The sun., 1916-10-22
RECORDS WILL FALL
IN HARDNESS RACE.
There Is Great Incentive for
Star Pilots to Drive Unus-
ually Fast.

One hundred and twenty miles an
hour FOR the lap record and over los
mileo an hour for the 100 miles are the
achievements that are firmly expected
Dy the motor racing enthusiasts when
the select field Of cars and drivers jein
issue In the 100 mile and SO mile special
races to be run at the ~Shecpshead Bay
Speedway o n October 20. Never before
In the history of motor racing In this
country or abroad have followers Of the
sport been brought TO such a pitch of
expectant excitement as has been in
duced by the forthcoming trial of
speed. Some almost fantastic average
speeds are predicted by certain enthusi-
asts. Indeed. bets of Q to 1 that tho
average speed OF all cars finishing will
top l05 miles an hour are being freely
offered. while even money on IO7 miles
an hour Ia not hard to md.
What gives the Hardness trophy race
us supreme Importance this year Is the
fact that the American speedway cham
pionship contest will probably be de-
c!ded by the order in which the drivers
finish In this race. The drivers whose
point scores entitle them to> foremost
consideration In this premier award of
the year are bending every effort to get
their steel mounts In the best possible
shape for this supreme test. The Peu-
geot OUTFIT. Resta. Aitken and De Palma,
are shouting for valves. and one OF these
drivers actually sent a persona, repre-
sentative TO the valve manufacturer to
walt for the completion of the sixteen
pieces OF precious tungsten steel and
bring them back with him to the waiting
Pougcot.
In any form of competition excite
ment reaches Its white heat when the
leadership Is constantly changing hands.
This Is true Of the speedway Champion
ship race. Resta started the season as
eader then De Palma carried the crown
for a while. until Resta took back the
palm. only TO DO displaced by Aitken.
AT Chicago last week Resta again
swung into the lead by the slenderest
margin. Thus has the pendulum swung
back and forth, and the Hardness
trophy race. the last big speedway event
or tho year. may therefore be called
the deciding lap In what has proved to
be one Of the most exciting sporting
fixtures OF the summer season. The
title IL no mere empty honor. for with
the laurel OF victory goes $4,000 In
cash TO the winning driver. Therefore
Resta. Aitken and Rickenbacher will
surely risk everything in the hope OF
adding to their records the points neces-
sary to win the title award by the
American Automobile Association.
Resta now has 5000 points. Aiken ~
second with 2,e40 and Isickenbacher
third with 2.2l0. These are the only
drivers who can possibly expect TO take
first money on October 2S. But De
Palma is selected as the probable win
ner because OF his remarkable showing
in the Chicago race last week. where he
averaged l07 miles per hour FOR 100
miles. This he can easily maintain at
S~hcepshead. which will mean that Resta
and Aitken will have to trail instead Of
lead. Should Resta win there liz no
doubt about his getting the Champion
ship. for Santa Monica. the only race
Of Importance left. will not net tho sec
ond man n sufficient number OF points to
beat Itesta, even n the latter should
only take second or third place at the
Western meet. Then there IL conserva-
tive E~ickenbacher. who always can be
counted upon to come up in front. He
has 2.2l0 points. and while the posi-
bll.ty OF his winning the championship
Is remote his position will be an in'lu-
encing factor In the placing of the other
men.
Every car 70 stand befort Starter Fred
Wagner will be a four cylinder car OF a
piston displacement of 500 cubic inches
or under. These cars have motors which
have q r~otat!ve speed as high as $500
revolutions per minute and develop from
100 to 200 horsepower maximum. The
gear ratios will run all the way from 3
to l to Ia TO 1. depending on the motor
characteristics. Practically every car to
start will have aluminium pistons. for
these are lighter than the iron ones and
thus the power required to move them Is
less. Also a most important point is
that fully 90 per cent. OF the cars on the
track will have sixteen valve motors
In other words four valves per cylinder.
This is dom to get n large metal valve