway Events.
Speedway racing seems to have
come into it's own, for this year there
were five races of this kind, each won
by a different driver and car. Indian
apolis' 500-mile race was won by Rene
Thomas in a Delage; Sioux City's 300
D~uesenberg: while at Tacoma, which
now is classed as a speedway by the
A. A. A, the M We're Cooper in
a Stutz, Hughes in a Maxwell and
Parsons in a F'rantz, which Is said to
be a rebuilt Stutz.
This activity carries the fans back
to 1910. when there were three speed
ways in Observation-Disclosures, At
lanta and Los Angeles-and presages
much for next year, when one can reas-
onably expect to see the speedway
world augmented by big tracks at Min
1N.n IL Nov Vn~l- ~ l~ ~~I 49,
sibly Chicago, Philadelphia and KAN
sas City.
Racing on one-mile circular tracks
also experienced a boom this year
through the promotion of a series of
100-Inile races. in which there was real
competition, involving Burman, Null
ford. De Palma and Bergdoll and
bringing into prominence such prom
Using youngsters as Alley and O'Don-
nell. 1t is remarkable that in each Of
these -four centuries. the, 1O0-mile dirt
track record was broken. Starting
with De Palma's 1:40:15 at Brighton
Beach, the mark was hammered to
l:34:29 by Burman at kalamazoo; to
1:32:54 at Galesburg, and to 1880
by Alley at Minneapolis.
New Speedway Records Made.
The speedway competition was re-
sponsible for the establishing Of a new
set of competition marks in the annual
ouu-ilIie race DIT WnlCl
again was won by a foreigner, this time
Rene Thomas in a Delage. whose time
of G:03:45, an average of 82.47 miles per
hour, beat the Nationals record, which
was established by Dawson in 1912, of
6:21:06. an average of 7S.7. The next
three We're foreigners; then came Bar
ney Old1eld in the Stutz, the first Amer
lean car to finish. It was in this race
that Dawson met with an accident that
nearly cost him his life. Also the 1914
classic was remarkable for the estab-
fishing of an attendance record, it be-
ing estimated that $4,000 spectators paid
to see tie international battle.
De Palma made his debut as a bicycle
rider in 1898. He first entered the lists
as an amateur and soon became q
feared and triumphant competitor at
the meets held at Manhattan beach,
| Valesburg, n. j.: Seaside Park. Fitz-
hugh hall, Rochester and the Madison
| Square garden, where in 1901 he finished
second in the race for the one-mile m
ateur championship. So successful was
he In spirits for cups and trophies that
1 he turned professional in 1908 and