Evening star., 1954-06-01
Speedway
Continued from Page A-150

Bryan was hardly a car length
behind him at that point.
McGrath reported later he was
forced to abandon the torrid
pace because Of magnetic trouble.
He said he was faced with the
choice of spending time in the
pit while the part was changed
or giving up the all-out speed.
Brian, on the other hand,
drove the final 70 laps with
broken shock abSorberS and the
vibration left him sick and ex-
hausted. Hovering near uncon-
sciousness for about five minutes,
he finally summoned strength to
quip: "You know, this is harder
than working for a living!"
Leaders Change frequently.
The pace ate up tires and fuel,
not to mention drivers. and a
furry of pit stops produced eight
different leader changes up to
375 miles, where Vukovich got
ahead of Bryan during one Of
the latter's pit stops and stayed
in front till the end.
Jimmy Daywalt, later involved
in a spectacular accident, led
eight laps; McGrath. SO; Bryan,
As; Sam Hanks of Burbank,
Calf. one, and Art Cross Of La
Porte, Ind, runnerup to Vuko-
vich last year, two.
Daywalt hit the northwest
wall. II laps past the midway
point of the race. and bounced
of into Jim Rathmann's car. in
which Pat Flaherty Of Glendale,
Calf. was driving relief. Neither
driver was hurt but the yellow
"slow down" light was on II
minutes.
Rathmann, a Chicagoan now
living in Miami, took over Hanks
car after a rest and performed
a rubber burning 1,000-foot skid
down the main straightaway.
Other accidents which slowed
the race a total of 81 minutes
and 8 secondhand still failed
to prevent the first three fin
ishers from breaking Troy Rutt-
mans 1852 record speed of
1892 m.p.h.-involved Rutt-
man himself, Eddie Johnson of
Cuyahoga Falls. Ohio. and Bill
Hometer of Pacoima. Calf.
None Of them was hurt.
Webb Suffers Only Injury.
In the seventh straight 500
without a fatality. Spider Webb
of Dayton, Ohio, suffered the
only injury-an arm burned on
his exhaust pipe.
Pat O'Connor, q rookie from
North Vernon, Ind, spun of
the track uninjured when a dust
storm broke with less than so
miles remaining between Vuko-
vich and victory. The worst of
the storm, which dumped almost
an inch Of hail a couple of
miles south of the track. passed
by but Vukovich was able to
coast and save his tires for over
IL minutes. The whole field took
it easy during gusts up to IS
miles an hour.
Weather, pit stops and all
taken into consideration, the fact
that Vukovich has led
436 of the 900 laps in the last
three Memorial Day races. And
when Bryan began to press him
near the 400-mile mark yester-
day, Vuky grabbed the wheel a
little tighter and increased his
lead from 20 to 40 seconds in
about 30 miles.
Drives Shift in Is Cars.
1t was a hot day, although
not as bad as last years scorch-
er in which Driver Carl Scar
borough died of heat exhaustion.
Drivers shifted in Is cars yes
terday and the fourth-place fin
Usher was driven by both
Ruttman, Salem, Ind. and
Duane Carter, Speedway City,
Ind.
In the money were Mike Naza-
ruk, North Bellmore, N. Y, fifth;
Fred Agabashian, Albany. Calf,
sixth: Don Freeland. Los An
geles. seventh: Paul Russo,
Hammond. Ind, and Relief
Driver Jerry Hoyt, Indianapolis,
eighth; Rookie Larry Crockett,
Columbus. Ind. ninth, and Cal
Niday. Pacoima. Calf. 10th.