Evening star., 1925-06-28
Continued from Fifth Page.)


of automobile racing has been thu
Vanderbilt cup race. engendered b.
the enthusiasm w. K. Vanderbilt. jr.
brought away from his performance
at Ormond. The first race was run
October 8, 1904 over a distance o
2S4.4 miles. For three consecutive
years they were won by foreign cars
and il remained for the fourth race
at Long Island. October "a. 1908, to bs
won by an American driver, George
Robertson, in a Locomobile. Names
which are watchwords to racing fol
lowers appear in the galaxy of win
ners of the Vanderbilt cup. Ralph
De Palma, Ralph milford and Darlt
Resta were among those who finished
first in the great American motor
classic.
Another great motor racing feature
was the Grand Prize cup of the Auto
mobile Club of America. which passed
out of competition after IL years al
Santa Monica. California, November
IS, 1916. when Resta averaged Sbs
miles an hour. The Grand Prize race
was run over a distance slightly III
excess of 400 miles. Only once in Its
history did an American car win, and
that was when Eddie Pullen in a
Mercer finished first in 1914. With
the passing of the classic sponsored
by the Automobile Club of America
also went the annual Vanderbilt cup
race. run for the last time nine
years ago.
Gives Way to Speedway" Features.
Road racing gave way to the now
popular speedway features. The nrst
of American speedways was built al
Indianapolis in 1909. the present DERBY
of the motor race courses. Inc track
at Indianapolis was fixed at 212 miles,
and the first surface was OF macaaam
This would not stand the strain OF the
race. and after the opening meet this
surface was torn up and paving brlck
substituted.
In 1911 promoters of the Indian
apolis track staged their first 5OO-mlle
race for a purse Of $4,000. a huge
sum at that time. Its popularity has
increased until 1T is looked upon as
one of the foremost sporting features
of the year.
The indianapolis track was followed
by others. many of which have since
passed into the discard. OF those re-
naming are the tracks at Kansas city,
Fresno, Calf: Altoona, Pa; Charlotte.
\. c.. and Culver City, Calf. Four
teen tracks have been dismantled be-
cause their immense overhead made
that disappeared for this reason were
Sheepshead Bay. n. Y: Cincinnati,
Ohio; Minneapolis. Mimi; Los Angeles
beverly Hills), Calf; Chicago, H.:
Omaha, Nebr.: Des Moines, Iowa;
Tniontown, Pa: Sioux City. Iowa;
Santa Rosa (CotatD. Calf; Tacoma,
Wash, and Atlanta, Ga.
The history Of motor racing has
been made by the men who have pilot
CT &.
Dates are significant, records are IN
teresting but the source of that secure
grasp motor racing has on the minds
of it's myriads of devotees lies in the
slightly designed racing car and its
gritty driver. 1t is the case of the CEN
taur translated into modern sport.
The one without the other seemingly
is out of place.
Typical Racing Automobile.
First a glance at a typical racing
automobile. 1t is little more than
roadster stripped of all but the essen
tials. 1t frequently is tapered at the
rear and sloped off at the hood to
provide the needed absence of wind
resistance in travelling at high speed.
Wheels are set wide apart to hold
the road" The hood is long, rising
slightly at the drivers seat. The
driver is seated low at the wheel.
A common misconception is that rae
ing automobiles are huge cars with
giant motors that go snorting over the
course like great engines of destruc-
ton. Nothing could be farther from
the facts. The cars are small and light.
The engines are surprisingly small.
with tiny cylinders that make a fiiv-
ver'S equipment look like that Of a
good-sized truck by comparison.
Piston displacement in racing en-
gines has been lowered steadily, and
with this development has come the
rising tide of speed. Ray Harroun won
the first Indianapolis 500-mile race
in 1911 with a six-cylinder engine
having a piston displacement of 447.10
cubic inches. That is nearly four
times the displacement of the engines
that crossed the finish lines in the last
three annual features. The piston dis
placement now is but a fraction over
120 cubic inches, making an engine
size one-third less than that of a
Ford car.
Motor Car Development Goes On.
It should be noted that with the
progress Of the speedy sport has gone
the continuous development of the
motor car. An automobile that can
stand the telling pace of ESQ or 500
miles must be superior product.
Blowouts must be made wellnigh i'm
possible, engines must be manufac-
tured to stand up" under the strain.
And If they don't, well, there's more
than engineering interest in the fail
ure for one man in the race. Automo-
bile racing has proved the practical
proof of any laboratory tests that may
be tried. There is no theory, no may
be so" to a race of a couple hundred
mil 10 aI-i6anoo rf q ho y-r
drive is illustrated. 1t cannot be
disputed. That is the reason why mo-
tor engineers follow the automobile
races, particularly the events at the
Observation-Disclosures