The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-03-23
FENCLER Is KING
AMONG SPEEDERS
Holds Record AS Worlds
Fastest Automobile
Driver -.

harlan fengler, the boy speed KING,
celebrated his twenty-fourth birthday
the other day in. los Angeles. His only
regret was the fact that his mother was
not there to share the glory of his tri-
umph scored on the Beverly speedway
recently. The kid driver" ran away
from the fastest field ever mustered for
a motor car race meet any place in the
world and he broke world speed records
in rapid succession in the 250-mile drive
that served as the closing chapter of the
history of the fast Beverly bowl but he
still is the unassuming youngster he
was before he became the speed king
of speed kings, writes AL G. Wadden in
the San Francisco Chronicle.
When telephoned the youngster he
was just leaving for church. He was
going direct from church to the speed
way, where he was to meet the worlds
greatest drivers in fast competition. In
the list lined up against him were vet
Grams who had been winning champion
ship classics ever since Fengler was a
baby. There were former champions
and dare-deyils of the race course who
! had taught him to drive, but Fengler
was confident that he was going to win
/ the great race. He's wrote his mother
I to that effect few nights before the
race and when / talked to him just
previous to the contest, he told me in
all seriousness that he was going to
win.
Remarkable Confidence
Such confidence is remarkable, but
when man sells himself an idea about
a great victory he is hard man to
beat. Fortune favors the brave"
Fengler believes this, and fortune was
more than kind when the kid of the
speedway" won the worlds greatest mo-
tor car race and broke all existing speed
records for the, 25O-mile distance with
car that was sold for junk almost,
and less than year ago. +-
The story of Fengler's climb to fame
reads like Nick Carter or Horatio
Alger, Jr., and the story of his record
breaking race is good for Frank Mer-
riwell 5-reeler. In the first place,
Eengler used discs on his wheels and
was good for more than one-fifth of a
second more speed to the lap than the
rest of the drivers. The other 16 speed
stars discarded their front. wheel discs
on account of the high wind, but Feng-
gler disregarded the danger. He wanted
speed and, in the enthusiasm of youth,
gave no thought to the possibilities of
skid at high speed caused by a sud-
den gust Of wind coming over the high
railing fresh from the Pacific. In the
second place, Fengler had tuned his car
to speed that was believed impossible.
He has become a mechanician with the
uncanIiy ability to speed up a motor at
tributed to Jimmy Murphy only, in the
past two seasons +
The Car He Drove
The car that Fengler drove was origi-
nally built for Earl Cooper of San
Francisco to drive in the Indianapolis
500-mile race last May. 1t was one
of the fast mounts in the Durant fleet
taken to the indianapolis speedway last
spring by Cliff Durant, and it was one
of the fastest cars on the track during
practice. On-the day of the race Cooper
was relieved by Tom Alley soon after
the start and Alley wrecked the Durant
special less than 20 miles from the start.
= Cooper went with the Harry G. Stutz
racing outfit and the wreck was sold to
the late George L, Wade of Kansas
City. It was repaired and rechristened
the Wade special. Ralph de Palma
drove it in the July A Kansas City race,
where it fell victim to the De Palma
jinx, but young Fengler was nominated
as its pilot for. the next Kansas City
classic and there the young speed mer-
chant won his first contest.
That was October p, and Fengler
had never driven in competition until
May 30 of that same year. From the
moment Fengler took the wheel of the
Wade special he began to climb to fame
and fortune, and today he is at the
very top of the narrow pinnacle of
success where the kings of speed rule.