Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-21
BY G.. WILLIAM DUNCAN.

- killed in action.
And the grim specter of Death Is
laughing In triumph. For 1t stood,
siivery shadow on the sidelines,
whispering: Drive on. Ray: HI get you."
Ray kept driving and Death got him.
A wave Of the hand. o ANAL salute before
the start Of the dash into eternity. was his
farewell signal to his wife. Several hours be.
fore, he had told her he was feeling ON"
and was wishing for rain"
But the fascination Of Americas most dam
gerous sport lured him on. and he met his
death near the end OF O 20O-miie race at the
Altoona Speedway last month after having
led o field by brilliant driving through three
quarters of the event. A pile-up OF four OF
the cars ON the east turn Of the mile-and-a.
quarter wood oval ended the career OF the man
who this year won the indianapolis Speedway
Memorial day classic and ON April II OF last
year won the worlds speed record at Daytona
Beach, Fla, by driving more than 2O7H2 miles
an hour.
Freddy Winnai, daring young Philadelphia
driver. who finished fifth I'm the indianapolis
classic this year. was among the drivers Who
participated in the Altoona race where Keech
met his death. They were friends and were
together on the Friday night preceding the
event. Here Is his story:
Ray and drove out to the track at TIP
ton the night before the race" said Winnai
23-year-old youngster. II had been out be-
fore that and Ray asked me about its con-
dtion told him 1t was a little Sticky he
said: IT'S tricky track. and you BE- careful!
kid, because it's your first time on it,
THAT night Ray said nothing to me about
feeling that things weren't going to 60 right
for him In the race He got up at O'Clock
and I got up ct Q. / didn't see him until we
were in the pits. and there noticed him, look
ing steadily at the ground, evidently worrying
about something. He didn't seem to be him
self.
Later learned that he told Carl Hess,
piston ring salesman that he felt uneasy ana
that he wished 1t would rain.
IT was near him at the drivers meeting
which was held before the race began. There
the referee gave US final instructions, mostly
on cars passing one another. The cars run
ming slow are supposed to stay down low,
leaving the lanes open for fast cars at the
ton. speed Of IFS miles an hour Is con-
sidered slow.
AFTER the meeting Ray and shook hands
with each other. OF course. that was our
farewell.
SsCHoRTLY before the accident the ma
~ chimes were going around the oval az
100 miles an hour. Bob Robinson's car struck
a hole in the track and shot toward the rail-
ing. 1t slid down into the infeld directly
into the path Of the roaring Simplex, WIN
Keech at the wheel. Keech, riding high, tried
to avert the crash and failed. Newspaper ac-
counts said he crashed into RObinsons car,
but I think he hit hole bounced into the
air, hit a guard rail and turned turtle. keech
was thrown out Woodbury. hit Keechs car
and wrecked It, Lou Meyer hit Woodbury.
car. wrecking his own machine. Then Dave
Evans hit the guard rail. That's what hap
pened as I saw It. 1t all happened In flash.
THAT was the most thrilling race l was
ever In, because thought was surely going
over, too