One month before the 1911 Indianapolis 500 Sweepstakes, the first cars and drivers for the starting field to come were published.
Text and jpegs by courtesy of hathitrust.org www.hathitrust.org, compiled by motorracinghistory.com
Motor Age, Vol. XIX, No. 17, April 27, 1911
More fast Cars For Speedway Race
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., April 24 – Four fast cars have been added since April 1 to the field which will start Memorial Day in the 500-mile international sweepstakes race at the Indianapolis motor speedway, Caleb Bragg will pilot a Fiat, becoming the team mate of David Bruce-Brown. The car which Bragg will drive will have 5.1-inch stroke and 5½-inch bore, with 487 cubic inches of piston displacement. Edward Parker will be the relief driver to take the car from Bragg in case he leaves the wheel before the end of the race.
Ralph Beardsley, of New Brunswick, N. J., has entered a Simplex, which comes within 3 cubic inches of the 600 cubic inch limit. Beardsley becomes the team mate of Ralph de Palma. The car which Beardsley will drive has 5¾-inch bore, 5¾-inch stroke, with a piston displacement of 597 cubic inches.
The other two additional entries are Mercer cars entered by the Mercer Auto mobile Co., of Trenton, N. J., to be driven by Hughie Hughes and Charles H. Bigelow. These cars are among the pigmies in the race, having but 300 cubic inches piston displacement, with 4 3/8-inch bore and 5-inch stroke.
The other cars which are entered in the race are Case, Inter State, National, Pope Hartford, Westcott, Stutz, Mercedes, Amplex, Fal, Knox, Buick, Benz, Alco, Mc-Farlan, Jackson, Cutting, Lozier, Firestone-Columbus, Marmon and Apperson. These cars will be handled by the following drivers: Strang, de Palma, Baldwin, Aitken, Disbrow, Fox, Knight, Jagersburger, Larsonneur, Anderson, Wishart, Turner, Pearce, Gelnaw, Belcher, A. Chevrolet, C. Basle, Hearne, Grant, Merz, Wilcox, Clemens, Adams, Ellis, Cobe, Tower, Delany, Van Gorder, Frayer, Rickenbacher, Dawson, Harroun, Mulford, Tetzlaff and Lytle. Ray Harroun has been named to drive the Marmon six-cylinder Wasp.
It is the plan of the speedway management to open the gates of the big race course at 5:30 o’clock in the morning, allowing the throng to get into the place before the race starts at 10 o’clock. Arrangements have been made for militia and police to cover the entire grounds and details for handling the crowd have been perfected, so that it is believed every visitor at the 2½-mile course will be accommodated without the trouble usually attendant in a crowd.
George Robertson, who recently announced his retirement from racing, has been named assistant starter. The method of starting the long race has been discussed much by racing experts and it is altogether probable that all of the cars will be started at one signal from the starter’s gun. They probably will be placed in rows about 75 to 100 feet apart, the different drivers drawing for their positions in the start. Starter Wagner will arrive in Indianapolis within the next few days, to take up the details.
Practice for the big event is on and several of the drivers are at the speed- way tuning their cars for the supreme test. Additional stands have been built at the speedway to accommodate the throng of visitors which is coming from all parts of the country, and more extensive plans have been made for this event than for any other in the history of motor racing. The details have been worked out to a nicety, and the entire system for handling the crowds has been perfected. The management of the speedway believes that it can take care of a multitude of people without the inconvenience which usually attends the assembling of large crowds.
While there are a great many special racing cars entered and many stock cars which have special equipment, there are some entries which will go into the contest with their regular stock cars. Among these is the Alco and Lozier team of three cars. The Lozier cars have been registered by the American Automobile Association as stock cars, and the drivers, Tetzlaff, Mulford and Van Gorder, will have certificates showing that each of their cars is absolutely stock. The Lozier company did this in order to prove the consistency of their regular stock models in racing.
Photo caption.
BOB BURMAN AND THE MASK HE WORE TO SHIELD HIS FACE FROM FLYING SAND AND WIND AT DAYTONA
