The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • 22

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR 4 ea all i g' I and Wilbur Shaw ns lT5J'lCe an? Was The "ory 0 contest' be adventurous men who use 4 LOOK! THE WINNER THIS SPEEDWAY RACE! 1 fJto WOOD GrW Atiidi'V IDA Evaniviik 1 A A' 22SwJ 4 I a'P lw of the piti the 33 driven turnitXooso In a haze of fuel tl mhr nf thra dard in prior he was awarded lenburn Memorial Marks Are orecast dtf spc Lt Af a 26 Cars Still Ran As 1911 Race Ended Hulman his days at Yale University when he was a star in football crew and track has developed into one of the nation's leading executives He has expanded the coast to coast' operations of the Clabber Girl Baking Powder Corporation as Well as the wholesale grocery nizing It as an Important phase of America's way to bring gains for the general welfare of so ciety as a whole? He stands for these aims as industrialist bus! ness executive and sporsmanZ irst Crash Helmet Wilbur? Shaw was first to use a crash helmet in the 500 mil? He introduced the headgear in the 1932 run when he held the lead for several laps two would make a combination that could go plades with the track management Cochran and Shaw went to see Tony Hulman' and from that meeting'came the purchase for arotind $750000 of the Speedway plant deal was completed Nov 14 1945 and announced the following morning in The $tar Tony Hulman was a natural not only because of his business ability but also because he in herited the fascination of the mechanics of speed from his fa ther Hulman Sr who devel oped one of the largest wholesale grocery firms in Indiana was connected with the famous oid bike clubs of the Gay '90s and took part in a number of races held by the TONY HULMAN immediately on acquiring the property began building it up stands in several places more work on the track Itself new improvements on buildings over the large grounds better facilities for the crowds are examples of the con stant and steady work tp im prove the historic layout Also Hulman who was 44 years old when the purchase was made brought dynamic new di rection headed by Wilbur Shaw then 43 to the race Other new officers are in the same age range They joined with the veteran (Pop) Myers time manager in setting the new pace for a bet ter rack each year tion that a new triack record will be set The establishment of a new record depends on several other elements as well irst the weather must favor the engines and driver? Second ly assuming that the cars can take track must be kept free of wrecks It Is the flying of the yellow which means danger on the track and to hold that slows most of the races ONE PARAMOUNT element In favor of a new track record is a rjumber of changes that have been made in the cars' suspen sions These changes have made it to gun the cars far ther into the turns without dan ger to either the car or driver In the past most drivers closed down early in the turns in order tq stay away from the walls These improved racers also will aid in lessening driver fa tigue It is the latter that on hot days causes a great number of wrecks and tends to lighten the foot pressure on the acceler ator So given favorable condi tions look fo that 120 miles an hour record 'or better Antjon Hulman Jr was to acquire ownership of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after War 11 When it became known that the Eddie Rickenbacker interests were ready to sell the most fa mous track in the wlfrld amu tual friend (Homer CoChran He has acquired a number of important real estate holdings exemplified by the largest office building in Dayton He has a host of other interests in vari ous businesses includ ing a directorate in the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad IN ADDITION he has found time for activities from big game hunting in the West and Alaska to internation al fishing competition off the banks of Newfoundland and the shores of lorida His civic activities at his na tive Terre Haute have included donation of an site and contributions to school and pub lic programs He has been a leader of war bond sales and headed the state cancer drive He is a trustee ofthe Indiana State Penal arm and chairman of the Indiana lood Control arid Water Resources Commission This latter duty may appear somewhat prosaic In comparison to the Speedway yet Hulman has spent an far more time than the' public ever will in the trips and meetings conferences aimed at furthering the water control projects for Improvement of conditions in many parts of the state Personally reserved and un easy In any public speaking as signment he nevertheless gets a great deal of satisfaction of the work of this sort recog ipg in fast After that pit call however and despite the su perior speed of the car Nalon had to be satisfied with third place Maytf never a winner but al ways high in the money has the reputation of being a ''lead driver! If second Novi will stand up under the punishment that Rex will give it consider him a possible winner likewise REX IS DRIVING the car In which Ralph Hepburn set thetrack lap record of slightly bet ter than 134 miles per hour in 1946 But it was in this same car that Hepburn had his fatal crash only a 'ew days before that 500 Mile He was traveling around 130 miles an hour when the wreck occurred and about all that 'Winfield sal vaged from the twisted mass Was the engine In other words the car that Mays is driving today is prac tically a new car But Mays until today has driven rear drive cars and his handling of the front drive Novi will have an im portant' bearing on the outcome Of course these four drivers by no means have the race in the bag On a comparison of qualification timeJphnny Par sons back in the fifth row in his Kurtis Kraft Special must be considered Pole holder Nalon averaged 132939 miles an hour on the first day of the qualifies year Some seem to think the new record might be as high as 124 miles an hour That mark seems doubtful however arid anything slightly over 120 and under 121 miles per hour probably will be closer the new enark Just because this race as really first class racing nershitz at the wheel? PREDICTIONS are out that the 500 mi track record of 119814 miles an hour which It takes a lot of skilled man agement and hard work to make the 500 nille race a smooth op eration Nobody knows this bet ter than the behind the scenes officials Among are the Ameri can Automobile Association offi cials members of the medical ataff the beards stop recorder? arid the board of safety BIG CHIEfJ of the AAA offi cials is Arthur Herrington Indianapolis engineer industrial ist who is head of Marmon Herrington Inc He serves as the AAA board chairman In ternationally known as a' signer and manufacturer of cialized motor equipment for ootn civilian and military he long has been an enthusiastic supporter of Speedway races? Not easily overlooked is Seth Klein 'official starter who has served in some official capacity at every 500 mile race since thefirst in 1911 This will be his 26th year as official starter He is said to have more personal acquaintances in the industry than any other person ANOTHER AMILIAR figure at the "Speedway is the chief Although the blistering pace of the race usually takes a high toll in cars 26 of 'the 40 starters Were still running finish of the first 500 mile event Jn iati The Best performance of a 33 carfield was in 1940 when 20 cars were still running at the i finish Contrasting this is the nine that were running behind George Rqbson as he received the checkered flag in 1946 fltl VM AJM lfirJ one I rour ea? Tony Hulman To Acquire Ownership a member of the technical com mittee" the two preceding years An editor and writer' he also serves as chief timer for the Gold Cup boat rtyes Chief of the Speedway medical staff is Dr Rogers Smith Indianapolis physician who has been caring for race track cas ualties for some 20 years He di rects a staff of more than 200 nurses and physicians Dr Smith served as a commander in the' Navy Medical Corps in the South racinc during World War LEE OLDIELD haZ been chairman of the raceXechnirnl committee for thelast four years and was a AAA contest years: Last yei tne Trophy giyen "in honor and ap preciate or a gentleman and sportsman whose untiring ef fortsygreatly aided and improved autbmobila racing and the auto ibile industry He is president 'of the Laboratory Equipment Company Many other officials contribute 120 Miles An Hour Or Better Predicted As Winning Time Between noon and 5:00 more than three hundred telephone calls and tele grams from all oyer the State as well as from Ohio and Illinois were received and hundreds of calls had td be because of the switchboard "jam" they Created A highly personalized trophy capturing imperishably with oils on canvas the Speedway classic 1949 winner's portrait together with some memorable detail of the Race! Since the tint Speedway it hat been oun pride and pleature to pretent an Art Object to the winner in appreciation of the fame that thii the world' foremoit sports tpectacle bringt to Indipnapolit PAGE 2 i New Track AAA steward Thomas (Tommy) Milton who piloted Indianapolis made cars to vietpry twice in 'the 500 mile test He scored his first victory in 1921 driving a rontenac and his sec ond in 1923 in an Indianapolis HCS Special Veteran director of timing and scoring is Chester Ricker Last Tuesday WBM TV telecast a test pat tern for the first time to the eager television audience throughout th State During the afternoon those receiving the telecast wired called and wrote their names and addresses a for listing to receive weekly WBM TV pro gram releases Key Men In Running Race Are Old Hands IT IS THE DUTY of the con test board of which Col Arthur Herrington of this city' is chairman to award these nu merical ratings at the end of each racing season Hom' placed fourth in last 500 mile race and the previous month had won a 100 mile race pt Arlington Downs Tex The well loved driver from NJ won another race at Springfield Ill on Aug 21 and during the rest of the sea son placed high up in the money His last race was on Ott 10 at DuQuoin where jje was in jured fatally when his rigjjt spindle broke' duri nr the WBM TV tkes this opportunity to thank all who participated for this hearty response We'rq looking forward as you are to the television future of Indiana's first stationl WBMTV INDIANAPOLIS STRAUSS SAYS: TRADITION I A TOUCH TOMORROW Chomwf 6 fronmtar tower and antenna atop the Merchantt Bank Building in the center of downtown In dianapaiit You can se4iim in one of fhe motor cars roaring around the trade! He will soon have an Art Portrait of himself among his gold and glory and souvenirs! Ernest Indianapolis' celebrated artist sportsman widely recognized in the Art Wdrld is on the scene malting preliminary the painting will be completed shortly after the winner's identity is established" the checkered flag board la one of the great chapters In automotive hls torj It began In the early days qf the industry when the fraternal ism of those few who owned and ran cars prompted them to form clubs But the social aspect soon was overshadowed by a more sepous motive that of protec tion against hostile legislation 'the building of good roads and not the least important the testing of bars so the public might know what was best The clubs early realizing that their problems were more local banded together in March 1902 at Chicago as the Ameri can Automobile Association In all America there were only 32000 cars But the number of cars increased rapidly and the greatly to the success of 'the race including Ken Hurlbut the timer (Ike) Welch the chief AAA observer and Walter Huber chairman of the board of judges All are veterans of 500 mile race sendee SPEEDWAY TELEVISED The 500 Mile classic will be telecast colorful history this year over WBM TV jitartins at 10 30 A Central Dayliobt one half hour before the official starting time The entire race will be covered Including approximately half hour following its completion WBM TV'i fest pattern wfH be telecost until 6:30 I AMITIONU TELEVISION MATURES MONOAT MAT JfTl 10:00 A to 10:30 A eature ilm to 6140 News Reel 6:40 "Racing the World" 6:50 Program Preview 7:00 Platform" 7:30 Korner" 8:00 Street Review" gala variety show dedicated by CBS to WEM TV tours races hili' cllmba Other trials which followed made it evident that standardized supervision was required so the association established a racing committee later called its contest board to preparq rules tor conducting coffipeti tions This board as to 4tab Iishedwas welcomed not only by car owners drivers' sportsmen but by automotive manufacturers 7 Evea anxious' to Improve their products thev Were quick to etfse the nvni asasit9cay 9 ss yv vvxs a be' tbsted and whose certifies MONDAY MAY 30 1949 raditional No Car To Be Absent In The dots on the map above show commu nities from which telegrams were re ceived Most distant point heard from wm Lakeview Ohio 165 miles from Indianap? olis and other wftos came from Kokomo La fayette Terre Haute Richmond Bloomington and dozens of other Indiana communities ON WBM'TV for the first time In1 to so it was that the :1 hnnrd tvhtrh errruz rtf thA social inclinations of a small number of car owners found op portunity to render a sendee greater than its' founders en Ata am imUIlC VAIVUL 1U wCpXVIA automobiles and their engineer ing were tried in races tpurs 'i hill climbs and other tests and 'this great laboratory process helped produce the wonderful cars we have today The nced for testing will re main as long as there are cars 1 and a public which buys them The element of sport which has surrounded the automobile from its earliest days will live People I fiHvAnflirniie man aniAU the thrill of participation in i them Adventure engineering 1 sportsmanship fame fortune careers and scientific testing are I combined in automotive compe tition as in no other activity in the world Appqjntment of the original contest board was delegated by the association to its president who chos men of unquestioned standing of integrity with knowledge of automotive affairs I all of whom served withput com pensation in the interests of the public the industry and those who participated in the sport And it is still so appointed by the president of the association now grown to 1000 clubs and more than 2000000 car owners I The contest board offices are maintained as a department of the American Automobile Asso ciation with a paid staff in Washington DC In all Its activities since it was formed Ideals of the American Automobile Associa tion and Its contest board have been safety and fairness lend Cl il 00441 en M' havepo 4 arid Hex Mays who1 THIS IS THE STRAUSS ART PORTRAIT TROPHY THE WIHBEB TO THE WINNER There will be no No 1 car in the 500 mile race this'tlme That coveted numerical rating by the contest board of the Ariierican Autamobila'Association has been awarded posthumously to Ted Horn who not onlv received the AAA national championship for iyqs nut also the same awards in 1946 and 1947 to become the first driver to win' the cham pionship for three consecutive years No 2 has been awarded by the board to Mfyron ohr of Mil waukee Wls while Mauri Rose I 1948 Mays who STRAUS I CO Inc THE MAN'S STOREt of Indiana Washington at 'Illinois' SreetlbfOlANAPOUS 168 Street PARIS 36tRue de Jeiineurs M' 1 1 By CLEOKERN With the finest array of racing creations and top notch drivers bofnb of to mJ" scheduled to witness a duel guess today which should shatter all existing T32'900'milM atigouriy eod re on the NovLteam of uThis car has pre ran its ability to Duke Nalon and Rex Mays to cover the 500 miles by finishing capture the lion share of glory ninth last year with Tommy Hln ft ran mnnrav i Of course Mauri Rose 1947and 1948 winner iri Lou Moore's Blue Crown Special and run nine mate Bill Holland who fin ished in second spot In each of Rose set last year in winning the these two' occasions will be a event will be broken again this real jactor to reckon with BUD WINIELD'S two Novi are considered the two fastest cars on thetrack and theone that Duke Nalon is driving all but won last race Only a refueling' bobble by his pit crew kept' him from getting i checkered flag ahead of Rose ILUTS Ikrttaiwffy by HwKirtf I a I' "liT21ll 1 1 iuft4Tia njKtbl 11 11 1 1 quest of fa? I I '7V I I JL I I I A4 'i A i a 1 if 1 'ftk I jTli IXMI ka in tff Bl A NT A TO tJ I.