Arizona republican., 1917-09-30
WAR DOES NOT DAMIEN ARDOR IF
 AUTOMOBILE RACE ENTHUSIASTS

splitting forth fire and smoke, the lay man in the grandstand has any appre- citation of the ceaseless efforts in the press stand, across the track, to fur nish him with absolutely accurate de- tailed records of the event in progress. At intervals throughout the race he is informed as to what cars are leading, the time of the race to that point, the rate of speed, the number of laps made, etc.
 While the crowd is busy following the progress of the various racers around the track, with an occasional thrilling brush on the back stretch bringing them involuntarily to their feet to cheer some favorite driver the scorers and timers are tirelessly check ing each car as it crosses the little wire stretched across the track, which warks the completion of a lap.
 Only the official starter judges, referees, timers, scorers and the drivers | themselves, realize the true mission of this small wire-which often escapes the notice of even those spectators in the grandstand sitting nearest it. Few g know that in races sanctioned by the American Automobile association this unpretentious little wire is connected with a S5000 timing device, owned by starter Fred J. Wagner, which auto matically records the time of each car to the hundredth part of second.
 There are but two such devices in America, the other being the property of the Indianapolis speedway and useu to time all the big races held there The outfit consists of time registering de- vice run by motor and storage bat tery, and chronometer. The wire which iS fa Sta at end to an electric break-maker.
 The operation is this: Whenever a car passes over the wire a break" is made in the electric current, and this causes the timing device to record the time of crossing A striking arm Iri,- prints the exact time on strip of paper which passes through the machine. This paper is automatically shifted forward to receive the next impression. The machine recovers from each opera tion quickly enough to permit the registration of two cars passing over the wire within five hundredths of a [ second of each other.
 | An assistant calls out the number of each car IS It passes and the official timer marks this number opposite the time recorded by the machine The scorers also record these numbers as
 
 ing machines and are able to tell the exact number of laps each car has completed at any stage of the race
 The position and number of the leading car are indicated by the chier scorer to the starter in time that he may give it the green flag on the next to the last lap of the race. The check cred flag indicates the completion of the race.
 Hardly less important than the tim ing and scoring but more apparent to the crowds in the grandstand is the pit service rendered to each car in the field of racers. Across from the grand stand is series of compartments, each fronting on the track. commonly Known as pits.
 Each contestant is entitled to have five attendants, including the team ] manager. in the pit assigned to his car But only two attendants are permitted to make replacement of gasoline, oil 1 water and tires, or crank the motor when the contestants car is at a stand still at the pit. They are not allowed , to make any mechanical repairs or ad