In this article preceding the 1916 Indianapolis Sweepstakes, The Automobile Journal introduces many aspects of preparation for the race. The European cars, Peugeots, Delages and Sunbeams that will be participating as well as the American cars, Frontenacs, Maxwells, Duesenbergs and Premiers are discussed.
Text and jpegs by courtesy of hathitrust.org www.hathitrust.org, compiled by motorracinghistory.com
THE AUTOMOBILE JOURNAL – Vol. XLI, No. 8, May 25, 1916
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL SWEEPSTAKES RACE.
On the Eve of the Great International 300-Mile Contest, Indications Are that this Race will Be the Greatest Ever Held in Indianapolis.
THE conditions under which the Memorial Day race at Indianapolis is to be run are much changed since the previous races, but it is apparent from the entries that it is to remain one of the greatest, if not the greatest, track event of the speedway season.
Speedways have multiplied since the Indianapolis track pointed the way and this year instead of being the first national event on the programme, it is second, the first having been held at Sheepshead Bay, May 13. This year’s race for the first time will be 300 instead of 500 miles, and the prize money has been reduced to $30,000 from $50,000.
In addition to these difficulties is the fact that the European manufacturers, who have been the leading racing car builders, have been too busily occupied to give their attention to speed cars and, with one or two exceptions, the American makers have shown little interest in the races – or at any rate, not sufficient to build special cars and enter them.
Nevertheless, three of the best-known European racing car makers will be represented. Two, the Peugeot and Delage, by cars designed before the war, and one, Sunbeam, by a new car fitted with six-cylinder engine, developed after much experience on aeroplane motors. There will also be some very interesting new American cars of the high speed, four-valve type. These will include the new productions of the Premier Motor Car Corporation, developed by Engineer Yarian, who has had aeroplane experience, three Frontenac cars, built by Louis Chevrolet to meet his views of racing engineering, and two Crawfords, which use the well-known Duesenberg motor, are entered by a New York millionaire.
Practically all the well-known American drivers, except Ralph De Palma, are included in the list, which contained 30 entries when it closed May 1. Last year there were 41 entries in all, but these were reduced in the elimination trials to 25. This year, if the preliminaries prove so rigorous, or if some of the cars are unable to recover from the usage they were subjected to in the Sheepshead Bay race, the field of starters may be considerably smaller. Thirty entries in all were made.
There will be four Peugeots in the race. Three of these are entered by interests controlling the Indianapolis speedway, and they will be driven by Aiken and Merz, old National stars, and by Ralph Mulford. The fourth is Resta’s, last year’s runner-up. He has been to Europe during the winter to secure all the parts that are necessary to make the car as good as new.
Three Delages, designed like the Peugeots, for the Grand Prix races preceding the war, will take part. Two of them are entered by Harry Harkness, one of the backers of the New York speedway, and their drivers will be Le Cain and a man yet unnamed. Limberg, one of the team, wrecked his car and was killed at Sheepshead Bay. The third is an exactly similar car purchased by David Joyce of Chicago and presented to Barney Oldfield, the veteran driver. Lewis and Johnson are the drivers of two Crawford cars. These were built at the factory of the Crawford Motor Car Company, Hagerstown, Md., and are equipped with Duesenberg motors.
Much is expected from the new Sunbeam entered by Joseph Christiaens, the well-known Belgian driver, who has previously competed at Indianapolis. This car was built by Louis Coatalen, the Sunbeam engineer, to try out in a racing car some of the things his experience with aero- plane engines has taught him since the war began.
Chevrolet Builds Three Cars.
The ideas of Louis Chevrolet, the well-known racing driver, on fast car design, have been incorporated into three Frontenac cars built by him during the winter. These will be driven by Louis, Gaston and Arthur Chevrolet.
Eddie Rickenbacher, winner of the Metropolitan Trophy contest, and who made a remarkable record last year by his daring driving in the less prominent speedway events, will captain a team using two of the Maxwell cars which were on the track last year. They have been thoroughly overhauled during the winter and more speed is expected from them than they have ever given before. They are entered by the Prest-O-Lite Company.
Another team which has always given a good account of itself is the Duesenberg. Eddie O’Donnell, with this car, won the greater share of the glory in the early events on the Pacific Coast. A new engine has been designed with four overhead valves similar to that which proved so successful on the Stutz last year. Its performance will be a matter of great interest to engineers.
The other entries include two Erwin Specials, built in Philadelphia and driven by Stecher and Grover Bergdoll, an Osteweg Special, driven by S. Osteweg, and an unnamed car with an unnamed driver from Cleveland.
From this list of entries there are two conspicuous absentees – Ralph De Palma, and the Mercedes car which won the race last year, and the Stutz team. True to the announcement of Harry Stutz that his team would not appear again until its record had been broken, they are not scheduled.
Another maker has stepped in to fill the place of Stutz, or try to fill it, and this is the Premier Motor Corporation. It has designed three special racing cars with four cylinders and four overhead valves for each cylinder. They will be driven by Tom Rooney, formerly of the Stutz team, Gil Anderson and Harry Stillman.
De Palma Sells His Mercedes.
After the entries closed Ralph De Palma wrote a letter to the speedway officials, saying that he had sold his Mercedes to J. B. Book, an amateur driver of Detroit, who wished to drive in the race and asked that he be allowed to make a late entry. It is not possible to grant a request for so late an enrollment without the consent of every entrant, who was in on time, but requests for such consent were at once sent out. If the car goes in it is expected that De Palma will figure as relief driver and will do the driving. The failure to enter earlier is said to have been due to inability to get the car in shape in time.
There are good reasons for thinking that this year’s race will be one of the best ever seen at Indianapolis. The cars entered are as fast or faster than any that have ever been entered. The reduction of the distance by 200 miles should make it possible for a car to stand a greater speed for the full length of the race without wearing out and going to pieces.
Because of the construction of the track much more depends on the driver than on the wooden saucer tracks. There, after the car is started, it drives itself almost automatically, so to speak, but the brick track at Indianapolis makes it necessary to handle a car with much judgment in rounding the curves and taking the straightaway. It is much easier for the cars to pass each other. Something over 90 miles an hour for the race is expected if conditions are good.
The result of the race at Sheepshead Bay, which was won by Rickenbacher in his remodeled Maxwell, makes him a favorite in the Indianapolis classic. Rickenbacher has been known as a daring and extremely skillful driver, who often takes chances a shade more dangerous than most of the drivers are willing to attempt.
It is this quality of his driving which enabled him last year to win so many of the dirt track and other events on one-mile speedways, where the nature of the course reduced the speed possible for the fastest cars and left the victory for the driver who was able to drive with the greatest daring and skill.
His skill in this respect was shown at Sheepshead Bay when Limberg’s car struck the rail and was wrecked, killing its two occupants. The car broke in two and rolled down the track, with Rickenbach- er coming hard just be- hind, and it was necessary for him to pick a way between the two falling parts of the car. He had still 120 miles to drive after this great nervous shock and did it so well that he won the Metropolitan race.
The two Maxwell cars which make up the Presto-Light team, have been redesigned to provide a larger valve lift and improve the manifold design, so that the speed has been considerably increased over what they were capable of last year. The spark plug trouble which affected them in some of the races last year has also been removed.
Christiaens is expected to have his car, a new six-cylinder Sunbeam, in better shape than it was at Sheepshead Bay, where he burned out a bearing after driving a few miles. Ed- die O’Donnell, whose record in the Pacific Coast races was imposing, did not start at New York, nor did Barney Oldfield, who, with his new Delage, believes that he has an excellent chance of winning the classic, which he says will be his last race.
One of the extremely interesting features of the big races for the technically inclined is the electrical timing apparatus that is used to keep track of the cars. This is known as the Stewart timing machine and a single installation costs several thousand dollars.
When a car crosses a certain line on the track, the circuit is broken and this causes the electrical mechanism to stamp the time in fractions of a second. It is arranged so that the front wheels affect the timer, but the back wheels do not. Yet two cars crossing very close together are registered separately.
As the cars pass, two observers call out their numbers, which are noted by a clerk on the tape next to the time stamp, showing when they crossed. There is a checker to see that the correct numbers are called and another to see that the clerk enters them correctly on the tape. A very high-grade chronometer is connected with the time stamping mechanism, which it corrects, so that it is impossible for the time to be more than .06 seconds incorrect.
Photo captions.
Page 11
The Electrical Timing Apparatus by Which Exact Records of the Various Cars Are Made – This Apparatus Does Not Vary More Than .06 of a Second in Accuracy.
Page 12
Howard Marmon, Referee and Chief Engineer of Nordyke-Marmon Company, Manufacturer of the Marmon Car.
FIVE PREVIOUS RESULTS.
The five previous Indianapolis sweepstakes races run at Indianapolis resulted as shown in the following table. Each was for 500 miles instead of 300, as is the case this year, and the prizes totaled $50,000 instead of $30,000. In the first two races the engines were limited to 600 cubic inches piston displacement, in the next two to 450 inches displacement and last year to 300 cubic inches, which limitation applies this year:…..
Jack LeCain in the Delage in Which He Is Expected to Make an Excellent Showing at Indianapolis
Page 13
CONTESTANTS IN SIXTH RACE.
George M. Dickson, Starter and General Manager of the National Motor Vehicle Company.
The Team of Crawford Cars, Which Are to Be Handled at Indianapolis by Dave Lewis, Art Johnson and Billy Chandler.
Page 14.
PETE HENDERSON – EDDIE RICKENBACHER – Maxwell
The Prest-O-Lite Team, Rickenbacher and Henderson and Their Maxwell Cars – Rickenbacher Is in the Car with Which He Won the Metropolitan Trophy at Sheepshead Bay.
Birdseye View of the Indianapolis Speedway, Scene of the Sixth International Sweepstakes, May 30-Acreage, 328; Number of Buildings, 43; Length of Row of Grandstands, One Mile; Seating Capacity, 75,000; Total Capacity, 250,000.