The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-05-29
PITS ID PROVE REAL HELP TO
 AUTO RACE KING
New Restrictions on GasO- line in Force at Tndiana-
 polls Tomorrow
By JOHN L. CUTTER United Press Stan Correspondent

united RregB Stan COrTeSpOn0emt
 Indianapolis, May 2g-(UP)-Al- though cars and drivers will grind out 800 miles in 8 little less than four hours over Indianapolis Motor Speedway's bricks tomorrow, the 24th annual Memorial day race will be won in the pits, c majority of the contestants believe.
 Two factors are responsible for the rising esteem for the pits-a series of unromantic concrete stalls at the inside edge of the track along the main stretch of the two and one-haf mile oval. They are:
 l. Revisions to the four turns pro- viding maximum safety at greater speeds than ever before attempted.
 2. Reduction of a gasoline allow ance to 37 1-2 gallons for the grind.
 The improved turns encourage the drivers to push their machines to speeds at which the powerful little motors gulp the fuel supply.
 Must Watch Gasoline
 While the drivers concentrate ev. cry faculty on keeping the pace in the fastest company in the world, it will be the job of the pit handlers to hold them within limits they are sure will conserve enough gasoline for the closing rush toward the fin- ish line.
 As result of the new fuel restric- tions, five gallons less than was per- mitted for the 1895 race, opinion among the drivers is divided almost equally as to whether this years event will produce 8 new record for the 500 miles.
 Kelly Petillo, smiling little Italian American who took his driving les- sons piloting truckloads of perish- able fruit across Rocky Maintain passes, set a record of 106.885 miles an hour in winning last years race.
 Cocksure young drivers whose creed is push your foot to the floor and go" are confident they can beat that mark.
 Older heads, especially those mechanical engineers who build their own machines and have a greater respect for the fuel limita- tons are not so sure.
 DePalma Sponsors Youth In keeping with the greater im- portance of the pit management. the 1886 race sees the return of one of the outstanding drivers of two dec- ades ago-Ralph DePalma, retired now to engineering. He brings 8 newcomer, Henry Banks, 24, Royal Oak, Mich.
 Harry Cotton" Henning, prob- ably the most publicized of the me- chanics, will supervise the pits of three of the pre-race favorites, the entrants of Mike Boyle, Chicago sportsman.
 The cars Henning will direct will be driven by Bill Cummings, Indi- anapolis, winner of the 1884 race, and Al Miller and Chet Miller, both of Detroit but no relation and both ranked with the most consistent of conservative pilots.
 Harry Hartz, Los Angeles auto- mobtive genius whose luck in the speedway race has won him the designation as "the greatest second money winner of all time," will guide Ted Horn, Los Angeles, another newcomer.
 Petillo, who assembled the win- ming car for 1895 with an assort- ment of parts, has withdrawn from active competition but will coach from the sideline while George Doc" Mckenzie, E0idngton, Pa, does the driving.
 Speed Above 100 Per
 Regardless of gasoline limitations and the more conservative ideas of the pit managers, speed over 100 miles an hour probably will be me- cessary to win the race.
 Peter DePaolo, the winner in 1925, was the first to finish hte 500 miles in less than five hours. Speeds dropped down after that until 1930 when Billy Arnold, a heavy-footed youngster, grabbed the champion ship at 10O.44 miles an hour.
 The following year Lou Schneider won with only 96.62 average. Split seconds separated the winning speeds during the next three years. Fred Frame won in 1892 with 104.14 Louis Meyer copped the crown the next year. his second. with 104.16. Cummings averaged 104.86 to win in 1884.
 The slowest speed to win the race was 74.59, made by Ray Harroun, Indianapolis, Tn a Marmon in 1911, the first running.
 The starting field tomorrow will consist of B cars, the fastest of a field of 50 original entrants. To quail ify for the race, the cars had to make 25 miles 10 laps 10 the two and one-half mile track-at an av- craze of 100 miles an hour or bet- ter using not more than two and one-half gallong of fuel.