Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1922-05-25
SHOWERS SLOW
UP FIRST OF
SPEED TRIALS
Heavier Schedule of Time
Tests Tomorrow as Result of
Delay Encountered Today.
PILOTS SPEED UP WORK

II unlikely tnat the opening TIME tiidiS
for the tenth annual 5o0-mile race Tues
day scheduled for this afternoon would
be held There was some hope, however
but only in case the sun came out strong
enough In the early afternoon to dry
off the bricks
Speed pilots do not care TO risk theii
cars on a slippery track, however, and
for this reason the officials in charg &c
of the qualifications were expected td
postpone the first trials until Friday
morning If weather and track condl-
lions made it impossible to hold any
tests today. 1t is thought that trial SPINS
will be held all day Friday and during
the afternoon of Saturday.
OF course the showers today were wei
coined by a few of the drivers, for some
have been held back by various bandi-
caps in getting their ears ready aud !
reinforcement Of the qualifications would
be to their liking.
Postponement the opening race tests
today would not mean there would not
he something doing at the Speedway,
for the pilots and mechanicians haa
plenty to keep them busy. The garages
were kept noisy with mechanical aetiT-
ity as the workers toiled - prepare the
speed cars for the big event.
For the first time the Duesenbergs were
out in force Wednesday, De Palma. as
usual, in a cream cOlored car; Jerry Won,
derlich in the tan car which ., hnis IL "a
year, Ira Vail in his Disteel Deusy and
Harry Hartz in n snappy looking white
model with red trimmings.
VAN created a furry along the wall
when he knocked off lap in l.29 30
which Is Just short of 101 miles an hour
This was the fastest lap Of the year un-
til Ralph milford trotted out his From
tenac a little later and crashed through
with a lap in 1..9 fiat. which Is just
trife better than 101 miles an hour.
De Palma apparently showed every
thing he had for he cut loose and
swung into the turns In the old De
Palma way with ali sails set and
throttle wide open But the best he
could do was about ninety seven miles
an hour. However, Ralph did not
seem i'm the least worried and prob
ably will add several miles to the car
before next Tuesday.
wonderlich and Harts were content
with practice workouts at relatively slow
speed
Late In the afternoon Cannonbal Baker
came out In his Frontenac eight, bur 1t
refused to behave and for couple OF
laps jumped and buclled a movie broncho,
30 CannonbaIl took 1t back to the corral
Tor further tanning.
The rotary valve. double ignition.
single scatter D'Wehr has not taken the
track since the first day. There was great
activity around the garage Wednesday,
however and the car will be ready for
the time trials not later than FRIDAY. Inc
car has no shock absoFbers ana Old timers
are predicting a rough ride for Frank
Davidson unless he puts them on.
Milford said he was going to roll
out and qualify early today and ther
get back to work again Most q Az
ers would he sitting rosy with car
which rambled around at better than
101 an hour. but Ralph had lot
of little things to kick about when he
came back from the run and insisted
there was q lot of work still to be
done on the car.
The Britishers here with the Bentley
are not finding Indiana weather to their
liking, aud they suggested that the next
race be pulled of In December.
When Ira Vail returned 10 the pits
Wednesday after hitting il up around the
brick course at little more than 100
miles per hour he said The foot aece.r
ator did not work as freely as he thought
1t might. His mechanician grinneI aud
said, Its no use monkeying with that
thing, Ira keeps It down aIl the way
around, anyway" Vail states that he
Intends to hit it up from the start IN the
big grind.
Carl Fisher was out in the early after
noon Wednesday. His soft hat could be
distinguished without an effort
Cannonbal Baker on commenting In his
recent accident In the West stated that
tie first thing he thought about after he
landed was. If this Isn't some luck Here
] am all In pieces and the Speedway race
only three weeks away" The doctor
told Baker some bones were broken, but
Cannonball wouldn't believe him, and
sure enough there wasn't.
The Wehr motor looked heIpIess
Wednesday ont on the ground all by
itself. A thousand and one parts were
scattered about as the mechanics went
over the car. Another mystery" of
the Speedway is how they get all
those things together again.
You must admit Il. There's something
about De Palma that sends a thrill down
the spines Of the spectators. W hen he
swept ont on the track Wednesday and
waved a careless salute to the raiibiras
there was a slight stir, a certain in
tangible feeling of Difference In the air to
the brilliant. daredevil Italian who has
Set the pace in SO many gruelling races
Richard Kennerdall, referee Of the 500
mile race. has arrived at the track for
the big event For years head Of the
American Automobile Association, Ken
nerdall has become known rs the father
confessor for all the drivers. He is re-
spected by every participant in the great
gasoline sport. His home Is In Frank
lin, Pa F. E Edwards. chairman Of
the technical committee, IN charge of
mechanical requirements of the cars in
the race, Is in town Berne Nadell and
David Gallup, two local men, have been
assisting In the important work of
qualifying the cars mechanically for the
fye-century.
Bruce Daniels. formerly OF Indian
apolis, now of San Francisco, arrived
today. He hasn't been in Indianapo-
lis for several years. Daniels was
at one time local sports writer
and later advertising executive. Now
he represents the Stutz Motor Car
Company on the Pacific coast.
william Schimpf, chairman of the con-
test board of the American Automobil lie
Association, is scheduled to arrive In In
dianapolis tomorrow. A delegation
probably will meet him. He IS accom-
panied by Arthur n Means, secretary
of the contest board They will have
headquarters at the SEVERN Hotel.
Harry Stephenson of Los Angeles,
In the big race. IL q familiar figure at
the track every day. He is one man
who has made race cars pay their board