The Ely miner., 1915-09-10
ABOUT The STATE
News Of Especial Interest to
Minnesota Readers.
COOPER WINS 5OO-MILE RACE
Sensational Finish the Main Feature
In Automobile Speed Contest
at Twin Cities.

Ouiy the Oue-uItu pOTllOu VI IhS
time which elapses between one tick
Of a watch and the ensuing tick sep
arated the first and second cars home
In the 500 mile automobile race staged
at the new Twin City speedway. The
finish was pronounced the closest in
long distance automobile racing his.
tory.
Twin white racing machines, the
pair of them miles ahead of the next
nearest contenders, came roaring into
the banks in front of grandstand on
their final lap and flew on into the
stretch. The lead car was dropping
back by inches. The desperate little
machine behind was crawling up by
inches
But the staunch little bit of racing
machinery to the rear was not quite
equal to the final task and Stutz ma
chine No. flew past the judges stand
winner, Earl Cooper, the driver, to
receive the $4,000 first prize money,
the sundry other prizes which go to
the winner of such a contest and the
inestimable glory which such vic
tory achieves.
To be perfectly exact it was just
twenty-one one-hundredths of Sec
ond later when the wheels of Stutz
car No. 2, with Gil Anderson minding
the helm, passed the finishing line.
Driver Anderson receives $4,000 in
gold. Eddie O'Donnell, in Duesen-
berg car, was third, miles behind.
O'Donnell, however, drove a race so
remarkable In many particulars as to
warrant considerable further COM
ment.
Numerous Disappointments.
Such was the climax to the first 500
mile automobile race in the North
west, to the christening of the new
speedway. 1t came as brilliant final
light to a day marked by many dis
appointments, disappointments to the
management Of the new speedway, to
the drivers and owners of many cars
and to the patrons of the new track.
The disappointment to the manage
ment of the new track consisted in a
surprisingly small crowd. 1t is under
stood that there were but $4,000 paid
admissions. Many advance estimates
reached the 100000 mark The disap-
pointment to the many car owners,
drivers and to the crowd consisted of
a series of serious accidents to some
Of the most popular cars in the race,
accidents which caused the retirement
of these cars, most of them during the
early part of the race. The average
OF miles per hour also fell consider
able below the estimates made in ad-
vance and at no time did any one of
the drivers equal the time made fire.
quently in the elimination trials. The
average of the winning car is consid-
erably below that made on other
speedways.
The reason for the small attendance
is clearly seen both by the public and
by the speedway management. The
explanation of that lies in the now
generally admitted excessive price of
admission. The general admission
price was 81 and that permitted the
purchaser only the privilege of finding
himself seat somewhere on the hill
tops or within the oval inclosure. The
cheapest reserved seats brought $3.50
in addition to the general admission.
Boxes Almost Priceless.
There were bleachers, but even
these were poorly patronized Park
ing accommodation for automobiles in
places from which the race could be
witnessed brought big prices S., $40
and up. Boxes in the main grand
stands were almost priceless.
1t was a race with two ends and no
middle. The first century was as
magnificent speed battle as man
could wish to witness. From the one
hundred and fiftieth to the four hun
dred and fiftieth miles the race was
a bore. Then the two Stutz cars
turned env;ous eyes upon each other
and their speed jealousies grew until
they developed into that thrilling fin
ish which at least gives the new track
credit for history's closest finish of
long distance auto race.
This flush almost made up for the
grief which the grandstands sus-
tanned when one after another wild
Bob" Burman, Daria Resta, Ralph de
Palma, Otto Henning and Ralph Null
ford were forced out of the race by
various car troubles. All five of these
drivers were out before the race was
half done. Later w. w. Brown with
his home made car dropped out. Bar
ney Oldfeld had intermittent trouble
with his car and never was a danger
Gus pretender.
There were fourteen to start