The May 1910 three-day program on the new bricked Speedway featured in all 42 races, ranging from 5 – 200 miles; quite a large number of short races. If that would please all spectators? But the competition ended without a major accident, this in contrast to last year. And, the brickyard clearly was faster, giving more spectacle.
Text and jpegs by courtesy of hathitrust.org www.hathitrust.org, compiled by motorracinghistory.com
The Horseless Age, Vol. 25, No. 25, June 1, 1910
Sport and Contests.
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Hoosier Speedway’s New Brick Surface Remarkably Fast.
Harroun Wins Wheeler-Schebler Trophy, Kincaid Captures Prest-O-Lite Event.
Giving the new brick surfacing of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway its first fair trial at both short and long distance racing, the initial meet of the season opened at that course with three days of speed contests, May 27, 28 and 30, and resulted in the breaking of numerous motordrome records and sensational driving-a most successful meet. The stars were Ray Harroun in a Marmon, who won the famous Wheeler & Schebler trophy; Kincaid, the National pilot, who captured the Prest-O-Lite trophy; Aitken in another National, who won several short distance races and a few championships; Caleb S. Bragg, the amateur, who worked brilliantly, while lesser honors went to Oldfield, Dawson, Arthur Greiner (amateur) and a number of others.
That the Hoosier city is enthusiastic over speedway racing was demonstrated by the attendance of fully 6,000 in the stands on Friday and about 20,000 Monday, and the interest in the carnival was kept up at all times. Two things marred the meet somewhat-the accident to Lytle on Saturday, when his American racer was smashed and he sustained a broken leg, and the predicted trouble relative to the stock car qualifications of certain entrants and their being ruled out at the opening. The latter action of Referee Pardington trimmed the program slightly, but he is to be commended for the unflinching attitude he took to give all a square deal, and also for the decisions he made the A. A. A. needs backbone, and here is some of it.
What caused the trouble in the first place was the ruling of the Contest Board declaring certain cars ineligible in stock car events, namely, the large Buicks, the Jack-ons and Lytle’s American, because their makers had not manufactured the required number to date. The respective team managers protested against the referee’s ruling, but Pardington maintained that the rules should be interpreted to the letter and stood firm. As a result, these cars were only able to enter free-for-alls or the class governed merely by piston displacement.
The brick surfacing not only proved very speedy, but it was also demonstrated that it is not as rough on tires as was anticipated, especially in the case of the smaller cars. The proportion of tube difficulties to the number of starters was small. Speaking of tires, the foremost contenders in the two chief events carried Michelin equipment, the first four cars in both Prest-O-Lite and Wheeler & Schebler trophy events driving to places on this make. During the meet twenty-five of twenty-eight events were won on Michelins, and Monday, the wind-up, saw eleven of the thirteen winners with this brand.
FRIDAY’S RACING.
Friday’s main event was, of course, the Prest-O-Lite Trophy race, which was won by Kincaid in 1 hour 43.12 seconds. Last year this trophy was won by the Buick, which did not have a chance to defend its title because of Referee Pardington’s ruling which barred out Chevrolet and Burman. The Westcott and two of the three Jacksons were out for the same reason. This left in the field Fox in the Pope-Hartford, Aitken, Kincaid and Merz in Nationals, Lynch in a Jackson, and Harroun and Dawson in Marmons. Aitken set the pace at the start.
In the sixth lap Fox in the Pope-Hartford was retired when a steering knuckle broke and caused the car to shoot from the track on the inside, landing with a broken wheel. He and his mechanician, however, were unhurt, and the whirl proceeded. Shortly after this, Aitken met with tire trouble and pulled up at the pits on the eleventh lap, and was followed by Kincaid and Merz, who were in a similar fix, which let Dawson snatch the lead at the 20 mile mark, nearly a minute to the good. Kincaid was next to last, the Jackson trailing. At 30 miles Harroun was the pacemaker, closely pursued by Dawson and Merz, while Kincaid was at the tail end. Inside the next 10 miles Harroun had to surrender his lead, pulling up at the pits in the fourteenth round to repair a valve tappet. While he was doing this, he lost three laps, and at 40 miles his teammate, Dawson, was making the running, the Nationals still fighting tire troubles. Kincaid was closest, but even he was 1 minute 18 seconds back of the leaders. The same order prevailed at the half century, which was turned in 40:28 by the Marmon. Dawson continued to pick up the odd seconds, and at 60 miles he was 2 minutes 18 seconds to the good, with Merz the runner up. At 70 miles the gap was even wider, Dawson having almost 4 minutes advantage over Kincaid, who had begun to get his second wind.
Dawson, however, just when victory seemed certain, „got it handed to him.“ He was two laps ahead when he had to stop at the pits for the first time, on the thirty-sixth lap. An examination disclosed the same trouble experienced by Harroun – valve tappets. The Marmons‘ hopes then went to smash, for neither Dawson nor Harroun figured in the fight from this point on. Harroun never got past 80 miles, and at 90 miles Kincaid had the lead, with Merz almost 2 minutes behind, while Lynch had caught Dawson. This order prevailed to the finish, the decision going to Kincaid in 83:43.12; Merz, second, in 85:44.15; Lynch, third, in 88:41.07, and Dawson, fourth, in 93:53.27.
Keen sport was provided in the 5-mile free for all for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Helmet, which carries with it a cash prize of $100 and a salary of $50 a week to the holder. This brought out a field including Harroun in the Marmon Six, Aitken in the National „70,“ Kincaid in the „60“ of the same make, Lytle in the American, Bragg in a Fiat „90,“ Kirscher in his Darracq, and Chevrolet and Burman, whose Buicks were barred in the stock chassis class. Bragg, the amateur, got the jump when the pistol cracked and secured a lead of 50 yards, shooting into the back stretch, with Burman hot after him. The race from this point on was between this pair, Bragg teasing Burman, who did not gain much on the amateur until the last lap. They pulled into the stretch, Bragg with three lengths lead, but the latter suddenly slowed down and Burman nailed him and got the helmet comfortably, with the Fiat coming home second. Bragg’s trouble at the slowing down point was with spark plugs. Burman’s time was 3:37.24 outside the record.
In the 231-300 class race at 10 miles Harroun in the four cylinder Marmon slashed the class record from 9:03.18 to 8:16.08, and showed the way home to Dawson in the other Marmon, while the Fox Pope-Hartford was third. Besides these three, Schiefer in a Jackson, Clark in a Cutting and Tinkler and Anderson in Marions started. The 5 mile for the 301-450 class saw a beautiful finish, in which Kincaid in a National „40“ just nipped Harroun at the tape, there being only 20-100 second between the two. Kincaid came from behind in the run home and deposed Harroun when he seemed to have things his way. Dawson in the other Marmon, Aitken and Merz in Nationals, and Lynch in a Jackson were the other starters.
The 451-600 class at 10 miles was a „National“ affair, Aitken, Kincaid and Wilcox in Nationals being the only ones to come out for the event, and they finished in this order. The affair was interesting because of the friendly rivalry existing between the drivers. It was Wilcox’s first race, he being Aitken’s mechanic. Aitken’s time was 8:25.09.
The free for all handicap and the 5 mile amateur brought Arthur Greiner, of Chicago, into prominence with his National. Greiner defeated Tousey in a National in the amateur event to the time of 4:09.03, and the pair in the handicap, which was at 5 miles, ran one, two, Greiner having thirty seconds and his mate thirty-five. There were thirteen starters in this, Greiner taking it in 5:44.09.
The 160 inches and under 5-mile race was called off because of a lack of entries, while the running of the 161-230 class at 5 miles was delayed while the Buick people were debating whether they would start their Model 10s after the Pardington decision involving the other members of the Buick family. However, when the starter’s whistle was blown Chevrolet and Burman were on the line, along with Frayer in a Fire- stone-Columbus, Edmunds and Endicott in Coles, and Miller in a Warren-Detroit. Chevrolet went away like a shot from a gun, and the result never was in doubt. That little Buick seemed to have wings, and it made the two circuits of the track in 4:41.77, which is record for the class. The Endicott Cole was the runner-up, while the Firestone came in for the small end of the purse.
In the mile trials, which opened the card, six cars had a whack at the mark, none touching it, the fastest being Bragg in the Fiat, who turned the distance in 0:39.50. Harroun in the Marmon Six was second, with 0:41.05; Kirscher in the Darracq did 0:43.38; Aitken in the National „70,“ 0:44.36; Lytle in the American, 0:46.05, and Kincaid in the National „60,“ 0:46.55.
The summary:
Ten Miles, cars of 231 to 300 inches piston displacement – Won by Harroun, Marmon; Dawson, Marmon, second; Fox, Pope-Hartford, third. Time, 8.16.08.
Five Miles, for cars of 301 to 450 inches displacement – Won by Kincaid, National; Dawson, Marmon, second; Harroun, Marmon, third. Time, 4.05.07.
Ten Miles, 451 to 600 displacement – Won by Aitken, National; Kincaid, National, second; Wil- cox, National, third. Time, 8.25.09.
Five Miles, 161 to 230 displacement – Won by Chevrolet, Buick; Endicott, Cole, second; Frayer, Firestone, third. Time, 4.41.07.
Five Miles, free-for-all, amateurs – Won by Greiner, National; Tousey, National, second. Time, 4.09.03. Only two starters.
Five Miles, free-for-all – Won by Burman, Buick; Bragg, Fiat, second; Harroun, Marmon, third. Time, 3.37.04.
Five Miles, free-for-all, handicap – Won by Greiner, National, scratch; Tousey, National, 35 seconds, second; Green, Stoddard-Dayton, scratch, third. Time, 5.44.09.
100 Miles – Won by Kincaid, National; Merz, National, second; Lynch, Jackson, third; Dawson, Marmon, fourth; Harroun, Marmon, fifth. Time, 1.23.43.
SATURDAY’S RACING.
The feature of the meet came with the second day’s speeding, for it evolved a first leg winner for the magnificent Wheeler & Schebler Trophy, which is worth about $10,000 – the most costly ever offered for any sort of sporting event. This was put up at the 1909 Speedway inaugural, but the race was stopped owing to accident when Lynch in a Jackson was leading. The first leg on the cup was decided when Ray Harroun in the Marmon Wasp covered the 200 miles in 2:46:31, at an average speed of more than 73 miles an hour, vanquishing a rare field, which numbered some of the fastest machines now racing. Banking on Michelin tires, he covered the entire distance on one set without the least trouble. There were nineteen starters, four of which finished, and seven others were still running when the judges flagged the race. Leigh Lynch in the Jackson took second honors, and Aitken in a National, third. No accidents marred the contest, the only trouble being when Oldfield lost a tire on his Knox and drove 2 miles on a bare rim.
Having as eligibles cars in class E of 600 cubic inches or less, with a minimum weight of 2,300 pounds, the Wheeler & Schebler race brought out a star field, including a trio of Marmons, driven by Harroun, Keene and Dawson; three Jacksons, with Lynch, Ellis and Schweitzer up; three Buicks, two of them the new big models driven by Chevrolet and Burman, and the other a 16 B Model, with Arthur Chevrolet as pilot; four Nationals, driven by Aitken, Kincaid, Kirscher and Merz; three Cuttings, with Clarke, Bisbee and Gelnaw driving; a Pope-Hartford handled by Fox; a Knox „Six,“ with Oldfield in the seat, and a Westcott, driven by Endicott. The four that finished were the Marmon „Six,“ the Lynch Jackson, the Aitken National and the Chevrolet Buick. The Pope had completed 78 laps; the Knox and Kirscher Nationals, 77; the Merz National and the Clarke Cut- ting, 76; Ellis‘ Jackson, 75; the Bisbee Cut- ting, 68, and the Keene Marmon, 52. For light newcomers in the game, the Cutting trio did splendidly against the veterans.
At the pistol’s report Arthur Chevrolet jumped out and set up a dizzy pace, and the rest of the field bunched, his brother Louis, Harroun and Kincaid setting after him in a lively fashion. Harroun, running comfortably, crept up yard by yard and at the 10 mile post was only 4 seconds behind the leader. Harroun took Chevrolet’s measure carefully, and at the 15 mile mark shot by him at the tape. From that time on the Marmon remained pacemaker and was never headed.
Arthur Chevrolet, however, was no „quitter,“ and was only 9 seconds behind Harroun at the 20 mile distance, with Aitken in third place. About the thirtieth mile Aitken dropped back, relinquishing third to Kirscher in the National, who had replaced Tousey, the amateur. This, however, was as near as Kirscher ever got to the top.
Forty miles saw Harroun and Dawson in the Marmon Wasps and A. Chevrolet running one, two, three, while Lynch gradually worked up in a fourth position. Harroun at this stage had a lead over his teammate of more than 3½ minutes, and soon the Marmonite lapped his field, running with remarkable steadiness.
It was shortly after this that the Dawson Marmon was forced out of the race when it had so good a position. Dawson went off the track on the back stretch and the mishap dished his front wheels and caused his retirement. Kincaid in a National also dropped out with a cracked cylinder.
The half century order was Harroun, A. Chevrolet and Fox in the Pope. Harroun was more than 4 minutes to the good and running calmly, while the Pope-Hartford man was battling hard to overhaul Chevrolet, there being only 24 seconds between them. From this stage on there was little to vary the monotony of the long grind, the interest being centred in the fight for second, in which the contenders were Lynch in the Jackson, Arthur Chevrolet in the Buick, and Fox in the Pope-Hartford. Lynch was running determinedly and at the end of the forty-third lap, when Harroun stopped at the pits, Lynch plucked up fresh hope. Harroun, however, merely stopped to take on fuel and oil, and while the Marmon lost a lap it was soon plowing away again. At 130 miles Lynch was the runner up, but the next 10 shifted him back to third and gave the place to Arthur Chevrolet, who stayed there for some time. L. Chevrolet’s Buick had to retire with a broken piston. Lynch regained third place at 170 miles, and stayed there to the end. At 180 miles Chevrolet had dropped still further, and it was evident after several stops at the pits that he was out of it. Aitken stepped into his shoes, and when the finish came it showed Harroun two laps to the good, with the other finishers, Lynch, Aitken and Chevrolet, in the order named. Harroun had slowed considerably in the latter part of the race. Up to 150 miles he had averaged 75.6 miles an hour, the last 50 was at so slow a clip that his general average for the grind was cut to 73.05 miles an hour.
Aitken, who was third, did not drive a 60 horsepower National, as some reports had it. A 40 horsepower model was sub stituted for the 60 by permission of the referee.
When the race was over it was 7 p. m, which caused the postponement of the class D free for all, and the amateur race was abandoned because only Greiner and Tousey were ready.
The time trials at 1 mile were won by Bragg in the Fiat; the 301-450 class 10 mile was taken by Aitken in the National; the 451-600 10 mile stock chassis captured by Oldfield in the Knox, and the 10 mile class D free for all handicap went to Wilcox in a National, who had 50 seconds handicap.
In the latter handicap the one unfortunate accident of the meet occurred, that of Herbert Lytle, the dean of the racing driv ers, who has been so unlucky recently. His American skidded on the upper turn, throwing the driver and William Clifton, the mechanician, when it plunged into the sand at the pole. Lytle’s leg was badly fractured, but the mechanician was uninjured. The car, upon investigation, was found to have a bent steering knuckle and a broken front wheel. The accident will probably mean Lytle’s permanent retirement from speed contests.
With the American out of the event the race was left to Wilcox in a National, Lynch in a Jackson and Clark in the Cutting; Oldfield, who started from scratch, and the others in a field of twenty, being outclassed. An obstacle race that was something out of the ordinary saw six Overland testing cars as competitors. This race consisted of placing on the track two huge wooden inclines, up which the cars had to climb. One was in front of the grand stand and the other by the bleachers. The struggle was won by Myers and was enjoyed by the spectators.
The time trials at 1 mile followed, but the record was not broken in this, the time not being as fast as that of the previous day. Again Bragg in the Fiat proved the speediest, his time being 0:41.03, with Kirscher in the Darracq second, with 0:41.83, and Harroun in the Marmon third, with 0:42.37.
A most spirited finish came in the 10 mile race for 301-450 stock chassis cars, in which Aitken nipped Harroun right at the tape after making a magnificent run from the rear, while Merz in another National was right at the Marmon’s rear wheels. Aitken came so fast at the end that he made Harroun gasp when the big blue car whizzed by him in 8:08. Oldfield won the 451-600 class of 5 miles against Aitken and Merz in Nationals in 4:05.2.
The summaries:
Two- and One-half-Mile Hurdle Race-Won by Myers, Overland; McGee, Overland, second; Gregg, Overland, third. Time, 3:38.
One Mile Time Trials – Bragg, Fiat, time 0:41; Kirscher, Darracq, time 0:41.8; Harroun, Mar- mon, time 0:42.37.
Ten Miles, cars of 301 to 450 cubic inches piston displacement – Won by Aitken, National; Harroun, Marmon, second; Merz, National, third, Time, 8:08.
Five Miles, cars of 451 to 600 cubic inches piston displacement – Won by Oldfield, Knox; Herz, National, second; Aitken, National, third. Time, 4:03.2.
200 Miles, cars of 600 inches piston displacement or less – Won by Harroun, Marmon; Lynch, Jackson, second; Aitken, National „40,“ third. Time, 2:46:31.
MONDAY’S RACING.
Getaway day, with a crowd of 20,000 present, resulted in record smashing, when the national stock car championships were run. In eight of these events titles were fairly evenly divided between Aitken, Harroun, Dawson and Oldfield. Dawson in his Marmon succeeded in clipping nearly 44 seconds from the 5 mile speedway record for the 231-300 class, when he covered the distance in 4:41.03. Louis Chevrolet made an equally big cut in the 10 mile 161-230 class with his Buick, when he covered 10 miles in 9:03.06. Oldfield brought the 5 mile mark for 451-600 class down to 4:01.03 and won the 10 mile in the same class in 7:50.75 with his Knox. Aitken in a National set up a new record for 10 miles in the 301-450 class in 7:57.01, breaking the former record of this class held by Kincaid in 8:08. Aiken also won the 5 mile 301-450 class in 4:06.07. Harroun was credited with the 231-300 class championship at 10 miles in 9:25.03.
While Harroun was trying for a record and hitting a 90 mile an hour clip the sensation of the day occurred when a tire burst on his big Yellow Jacket racer and the car mounted the outside wall, tearing a deep furrow in the cement, and slid along the wall for 50 feet. Harroun stuck to the wheel until the car dropped to the track, where he jumped clear of the wreckage.
Harroun in his Marmon earlier in the day won the 50 mile race in the fast time of 42:41, bettering his former record for American speedways of 44:48, held by himself and made at Atlanta, Ga., although this does not equal the board track record.
Dawson, his teammate, was second, and Fox, in a Pope-Hartford, third. Harroun led practically throughout the contest.
Caleb S. Bragg, the Fiat amateur, won three free for all events, which were dis- tinct from the championships, trimming some of the strongest professionals – a 10 mile in 7:02, another in 7:21.09; 5 miles in 3:34.09.
In his 200 horsepower Benz, Oldfield broke the 1-mile American speedway record, getting over the ground in 0:35.06. which is faster than the record of 0:36.22 made by the same driver at the Los Angeles board track last April. He also made a new kilometer mark of 0:21.45.
The summary:
Five Mile Championship, for cars of 231 to 300 cubic inches piston displacement – Won by Dawson, Marmon; Harroun, Marmon, second; Anderson, Marion, third. Time, 4:41.3.
Ten Mile Championship, for cars of 161 to 230 cubic inches piston displacement – Won by L. Chevrolet, Buick; Burman, Buick, second; Frayer, Firestone, third. Time, 9:03.6.
Ten Mile Championship, for cars of 231 to 300 cubic inches piston displacement – Won by Harroun, Marmon; Dawson, Marmon, second; Clark, Cutting, third. Time, 9:25.3.
Five Mile Championship, for cars of 451 to 600 cubic inches piston displacement – Won by Old- field, Knox; Aitken, National, second; Kincaid, National, third. Time, 4:01.3.
Five Mile Championship, for cars of 301 to 450 cubic inches piston displacement – Won by Aitken, National; Kincaid, National, second; Merz, National, third. Time, 4:06.7.
Ten Mile Championship, for cars of 451 to 600 cubic inches piston displacement – Won by Oldfield, Knox; Merz, National, second; Kincaid, National, third. Time, 7:50.75.
Ten Mile Championship, for cars of 301 to 450 cubic inches piston displacement – Won by Aitken, National; Kincaid, National, second; Merz, Na tional, third. Time, 7:57.1.
Ten Miles, Free for All – Won by Bragg, Fiat; Kincaid, National, second; Greiner, National, third. Time, 7:21.9.
Five Miles, Free for All – Won by Bragg, Fiat; Kirscher, Darracq, second; Aitken, National, third. Time, 3:34.9.
Five Miles, Free for All, Handicap – Won by Reed, Stoddard-Dayton, 51 seconds; Tousey, National, 54 seconds, second; Aitken, National, 27 seconds, third. Time, 3:38.6.
Ten Miles – Won by Bragg, Fiat; Kirscher, Darracq, third. Time, 7:02.
Fifty Miles, for cars of 231 to 300 cubic inches piston displacement – Won by Harroun, Marmon; Dawson, Marmon, second; Fox, Pope-Hartford, third. Time, 42:41.
Photo captions.
Page 825 – 828.
HARROUN LEADING FIELD IN A LIVELY FINISH.
LYNCH (JACKSON) SECOND IN 200 MILE EVENT.
HARROUN IN THE MARMON, WHEELER & SCHEBLER TROPHY WINNER.
STARTING THEM IN THE 100 MILE RACE FRIDAY.
KINCAID IN NATIONAL, WHO WON 100 MILE PREST-O-LITE TROPHY EVENT.
CLOSE FINISH IN A TEN MILE EVENT. JOHN AITKEN, A NATIONAL WINNER IN CHAMPIONSHIPS AND OTHER EVENTS
