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The Encyclopedia of
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Edited by G. N. Georgano
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— = A Studio Book The Viking Press New York
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This book was designed and produced by
Rainbird Reference Books Ltd.,
- Marble Arch House,44 Edgware Road,London W2,
Published in 1971 by The Viking Press,Inc.
625 Madison Avenue,New York,N.Y.10022
House Editor:Peter Coxhead
Designer:Michael Mendelsohn
Copyright CO Rainbird Reference Books Ltd.1971
•
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may
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SBN:670-29405-5
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:73-162664
The text was photoset and the monochrome illustrations
were originated by Oliver Burridge Filmsetting Ltd.,
a`" Crawley,Sussex,England
The color plates were originated and the book was
printed and bound by Dai Nippon Printing Co Ltd.,
Tokyo,Japan
Printed in Japan
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Indianapolis Motor Speedway .yik,
Index of Performance and Index of Thermal
Efficiency see Le Mans 3,200,000 paving bricks at a cost of$155,000.The work
was completed in 63 days and the speedway was re- I
opened for a series of record attempts on the weekend of I
Indianapolis Motor Speedway 17-18 December.That programme also was curtailed
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway,oldest race track `!
in the world operated continuously since its construction, —because of severe cold weather,with a thermometer ii
reading of9°F—but not until afterrtrang had established
was built in 1909 on the northwest edge of Indianapolis,
Ind.After being used for races of shorter duration at (1 unofficial American d course5-mle record of l cking of j1
frequent intervals during the first two years of its (147.765kph)for a closed with a clocking of C
existence,it was the scene of the first international 500- 11 on theh(180.0kph)(also unofficial)for a quarter
mile event for a purse of$25,100 on 30 May 1911;and mile ar optimisticallysl and the speedway owners looked
mile e 0'series has been continued annually,except forward to 1910.
during the years of World War 1 and World War 2,with They scheduled attractive events for the holiday
weekends of 30 May,4 July and Labor Day,attracting a
increasing success. tremendous crowd estimated at 60,000 for the initial
The 1970 renewal attracted approximately 300,000
j spectators and the entrants of the 33 cars in the starting programme.Ray Harroun became the popular home-
III town hero of the day by winning the 200-mile feature
line-up divided prize money totalling just over one Winners of the Indianapol s S00
1911 R.Harroun and at the wheel of a 6-cylinder Marmon;and feature
million dollars,the winner receiving$271,697. events of similar length later in the season were won by
Carl G.Fisher,whose success as an Indianapolis
C.Patschke Marmon Joe Dawson on 4 July in another Marmon and John
businessman was linked closely to the rapid growth of 1912 J.Dawson and
the young automotive industry,realized the need for a Aitken in a National on 5 September.The second
D.Herr Nat onal programme attracted only half as many spectators as the
10
•
race track of major importance in the United States after
Peugeot
91914 3 JR..GThouxmas' Delage first one,however,and another drop in attendance was
witnessing the early Vanderbilt Cup Races on Long 1915 R.de Palma Mercedes evident for the Labor Day series.
Island and the 1905 Gordon Bennett Cup Race in 1916 D.Resta Peugeot ,
France. 1919 H.Wilcox Peugeot Convinced that they had been offering the public'too
When no one else appeared to be interested in build- 1920 G.Chevrolet Monroe-Frontenpc much racing,'the speedway founders decided to con-
ingthe type of speedway he had proposed,Fisher decided 1921 T.Mil nFrontenac centrale their 1911 promotional efforts on one big race
Duesenberg-Miller to be held on 30 May.They gave serious consideration to t
1922 J.Murphy
to tackle the project himself with the financial help of 1923 T.Milton and
_ James Allison and two other Indianapolis businessmen: various distances upet leto I on the miles,as well as a 24-hour
H.Wilcox Mill r event,but finally settled 500 figure so that the
Arthur C.Newby of the National Motor Vehicle 1924 L.Corum and8
J.Boyer Due nberg entire operation could be concluded during daylight
Company and Frank H.Wheeler of the Wheeler- 1925 P.de Paolo and hours.Formal announcement of the race—limited to
Schebler Carburetor Company.Together they formed N.K.Batten Duesenberg cars with engines of not more than 600ci(9,832cc)and
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation on 8 1926 F.Lockhart Miller run under the supervision of the Contest Board of the i
February 1909,capitalized at$25Q00 r with Fisher as 1927 G.Souders Duesenberg
president,and paidcapitalize
$72,000 for a tract of ground which 1928 L.Meyer Miller American Automobile Association—was greeted
1929 R.Keech Miller enthusiastically by automobile manufacturers and 46
was exactly I mile long and}mile wide.On it they 1930 W.Arnold Miller entries were received.Forty of them met the minimum ;
started construction of a rectangular 2.5 mile(4.023km) 1931 L.Schneider Mill* requirement by averaging 75mph(120kph)or better for
race course made by covering a 2in layer of gravel with 1932 F.Frame Miller
tin of crushed limestone and taroid.The four identical 1933 L.Meyer Milli a distance of week prior(402 the on the main straightaway
1934 B.Cummings Mille during the to the race;and they were assigned
0.25-mile turns were banked at an angle of 9°12', 1935 K.Petillo Mille'
separated by two long straights measuringfive-eightsMeyerMille starting positions,in rows of five abreast,according to
g 1936 L.Me the order in which they had filed their entries.
1937 W.
of a mile(1.0058km)each and two shorter straights each Shaw Gilmore-
>maso-m one-eighth of a mile(0.2012km)long. Offenhauser A crowd estimated at 80,000 overflowed the five •
1938 F.Roberts Miller grandstands to watch the contest involving the out-
3eran Hopefully,they scheduled their first series of auto 1939 W.Shaw Maserati standing American racing teams and a number of f
races for the holiday weekend of 4 July,but encountered 1940 W.Shaw Maserati
unexpected construction problems which delayed 1941 F.Davis and Noc-Out Hosethe
European cars entered by some of the nation's most
M.Rose Clamp 5p1 prominent sportsmen. 's National,Spencer
actual opening day until 19 August.Fisher,however, 1946 G.Robson Thorne Wishart's Mercedes,Fred Belcher's Knox,David
had made arrangements for the national balloon races 1947 M.Rose Blue gown Spl Bruce-Brown's Fiat and Ralph DePalma's Simplex were '
to be held at the speedway as early as 5 June,while 1948 M.Rose Blue crown Spl the early leaders.By the time the half-waymark had
construction work was still in progress;and also had 1949 W.Holland Blue Crown 5p1 been reached,however,the race had developed into a
y.; promised use of the facilities to members of the 1950 1,parsons
Wynn Friction pe
Proof Spl battle between Harroun's Marmon and Ralph Mulford's
Federation of American Motorcyclists for their national 1951 L.Wallard
Belanger Spl
championship events,on 14 August.Both programmes gLozier.With the advantage of less tyre wear,Harroun,
1952 T.Rudman Agajanian Spl riding without a mechanic,finally took command only
were held as planned while the finishing touches were 1953 W.Vukovicch Fuel Injection Spl 19laps before the finish and defeated Mulford byImin
I
being applied to the course and the auto racing were
1954 W.Vukovitch Fuel InjectionpSpl
fraternity 1955 B.Sweikert John Zink 5 I and 43sec.His time was 6hr 42min 8sec for an average
converged on the track for practice laps beginning 16 1956 P.Flaherty John Zink Spl speed of 74 59mph(120 04kph).Harroun's earnings,
'August. 1957 S.Hanks Belond,Exhaust Sp' including special accessory awards,totalled$14,000.
The main events of the inaugural programme were 1958 J.Bryan Le dExhaust spl
er
won by Buicks(drivers Bob Burman and Lewis Strang), 1959 R.Ward eae Card Sol Because of the Ihemendous financial success of the
low J.Bachmann K.Pain Spl first 500,the purse for 1912 was increased to$50,000 for I
but the track began to disintegrate on the third day of 1961 A.J.Foyt Bowes Seal Fast Spl cars of similar engine size,with riding mechanics man-
the competition.Conditions finally became so bad that 1962 R.Ward Leader)Card Spl
officials ended the scheduled 300-mile Wheeler-Schebler
Agajanian SW One lidatormited
.Two other important changes were announced. E
1963 A.P.Jones L a anion 5 Y
1964 A.1.Foyt Sheraton- One limited entries to not more than two cars of the same
trophy race at the 235-mile mark.Lee Lynch,driving aenh
time additional 4-cylinder Jackson,was averaging 55.61mph(89'S0kph) 1965 J.Clark Lotuus-Forduse. entrrio
entries make
untiler accepted to fill outlI
the field.The other
in first place at the time. 1966 G.Hill Lola-Ford
Undaunted,Fisher and his associates admitted their 1967 G.1.Fo cCoyote-Ford nnovation provided that no more than 33 cars would be
y permitted to compete,in
f construction mistakes and announced plans immediately1968 R.Unser Ea le-0 enhauser P compliance with an AAA
1969 M.Andretti Hawk-Ford safety ruling,based on one car for every 400ft(121.92m)
to install guard rails and resurface the course with 1970 A.Unser Colt-Ford of race track(13 on a I-mile track,20 on a 1-5-mile
95
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Left,Indianapolis:Louis Disbrow in the track,26 on a 2-mile track,and so on).Except for a DePalma's attempt to file a post-entry was ignored,
Pope-Hartford No 5 passes two Cases on the three-year experimental period,beginning in 1931,this -after he had tried unsuccessfully to obtain'appearance
inside during the first 500.191 I.Photo same 33-car limitation always has been followed.Forty money'from the speedway.The race also lacked some
monapoht Motor Speedway
cars started the 1931 and 1932 events,and 42 formed the of its usual lustre in that none of the new cars lived up to
left below,Indianapolis:cars lined up for Race Day field in 1933—as a concession to entrants expectations.Resta won without being extended at any
the start in 1923,behind the Model A
' Duesenberg pace car.Photo:Indianapolis demanding a better chance of earning starting positions time and only 10 of the other cars in the starting field of
Motor Speedway —but speedway officials then resumed the 33-car 21(smallest in Indianapolis history)were running at the
formula because of an increase in the number of accidents. finish.With America's entry into the war becoming
The custom of starting the cars in three-abreast forma- more imminent each day,the management then sought
tion has remained unchanged since 1922.Before that additional 1916 revenue by planning a special'Harvest
the cars had been started five-abreast in 1911 and 1912, Auto Racing Programme'for 9 September with a
and four abreast from 1913 through 1921', 100-mile event as the feature attraction.Although
As the deadline for the 1912 race arrived only National, only 10,000 spectators turned out to watch 10 other
Stutz,Mercedes,Lozier and Case were represented by cars compete against six owned by the speedway,the
k:,.. Indianapolis Motor Speedway two-car teams and 15 other manufacturers represented day resulted in some profit as Johnny Aitken earned
by single entries.Stutz and National then entered a $5,900 of the$12,000 posted prize money in a speedway-
third car each and 24 of the 27 cars answered the starter's owned entry.Then the track suspended operations for
North flag.DePalma,this time at the wheel of a Mercedes,took the duration and made its facilities available to the war
,i the lead on the third lap and increased it steadily for an effort as a landing field and repair depot for aircraft.
;R advantage of more than 12 miles as the race neared its Immediately after the signing of the Armistice in 1918
:v close.Many spectators already had left thegrounds when —and with the assurance of new cars from France and '.,1
DePalma's car rolled to a stop because of a broken England,as well as from some American manufacturers
connecting rod with only one and a half laps to go and —Fisher moved quickly to resume the 500 series on the
Dawson roared home in a National for a second straight traditional 30 May date the following spring.Most of
all-Indianapolis victory whilothe Mercedes was being the new equipment,however,developed various me-
pushed to its pit. chanical ailments and Howdy Wilcox was the winner in
* m Europe began to show increasing interest in the 500 one of the four-year-old 274ci(4,490cc)speedway-owned
It the following year,when the engine size was cut to a Peugeots,which had been reconditioned with Goux's s
maximum of 450ci(7,374cc),and Jules Goux carried help.Goux also drove the Peugeot sister car for the
the colours of France across the finish line first with a speedway,coming 3rd behind Eddie Hearne in a Durant,
448ci(7,341 cc)ohc Peugeot.The second-place Mercer, and one of the new Ballots managed 4th place.
driven by Wishart,trailed by approximately 16 miles. The rapid development of American racing equipment
south With engine specifications unchanged for 1914, during the next decade—as displacement was cut ly'
Europe provided 15 of the 45 entries and dominated the steadily from a maximum of 300ci(4,916cc)to 183ci
contest.Long before the half-way mark was reached,the (2,999cc),to 122ci(1,999cc)and finally to 91.5ci
only question was which of the invaders would win. (1,499.4cc)—included high compression engines,4
/
Rene Thomas of France provided the answer in the
44
cockpit of a 380ci(6,227cc)Delage and the next three wheel hydraulic brakes,low pressure tyres,exotic fuels,
superchargers and hydraulic shock absorbers.With the
finishers were Arthur Duray in a Peugeot of only 183ci creation of improved racing engines,however,the j
(2,999cc),Albert Guyot in another Delage and Goux in a principal manufacturers withdrew from racing because I ,
_if.�
Peugeot.The first American to finish was Barney of their inability to compete successfully against the
Indianapolis:Ralph DePalma Oldfield in a slower but durable 434ci(7,112cc)Stutz. specials built for individual sportsmen by Louis Chevro-
Right,.. . (Mercedes)winning the 1915 race.Photo: Fisher made a personal trip to Europe a few weeks
Indianapolis Motor Speedway after the race in an effort to interest more manufacturers
�'='•Y' in the next Indianapolis event for cars of not more than ' '
"f 300ci(4,916cc),but his visit was cut short by the advance
rumblings of World War I.The 1915 entry list was
closed in April with only 31 cars listed.One of them,
;pr
however,was a new Mercedes which DePalma had
-; m.p....rmiavmme•woaiwmivirawL i ,
managed to get aboard ship before the outbreak of
` t hostilities.Another was a Peugeot assigned to Dario
i , Resta;and it was a two-car race most of the way with
O DePalma five miles ahead at the finish and Gil Anderson 11
a distant 3rd in a Stutz.
The racing outlook for 1916 was even more dis- s
couraging.Although America was not actively engaged ,
in the conflict,most of the nation's automobile mann
facturers were already producing battlefield equipment `4.- `., ,- ,-. , . . r
There was little possibilityof obtaining anynew race " " r ;"M' ++
FF � .` � fg+{>4�'Gif 1710'7;40-,Von.',
• cars except three Frontenacs and three!Crawfords }
already under construction by Louis Chevrolet and *„£' �t� li•114,�' t ' p• - r �h'r
: • • 1
Billy Chandler,respectively.Drastic action was necessary , ti.
• and Fisher wasted no time.He purchased two Peugeots 1L _ >L •- •- w.• .n,,-
! • and two Maxwells;persuaded the Premier company to 1 r ,,'r 411* - i.
:a build three cars,similar in design to the Peugeots; •- fr.......
'T,. obtained the pledge of several individt al car owners that ..oft '^.
Vthey would participate;and reduced t1Ye scheduled
h,. distance from 500 to 300 miles(8047 IP 482.8km).
N
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
i
I
the Duesenberg brothers(Fred and August)and
Miller. J i
During the three years of the I 83ci formula,Gaston l
rolet won in 1920 with one of his brothers 4- j} 714441"'
µµI4► i ,i%-M nr, •- t I 1
•oder Frontenacs(under Monroe sponsorship); 4-. Z1 a.+i t v Vy a.a`t'` `1.,i'• r t,
m Milton scored the first 500 victor with an ' 'II!'
y ;4.''
: irr�+ +.a;"�� ,';.1.44'.".....rc` ., : ti
finder engine(another Frontenac)in 1921;and '' 4-site s }-' ! ' } • - ..
y Murphy seta new race record of 94.48mph r • K M Ms 02;41*l .. ' M"`., 4'
2 05kph)in 1922 with a Miller engine in a Duesenberg i wwR ' l,�k '►' ; .,s. A.r y I` i I'
,is.Milton used a Miller engine in his HCS Special A a•f� _ -
the first race for I22ci entries in 1923,starting a ••.,,,',, '-• - ,
...year period without riding mechanics,before - '
- nberg won
o consecutive races,with Pete •:
.:olo breaking th h 00 1925barrier the averagingre �'� "' ` ` ''''-'7"-t-10-
13mph(162 66kp ) x• q I�
ed their superiority by winning three of the four 4, / 4
during the 91.5ci era from 1926 to 1929,inclusive. .1153 :-.. '
die Rickenbacker-a former race driver and s.- t
a La Sall' ca a ace of aces in World War I who had purchased _ `' - `
1937.7 speedway from its founders during the summer of i�
,rope of r -then attempted to interest the nation's passenger g + � _
manufacturers in racing again by banning super-
rsand raising the maximum engine size to 366ci
lee)for the eight-year period beginning with the
event.Riding mechanics again were made man- Indianapolis:although no drivers were Ford racing engines which won for the first time in 1965.
.Many cars with modified stock block engines hurt,this multiple accident at the start of The exceptions came in 1939 and 1940,when Wilbur
the 1966 race eliminated one third of the 33
entered,but none was able to finish better than 3rdparticipants.Photo:Indianapolis Motor Shaw gained the distinction of scoring two consecutive
iy race despite factory support from such companies Speedway victories for the first time with a supercharged 8-cylinder
ord and Studebaker.The 8-cylinder Millers,and Maserati;and in 1946 when George Robson led the
the 4-cylinder Offenhausers,invariably won field home at the wheel of a 6-cylinder supercharged
.vely. Thorne Engineering Special in the first event following
o other changes of short-lived duration also were the purchase of the track from Rickenbacker by Anton
'aced during the Rickenbacker regime.One, Hulman,Jr,of Terre Haute,Ind.
rated in 1933 for a seven-year period,increased During the four-year suspension of all racing activities
distance of the official time trials to determine in the United States,because of World War 2,the
g positions from 10 miles to 25 miles.The entrants speedway facilities had deteriorated to such an extent 1
.sed increasing opposition to this procedure every that Rickenbacker was not interested in attempting to l-,
',however,and the 10-mile distance was restored in reopen the track because of the tremendous expense
,The most drastic change involved the establishment involved.At one time in 1945 it appeared almost certain
itations on the quality and quantity of fuel,pre- that the big plant,which had been greatly expanded in I
ly unrestricted on both counts.Each car was area,would be absorbed by an ambitious real estate
Crown)' -"to 45 gallons(170.34 litres)of fuel in 1934,42.5 development.Shaw,however,worked untiringly to find
,at tM •,,s(l60•88litres)in 1935 and 37.5 gallons(14195 an interested sportsman willing to assume the financial I
)olis • ;.in 1936.During each of these three years,several risk of re-establishing the 500 as a fixture on the inter- f
.tcontenders ran out of fuel while running with national racing calendar;and it was Hulman who finally
late in the race.Beginning in 1937,entrants accepted the challenging assignment with no thought of
permitted an unlimited amount of fuel,but Indianapolis:Mario Andretti,with his wife personal financial gain.All speedway income in excess I'
required to use commercial gasoline for the Dee Ann in Victory Lane,receives the Borg of operating expenses would be used to improve the
-.t.Then,with the adoption of the new inter- Warner trophy after winning the 1969 race. facilities and increase the prize money.
racing formula in 1938,the last of the fuel Photo:Indianapolis Motor Speedway With Shaw in the role of speedway president until his
swas abandoned.When the fuel restrictions .. ar ;r_ -,.._1,-,,,,,, ',.a.Y.., death in a 1954 aircraft crash,when Hulman assumed
.fished in 1934,however,the speedway had f,r y •a• x•`V ti ' personal charge of the track's destiny,the 500 has
••that no car could use more than 6.5 gallons 'Alicr s i grown in importance and prestige at a really astonishing
•Titres)of oil during the race.This restriction also ['0. • rate.The aged wooden grandstands have been replaced
.in 1938,but a new rule was imposed-andI ,
). ' rt.,:y` with massive structures of steel and concrete,many of
effect-limiting each car to the amount of oil �, tr. i ei' t >' them of the double-deck type,with the number of
•at the start of each race.No additional oil may .,_, ,- ,,er' :41110 -.. reserved seats increased to approximately 230,000.The
'.for any reason,once the race is under way; e i entire racing strip has been resurfaced and the pit area
.ditional safety precaution gives the chief u a S , t`.s T rebuilt for safety reasons.A new control tower has been
f the 500 the right to disqualify any car for ,�I' ' I a y added for race officials.Thirteen lanes of traffic tunnel
fuel or lubricant or coolant in sufficient quantity '" •' under the track and new interior roads lead to free
hazard ,i •
i u' ,• s , infield parking space for 25,000 vehicles.
• adoption of the international formula in k' Of equal importance is the fact that prize money has
,-
••. rcharged and non-supercharged engines i '" been increased steadily from a high figure of slightly
s ' 2,999cc and 274ci(4,490cc),res ectivel '"' "► under$100,000 before the start of the Hulman regime to
-Ford)• ..ted cars resulted in the interruption of the ,, the astonishing total of over$1,000,000 for the 1970 f
.1965. ,•.gofOffenhausertriumphs ononly three , J "•' r\_ event.
n that date and the development of the '''..n-•'' \. The racing fraternity has responded in like manner,
99
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