Evening star., 1933-05-21
RACERS OPINIONS
VARY FOR MAY 90
Drivers Confident of Breaking
Records, While Officials
Doubt Chances.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
DETROIT, May 20.-Speed as op-
posed to new rules Is likely to be the
| deciding factor in the Indianapolis
500-mile race of 1898. scheduled as
usual for May 80. Drivers and de-
signers of the racing cars are reasonably
confident the record Of 104.144 miles
an hour set last year can be exceeded.
Oficialdom, however, expresses q diff
fering opinion. The new fuel rule linn
iting gasoline tanks to IS gallons ca
been framed to necessitate at least three
pit stops for every car while the race
! Is in progress.
The racers average about so gallons
OF gasoline during the five-hour period.
and the tank restriction has been de-
| creed to give the contest more action
for drivers, the mechanics who ride
with them. the pit crews who serve
them and for the spectators as well.
New Record Held Unlikely.
According to w. D. Edenburn, chief
steward of the A. A. A. Contest Board,
who has handled every race on the
speedway since 1918, the chances are
against breakage Of the 1882 record,
unless the cars show suficient speed
increase over last year to overcome
the handicap.
II may be wrong" he added. "but
given an otherwise perfect performance.
the car that requires the fewest stops
under these conditions will have the
best chance to win. 1t all will depend
on how much the speed has improved
from that of year ago. In the 1882
race, Fred Frame, who won in the
Miller-Hertz Special, made seven stops
in all, but most Of them were very
short and not suff1cient to keep the
car from setting q new mark"
Ralph De Palma, veteran pilot, who
Is on the inactive list this year. takes
a contrary view. with progress made
in both engines and fuels" he says,
'the boys should be able to push the
cars faster than they have ever done
have become better acquainted with
the conditions that the two-man cars
have brought about"
In view Of this situation. even q
period Of seconds any entry has to
sacrifice in refueling may mean the
difference between win or lose. Speed
in refllling the gasoline tanks will be
essential, and the pit crews may have
recourse to the "air bottle" method Of
forcing the gas into the tanks instead
Of pouring it in from cans. Compressed
air is let into the gas container through
hose and Is made to exert pressure
that speeds up the operation.
AZ Cars to Start.
The fact that 1888 has brought 81
cars up for the trials, scheduled to
start on May 20 and to continue until
May 20. indicates that depression has
interfered but little with the racing
interest. Only AZ cars can start and
they will be the fastest that qualify
from t..c entry group. Qualification
now calls for minimum speed Of 100
miles an hour for IS miles as compared
with the 1o-mile -four laps) distance
Of former years.
The eight-cylinder jobs predominate
Forty of them have been nominated.
Thirteen others have four cylinder en-
gines which, with three 16-cylinder
power plants. complete the known
power classification. For the remain
der, no power plant data Is disclosed
on the entry sheet. 1t may be noted
as well that no skies have been listed.
The front drive division consists of
nine cars. All but one of the remain
ing list are rear driven cars. 1t Is q
four wheel drive job that competed last
year unsuccessfully. This car also
has its wheels independently sprung.
The entries for which stock car
origin may be designated as distinct
from the Specials" which are purely
racing machines, count up to 19. They
include 10 Studebakers, Hudsons,
2 Fords-one four and the other q
new V-8-2 Bucks, Graham-Paige
and / Chrysler. Two others are Mar
mon 'tsixteens"
The Specials" whose lineage can
be traced represent IL Miller power
plants and six more that are Duesen-
bergs Of recent and past years. Fred
s. Duesenberg, whom death took away
from racing last year, will have the
family tradition carried along by his
son, Danny, who is too young to drive
but has a car entered under the family
name.
1888 Driving Talents.
The best of the driving talent sched-
uled to perform includes Fred Frame,
victor Of a year ago; L. L. Corum.
Lou Meyer, Louis Schneider and Billy
Arnold, all of whom have previous wins
to their credit. Cliff Bergere Is slated
to captain the Studebaker team, which
will consist Of five cars. The Stude-
baker factory has elected to follow up
its advantage gained year ago when
cars Of this make were placed third
and sixth. Russell Snowberger, who
piloted a Hupp last year, will be at
the wheel of a rebuilt Studebaker en-
tered under his own name
Chet and Al Miller are programmed
to take two Hudsons placed in the
raced by Buddy" Mari.
The pilots Of this season include Bill
Cummings. Egbert Stapp, william
Canton. Ernie Triplett, Phil Shafer,
Ira Hall, Lou Moore, Deacon Litz,
Leon Duray and H. w. Stubblefield
One lone foreign entrant Is Juan
Guadino, the South American, who will
have Raoul Riganti to alternate with
him.
Harry Hartz. now retired, who has
gained repute as a winning owner and
track coach Of his own entries, will
master mind" two Miller -sngined
jobs that will exemplify streamlIning
initiating lines and aerodynamic princi-
Piles adapted from Sir Malcolm Camp
bells "Bluebird" as 1t was driven over
the Daytona Beach sands this year to
set 254 miles an hour as a new world
mark for straightaway
The Studebaker five-car group, 1t Is
intimated, also will try the streamlin-
ing idea in new way to lessen wind
resistance.
Copyright. 1893. bv North American News
paper Alliance, Inc1