Text and photos compiled by motorracingistory.com, with courtesy of hathitrust.org / Digital Library, USA.
MOTOR AGE Vol. XXVII, No. 22 Chicago, June 3, 1915 $3.00 Per Year
Lap-by-Lap Story of Ralph de Palma’s Spectacular Victory
How the 1915 500-Mile Classic Was Run and Won
Strategic Moves on the Oval Chess-board of Speed in their Consecutive Order
– Intimate Strife Between Drivers and Machines – Wheel-to-Wheel and Hood-to-Hood Side of Marathon Movie Reeled off at 89.84 Miles Per Hour, with its Attendant Brushes in which Men were Masters of Mechanism Graphically Shown
By Harry A. Tarantous
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., May 31 – Nine-fifty o’clock and in 10 more minutes the fifth annual international sweepstakes will be on. The cars are lined up for the start. The drivers are massed under the starter’s bridge as the clicking cameras close the preliminaries that always precede the Homeric chase for $50,000 in prize money.
Far down the home stretch are the mechanical contenders from four nations- America, France, England and Germany. They are lined up in six rows, as follows:
First row-Stutz, Wilcox; Mercedes, de Palma; Peugeot, Resta; Stutz, Cooper.
Second row-Stutz, Anderson; Sunbeam, Porporato Peugeot, Burman; Kleinart, Klein.
Third row – Duesenberg, Alley; Sunbeam, Grant; Duesenberg, O’Donnell; Peugeot, Babcock.
Fourth row – Delage, J. de Palma; Sunbeam, Van Raalte; Sebring, Cooper; Maxwell, Carlson.
Fifth row – Maxwell, Orr; Duesenberg, Mulford; Maxwell, Rickenbacher; Mais, Mais.
Sixth row – Purcell, Cox; Bugatti, Hill; Cornelian, Chevrolet; Emden, Haupt.
The Flying Start
The first bomb is sent up and the drivers crank their cars. Timer Ricker is calling off the minutes. The motors are barking loudly. It is beginning to drizzle, and the drivers are expecting a slippery track.
Timer Ricker now is calling off the seconds to Carl Fisher, who, in a Packard six, is to lead the drivers around the track for the initial lap. Five more seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1 and down goes the handkerchief, the signal to the pacemaker that the fifth annual 500-mile race is on.
Fisher is leading a merry pace around the track for the first lap, the fastest ever set by the pacemaker. Fisher is coming down the stretch close to the pole and pulls in so the drivers may pass. Wilcox in a Stutz is in the lead, followed by Resta and de Palma. The field is bunched.
Resta now is jockeying with Wilcox on the second lap and takes the lead by a hood length. He is followed closely by de Palma, Cooper, Anderson and Rickenbacher. Wilcox now is taking the lead on the third lap around, Resta and Cooper trailing him.
Three, four, five laps around and Ander- son is leading. He is maintaining his ad- vantage nicely and is finishing his twenty- fifth mile, the rest of the field giving him a merry chase. The first car to go to the pits is the Mais, Mais driving.Anderson in Lead
Anderson is still holding the lead in the thirtieth mile, closely followed by Resta, de Palma, Porporato, Wilcox and Cooper, in order. The little Cornelian is running well in the rear.
Anderson in his Stutz is shooting ahead, evidently trying to run the rest of the field to death. He is holding the lead through the eleventh, twelfth and up to the twentieth lap and it looks as if he will not give way to those behind who are running as follows: de Palma, Resta, Cooper, Wilcox, and Rickenbacher. They, who have been coming up steadily. This batch of cars is at least one lap ahead of the others and in some cases two and three laps. The little Cornelian, while far behind, is traveling in fair shape with Chevrolet, its driver, sitting as if in a touring car. Porporato seems to be satisfied with his position which is seventh at this time, for he has opportunities for forging ahead. The Purcell is the first car to fall by the wayside, abandoning the race when in its thirty-second mile with a broken pump gear.
At 75 Miles
Anderson in a Stutz still is making the spectators dizzy by coming around so frequently. He is trailed by the same aggregation in the sixty-fourth mile as followed him previously. This lap just ended finds Mulford in a Duesenberg in for the first tire change. He needs a new right gear and gets away quickly. Burman, Grant, the Cornelian, Alley, O’Donnell, and the others are about a lap behind the leaders, who at 75 miles are as follows: Anderson, 500 yards ahead, Resta, de Palma, Porporato, Wilcox and Rickenbacher.
Wilcox stops to make a tire change, his right rear blowing. Four more laps brings Anderson in for a tire change, his right rear blown out. Four more laps bring Resta in the lead, followed in order by de Palma, Cooper, Porporato, Rickenbacher and Van Raalte. The first cheer from the crowd follows the rapid work at the Stutz pitmen in making Anderson’s tire change. But the crowd seems sluggish, perhaps because of the weather and because there is little pit work to interest them.
De Palma, Rickenbacher, Cooper and Porporato are bunching up, apparently afraid of a sudden spurt on the part of one of the leaders in the heart-breaking race. A little amusement is being offered the grandstand, but the spectators do not seem to take to it. Purcell is touring on the Indianapolis motor speedway. Thirty miles per hour is the rate at which he seems to be traveling. It isn’t much more, so the timers say.
Resta Takes Lead
The order of leaders has not changed in the ninety-eighth mile from that when Anderson lost the lead. He now is running third place but is working his motor hard and forgetting the turns in order to make up lost time. Resta and de Palma are about 2 mile the best of Anderson.
Forty laps, 100 miles, and no change in the leaders when crossing the tape. Resta’s time for this distance is 1.07:30.14, an average of 88.88 miles per hour. He, with de Palma and Van Raalte, are fighting hard to keep together, only about 25 yards separating them. Porporato also is close up with Rickenbacher holding a steady pace. O’Donnell, Babcock, Alley, Carlson and Orr are two laps behind the leaders at this stage of the race, and Wilcox a lap behind. The others, not named, are away in the rear, but such cars as the Cornelian, Delage and Mulford’s Duesenberg are running nicely.
The field at this stage has dropped to twenty-one cars, the Bugatti going out in its fifty-eighth mile with a broken rod and the Mais was disqualified in its sixtieth mile because it was driven off the course.
There is a rush on to be the leader at 150 miles and it looks as if it will be Resta, although de Palma is so close behind as to be able to pass Resta. Porporato is dropping back now, instead of creeping up. He seems to be losing most of his time on the turns, for he slows down much ahead of the other drivers.
Resta is holding out at 125 miles, with de Palma fully aware of it, but contented to remain in second place. Resta is driving at the rate of 89.13 miles per hour and is followed in order by de Palma, Wilcox, Rickenbacher, Von Raalte, Cooper and Anderson. The next four laps tells a tale, for Resta and de Palma are well up ahead on their one hundred and thirty-second mile, with Von Raalte and Rickenbacher trailing. These four now are a lap ahead of Wilcox, Cooper and Anderson.
Grandstands Wake Up
The spectators are getting something to interest them when the leaders are not darting past. The Delage is being rolled off the course because of a broken flywheel, after traveling 107 miles, leaving twenty cars in the race, and Porporato is having trouble and is stopping at his pit. He just got away and was clocked in 1 minute 30 seconds for the work.
There’s a good fight on in this, the one hundred and forty-fifth mile, and de Palma is sending his Mercedes around like a rocket. He, with Resta and Van Raalte, are bunched, fighting hard for the lead. De Palma is taking it from Resta in front of the judges‘ stand, but he keeps it for one lap only, Resta coming around for his one hundred and forty-seventh mile a car length ahead of de Palma. Rickenbacher has dropped back a little – about 300 yards.
Porporato has come in with mechanical trouble and the spectators are again interested in pit work, watching the Sunbeam and Orr’s Maxwell being doctored.
Resta is trying for the lead at 150 miles and is maintaining it at an average speed of 89.43 miles per hour, breaking all speed- way records for the distance. De Palma still is behind him and Rickenbacher gives place to Anderson, who is a lap aft. Van Raalte is right behind Anderson.
De Palma’s Stop Gives Resta Lead
One more lap, the one hundred and fifty-seventh mile, and de Palma is coming in for a right rear tire, but he gets away in 1 minute and the listless crowd starts cheering. This gives Resta the lead in the one hundred and sixtieth mile and puts Anderson second, de Palma third and Cooper fourth. Resta is nearly a lap ahead of his rivals, de Palma and Anderson, and seems imbued with a great desire to creep ahead now that he had a new record for the distance and a good lead on his followers. The drivers are not afraid to open up. The weather is too cool to worry about tires.
Resta can’t hold out. At 170 miles his lead is lost, de Palma taking it with Ander- son following. This puts Resta in third place, Cooper is fourth and Von Raalte in fifth. But the latter is a lap behind the leaders. Rickenbacher lost so much valuable time that he is now two laps behind.
De Palma now is driving the straight-aways wide open and is leading at 175 miles, with Anderson second, Resta third and Cooper, Wilcox, Von Raalte and Porporato following in the order named. De Palma’s time is 1:58:11:30, an average of 84.7 miles per hour. Von Raalte is stopping in his one hundred and eightieth mile and this changes the order so that Cooper now is fourth, Wilcox fifth and Rickenbacher sixth. The latter two are a lap behind.
De Palma is racing madly to take the 200-mile record; he is one-quarter lap ahead of Resta. De Palma now is coming around on his two hundredth mile and hooks the record in 2:14:24:50, traveling at the rate of 89.22 miles per hour. The order of the first four at 200 miles is de Palma, Resta, Anderson and Cooper. Porporato, who has been coming up strong, looks like a contender now. Three laps behind are O’Donnell and Babcock, driving a consistent race. Rickenbacher has lost sixth place, stopping at his pit in his one hundred and eighty-fifth mile with mechanical trouble. He is still in his pit and the leader has covered 205 miles.
Leaders Set Record Pace
There still is a good chance for those in the rear, but de Palma, Resta, Anderson and Cooper are driving so hard it will take 95 miles per hour to snatch the lead. The order at 210 miles is de Palma, Resta, who is racing wildly after the leader, Anderson, Cooper, Porporato, Wilcox, Von Raalte, Alley, Babcock and Burman. These all may be classed as contenders at this stage of the race, as every one of the cars is running well.
Two hundred and twenty-five miles are passed and de Palma is a good one-quarter lap ahead of Resta. As de Palma is passing the judges‘ stand, he laps Cooper in a Stutz. Resta is about one-half a lap ahead of Anderson in a Stutz and the others are coming in the following order: Cooper, Porporato, Wilcox, Von Raalte, Alley, Carlson and Babcock. De Palma’s average for 225 miles is 89.47 miles per hour, which means he is passing the stands at close to 100 miles per hour.
Rickenbacher is trying his hand again by starting out on his one hundred and ninety-fifth mile. He is reeling laps off in fine shape and his motor sounds as if the fault has been corrected.
Resta is making a frantic effort to overtake de Palma and Anderson is chasing Resta. The timer just called out the 250-mile time for De Palma, which is 2:47:6.65, an average of 89.77 miles per hour. He has a lead of more than one-quarter lap on Resta, and just lapped Anderson, who is running in third place. Porporato, who is running in fifth place, stops in his two hundred and fifty-second mile. The Cornelian is rolling in also. Cooper now is running fourth, Von Raalte fifth, Wilcox sixth, Burman seventh, Alley eighth, Babcock ninth and O’Donnell tenth. There is a good chance for everyone in this batch of ten, now that the race is half over and only seventeen cars on the track, the Cornelian having gone out in the one hundred and ninety-second mile with a broken piston, Rickenbacher with a broken crankshaft in his two hundred and fifty-fifth mile, and Babcock in his two hundred and ninety-second mile with motor trouble.
Anderson Relieved by Aitken
Anderson, who has just been relieved by Aitken, gave up third place to Cooper on the two hundred and fifty-fifth mile, but the latter is coming around again and apparently will stop. At his pits he is taking on water and oil and changing a right rear. This puts Cooper in fourth place and Porporato in fifth with de Palma, Resta and Anderson running one, two, three. Carlson has stopped for the first time, it being his two hundred and fiftieth mile. He is relieved by Hughes.
Von Raalte just lost the hood of his car and is running without it. Referee Pardington is about to call him in, as it is against the A. A. A. rules to run unbonneted. He is starting out again, evidently to look for the hood. In the meantime Anderson is coming in with a right rear tire gone. This is the second time he has given up third place to Cooper, who has just passed.
De Palma, in the two hundred and seventy-fifth mile, still is holding first place as Resta is about the same distance behind that he was previously. De Palma is averaging 89.98 miles per hour and his time for 275 miles is 3:03:22.65. The order of running at 275 miles is as follows: De Palma, Resta, Anderson, Cooper, Porporato, Wilcox, Von Raalte, Burman, Babcock and Carlson.
Three hundred miles have been run and a new record has been established by de Palma-90.21 miles per hour. The order of running at this time is as follows: De Palma, Resta, Cooper, Anderson, Porporato, Wilcox, Babcock, Alley, Burman and Carlson.
Here’s the lap that may tell the story for De Palma is driving slowly in his three hundred and second mile and signaling to his pit. He is stopping for four tires and in the meantime Resta is chasing around and running a record pace. De Palma is passed by Resta. The former now about 200 yards behind the leader.
De Palma is riding madly to make up for time lost at the pit. Every lap after 300 miles is showing a gain. De Palma is coming around in his three hundred and twentieth mile racing neck and neck with Resta. He is passing him on the first turn and it looks as if he can regain that lost lap. Resta is not lazing, for he will not let de Palma take the lead. It is an even race past the judges‘ stand in the one hundredth and twenty-ninth lap for de Palma and the one hundredth and thirtieth for Resta. These two cars are now a hood length apart in the race, with Resta a lap to the good over de Palma. Resta is gaining on the straight-aways. De Palma now is taking the lead again on the one hundred and thirtieth lap. Running a good third at this time, the three hundred and twenty-fifth mile, is Anderson and the others follow: Cooper, Porporato, Wilcox, Alley, Burman, Carlson, O’Donnell. The speed for 325 miles is announced as 89.91 miles per hour.
Resta at this stage of the race has been traveling a mile every 40.3 seconds and has been averaging 1 minute 40 seconds per lap of 2½ miles. He has not made a stop. De Palma is chasing him and passing him on the turns, but Resta gets the better of his countryman on the straight-aways. De Palma is in his three hundred and forty-fourth mile and Resta is slowing down. De Palma is forging ahead and now is passing Resta on the home stretch. Resta is stopping at his pit and de Palma is coming around like mad and completes his lap, taking the lead away from Resta, who is still at his pit. Resta is busied changing tires and now is off again to catch de Palma, who is more than one-half lap ahead. Those behind Resta are running in fine shape, although the nearest driver is a lap behind him.
De Palma is driving the race of his life and appears to be determined not to allow Resta again to have the lead, barring stops. At 350 miles he is clocked in 3:54:41.15, an average of 89.48 miles per hour. Behind him is Resta and the others in order are: Anderson, Cooper, Porporato, Wilcox, Alley, Burman, O’Donnell and Carlson. At this time these drivers who appear to be the contenders for prize money have completed the following distances:
De Palma, 350; Resta, 347.5; Anderson, 347.5; Cooper, 342.5; Porporato, 342.5; Wilcox, 325; Von Raalte, 325; Alley, 322.5; Burman, 322.5; O’Donnell, 320.
Resta Outdistanced
The remaining ones are far behind and can be called in the money only by the dropping out of one of the above ten.
De Palma is bent upon starting out to lap Resta again, for his average is close to 90 miles per hour. He is gaining slowly and now is starting on his three hundred and seventieth mile, and as he is turning down into the home stretch he is tearing away and gradually getting past Resta. In front of the grandstand he is running away from the recent invader and starting out to lap him a second time. He has two laps to go to finish 375 miles.
There now are fifteen cars in the race, the Kleinart having been taken out with a broken oil tank, and Mulford’s Duesenberg with a broken crankshaft.
At this period de Palma’s average is 89.66 miles per hour and Resta is only 100 yards behind. As de Palma is crossing the tape Anderson is limping into the pits but this time he gets away fast enough to prevent Cooper from snatching third place. The running order and mileage at 375 miles is as follows:
De Palma, 375; Resta, 372.5; Anderson, 372.5; Cooper, 367.5; Porporato, 367.5; Wilcox, 350; Von Raalte, 350; Alley, 347.5; Burman, 347.5; O’Donnell, 345.
The above ten drivers are making a hot fight to maintain their positions so as to bring home some of the $50,000 prize money. De Palma and Resta are fighting it out for first position, although a stop by either for any length of time may mean a rearrangement of the whole list.
At 400 miles de Palma is leading still one lap and about 500 yards ahead of Resta. De Palma’s average for 400 miles is 89.79 miles per hour, and the first ten contenders are now arranged in the following order: De Palma, Resta, Anderson, Cooper, Porporato, Wilcox, Von Raalte, Alley, O’Donnell, Burman.
There now are thirteen cars in the contest, Orr’s Maxwell being taken out with a broken rear axle and the Sebring skidding into the safety wall, breaking a wheel.
With 425 miles just completed Resta is still endeavoring to catch de Palma, who will not be headed. He is traveling at the rate of 89.82 miles per hour, with Resta one lap and about 500 yards behind. The order of the first ten has changed since the 400 miles mark was reached. It follows: De Palma, Resta, Anderson, Cooper, Porporato, Wilcox, Von Raalte, O’Connell, Carlson, and Alley, who has been dropping behind in the past four laps.
Positions Change
The dropping out of Grant’s Sunbeam leaves twelve cars in the race.
Twenty-five miles more show de Palma’s time to be 5:00:22:27, an average of 89.89 miles per hour, and the line-up is as follows:
De Palma, 450; Resta, 447.5; Anderson, 442.5; Cooper, 435; Wilcox, 422.5; O’Donnell, 422.5; Von Raalte, 417.5; Burman, 417.5; Alley, 412; Carlson, 410.
Von Raalte is driving as never before to get farther in front and is passing car after car. He now is nearing his four hundred and fiftieth mile and is in sixth place after passing Porporato. The latter has dropped back from fifth to seventh place and Carlson has come up a notch, forcing Burman back to eleventh place.
Enthusiasm at High Pitch
Enthusiasm is at its height, with de Palma leading and Resta chasing, but apparently aware that first place has been taken from him. Looming up as a black cloud over the spectators and judges comes de Palma’s performance of 3 years ago in which his car quit in the last 7½ miles, costing him the race. At 475 miles de Palma’s lead over Resta is not altered and with the exception of Wilcox and O’Donnell, who changed positions, the field is the same as at the 450-mile mark. The change puts O’Donnell in fifth place and drops Wilcox to sixth. The latter’s motor is running on three and sometimes two cylinders. The completion of 475 miles gives de Palma an average of 89.91 miles per hour.
De Palma is running wide open and hugging the outside fence. Resta is following him at a mad pace but appears excited, judging from the way he is swinging his arms. Two laps to go and de Palma is running in good shape. Coming around for the green flag the little Mercedes seems to be in trouble although its speed is as high as ever. The jinx may be with de Palma again but regardless of the nature of the trouble the car is going, now coming down the home stretch for the checkered flag, a winner, in 5:33:55:50, an average of 89.84 miles per hour. Resta follows in 5:37:24:97, an average of 88.91 miles per hour. Following him comes Anderson in a Stutz at 87.60 miles per hour, and Cooper in another Stutz at 86.19. Anderson is the first driver to finish an American car and also breaks the American record held by Joe Dawson’s National in the 1912 race.
Photo captions. – June 3, 1915 – MOTOR AGE
Page 12 – 13: DRIVERS, MECHANICS, OFFICIALS AND SPEED CREATIONS LINED UP AT THE TAPE ON THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY JUST PRIOR TO THE FIRING OF THE BOMB THAT STARTED THE TWENTY-FOUR ENTRIES IN THE FIFTH HOOSIER SWEEPSTAKES. – DARIO RESTA, WHO DROVE PEUGEOT INTO SECOND PLACE. – GIL ANDERSON, WHO TOOK THIRD MONEY IN A STUTZ.
Page 14: LINE-UP FOR THE PRELIMINARY LAP BEFORE THE FLYING START. AT THE END OF THIS LAP THE PACE-MAKER SWUNG OUT OF THE WAY
4 E. COOPER – 9 KLEIN – 16 BABCOCK – 19 CARLSON – 24 MAIS – 28 HAUPT
3 RESTA – 8 BURMAN – 15 O’DONNELL – 18 COOPER – 23 RICKENBACHER – 27 CHEVROLET
2 DE PALMA – 6 PORPORATO – 14 GRANT – 7 VAN RAALTE – 22 MULFORD – 26 HILL
1 WILCOX – 5 ANDERSON – 10 ALLEY – 17 DE PALMA – 21 ORR – 25 COX
PACE MAKER – CG FISHER.
THE SUNBEAM DRIVERS, PORPORATO AND NOEL VON RAALTE.
Page 15: BILLY CARLSON, WHOSE MAXWELL TOOK NINTH PLACE
Page 16: VIEW OF THE HOME STRETCH AS THE CARSTHUNDERED PAST THE STANDS AT THE COMPLETION OF 50 MILES
