The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 42

IS TAG I FRIDAY, MAT. SO, 1331 ti liace uuicims 10 miss en Sunday Kills 4 7 Drivers Tinier Chester Ilickcr 'mo track. Green was pinned it. Extricated, he was rushed, to the Randolph County Hospital at Winchester, but was dead of a broken neck on arrival. Mackey 's crash, in a car owned by Joe Langley, Indianapolis, was a virtual re-enactment of the Green accident.

It hit the barrier in virtually the same spot as Green's. Mackey thrown out before the car crashed to earth but he also died of a broken neck. SEVERAL OTHER cars went into spins at almost the identical spot where the Mackey and Green cars started their gyrations. Despite the two fatal accidents, Duane Carter, later in the same day, shattered the track record by driving a lap at 19.55 seconds. It was generally regarded as one of.

the most courageous feats in recent auto racing. BROWN'S SKULL was frac Three of the drivers who participated in last year's 5110-Mile rice died in crashes during a single "Biaek Sunday" last July 29. Cecil Green end riirMackey were hurt fatally only 20 minutes apart during qualification runs at Funk's Speedway near Winchester. Walt Brown met death during a warmup heat at Williams Grove, Pa. A fourth member of the 1951 starting field, Mack Hellings, also is dead.

He was killed last November in an airplane crash while on his way to race at San Mateo, CaL STRANGELY, GREEN, Mack-ey and Brown were the three slowest qualifiers for last year's race. Green, a 31-year-old Texan, led that classic at 200 miles before going out with a broken connecting rod after 81 laps. In his "rookie" appearance here in 1950, Green had shown great promise by posting the second fastest time of the entire quali rv fications and finishing fourth in in the race. Mackey was a 23-year-old home town boy hoping to make good at Indianapolis. Last year was his maiden start he-e although he had been driving race cars since 1943.

He barely mede the field, qualifying with the slowest speed of 131.473 miles an hour. HE WENT OUT of the race on his 97th lap when his Karl Hall Special broke a clutch shaft. Brown was a Speedway veteran, having driven here since 1947 when he finished in seventh place. In 1949, he took over as relief driver for Emil Andres on the 17th lap and drove the car to ninth place. In 1950, he was Oagged because of rain at 127 laps while riding in 19th position.

Last year, his Federal Engineering Special went out of the race on the 55th lap when it stalled on the northeast turn. THE THREE deaths made the day probably the worst in his tory for the Indianapolis driving contingent, surpassing even Sept. 2, 1916, when both George Rob-son, winner of that year's "500" and George Barringer, another top-flight pilot, were killed in crashes at Atlanta, Ga. Both the Winchester accidents occurred on the south turn of the half-mile asphalt oval. Fifteen cars had qualified when Green climbed into J.

G. Agajanian's Offenhauser for his trial run. A prize of $500 had been posted for any driver who made a qualifying ls(p in 19 seconds flat or less. Many observers believed Green was trying for that prize when he went over the wall. AFTER A FEW warmup laps, Green signaled he was ready to qualify.

He roared down the main straightaway and swept into the south turn. His car skidded, straightened and then headed for the dirt barrier, It struck the barrier and cleared a two-foot guard rail to drop 25 feet to the ground outside the One of the most familiar and beloved figures of the Speedway scene will be missing today for the first time in rsce history. Death last December lowered its checkered flag on Chester S. (Chet) Ricker, director of timing and scoring. Chet Ricker would have been 64 years old today.

If he were still alive, he would be celebrating his birthday just as he had on May 30 since 1915 by working 24 hours straight at the Speedway but never seeing the race. SPEEDWAY INSIDERS recall Chet as a small, grayhaired man in a white beret with the mind of a calculating machine. Chances are that you won't re-mpmher him. thoueh. Most of Chefs work was done behind the scenes.

Yet, he was probably the most important single cog in letting spectators and press and radio men know just was Fas going on out there on the race track. He headed a staff of 165 men who had the sizeable job of keeping track of 33 hurtling race cars and telling just where each one was an what average speed it was making at every stage of the race. EACH RACE DAY, Chet would go on duty at 5 a.m. and work straight through until 5 or 6 a.m. May 31.

Near dawn the day after the race, he would sign an report running some 40 pages, which served as the basis for distribution of the prize money. Its finality was about equal to that of a decision by the United States Supreme Court. The work between the time he went on the job and when he handed in the official report was one gigantic auditing process. It involved five separate cross-checks and the re-examination of hundreds of check cards and thousands of feet of timing tape. All the figuring was necessary to give an absolutely fool-proof rundown on where every car finished and where it stood at all times during the race.

A CLOSE FRIEND of the past and present greats of the roaring road, Ricker considered himself "merely the bookkeeper for the boys." "The boys are paid off on what my records show," ht said proudly. It was the disgust cf a high school boy intensely Interested In mathematics and disappointed In Inadequate scoring methods which led Ricker Into his unusual Speedway Job. AS A BOY In 1905, he saw his first Vanderbllt Cup Race in New York City. It was a road race and the cars started at one minute intervals. Nobody could make out who was ahead.

Spec tators were almost completely in the dark. As his disgust grew young Rlcker's mind began working on seme sort of a system. By the time the race was over, he had hit upon a workable one. Drivers heard about his new system and two of them, Guy Vaughn and Louis Strang hired him to time and score for them on an Individual basis. He scored his first race at Westchester, N.Y.

In 1907 and his drivers were the only persons who really knew how they stood In the race. Strang won the race and Vaughn finished well up among the money winners. RICKER BECAME much sought-after by drivers and his peculiar avocation paid most of his way through Cornell University for him. A. R.

Pardington, referee of the first had seen Ricker UuvJUg)0 UUuyJ -Ulnus mm wmm 1951 '500 tured at Williams Grove when his car spun out of control on a curve and turned over on him. He died a short time later in a Carlisle (Pa.) hospital. Brown had been driving big cars since 1934, and in 1919 he was credited with driving more competitive miles in championship racing than any other driver. That year he finished fourth in AAA standings. Of the triple tragedy, Speedway President Wilbur Shaw said: 'Their deaths were a majoi loss to the entire racing fraternity.

Brown was a topnotch veteran. Green was one of the standout rookies of recent years at the Speedway. Mackey also was a definite comer. HELLINGS WAS one of four persons killed in the crash of a small plane in the Tehachapi Mountains of California. Mack, a 35-year-old resident of Burbank, was a four-time participant in the race IXEWING CINCINNATI nnnn "TP) here.

He finished fifth in 1948. Mechanical trouble forced him out in 194S. He was running in 13th place in 1930 when the race was called because of rain. Last year his Tuffanelli-Derrico Special went out of the race after 14 laps with a broken piston. i i it OIL The Mind Bait Perfume TATrU MAD CICl CASH M.O.

PLEASE MAIL BOTTLES to BUDNICK'S TRADING MART 301 MASS. Indplt. LI, 5305 14, OHIO in action earlier at Vanderbilt Cup Races. He hired Ricker to serve on the technical committee here, and Chet did so in 1911 and 1912. Those were the only two times he sw the race.

In 1913, Ricker was appointed to the, brand new job which he still held at the time of his death. CHET WAS THE first to ad mit it was possible for this tim ing and scoring staff to make mistakes. "Several times we've had to change some of our placing cars after our audit," he said, "but we've been lucky enough, so far, never to have to change the winner." The latest occasion in which a switch in finishing positions was made was just last year, After the audit, Andy Linden was moved up from sixth to fourth place, Bobby Ball was dropped from fourth to fifth and Henry Banks from fifth to sixth. RICKER HAD ONE of his worst moments during the 1948 race. The crew timing the Blue Crown Spark Plug cars sus pected they had mistakenly credited one lap to Mauri Rose which should have been credited to Bill Holland.

Ricker immediately ordered one lap taken away from Rose on the scoreboards while he made an extensive check. As a result, Duke Nalon's Nov! Special was shown' as in the lead for several laps. But, the check showed no mistake had been made and the lap was restored to Rose, the ultimate winner. "THAT OXE HAD me sweat ing," Chet admitted. Timing and scoring races was strictly an avocation for Ricker.

His regular job was Detroit editor cf two McGraw-Hill publications, "American Machinists" and "Production Engineering." Ricker's timing and scoring activities weren't confined to the Speedway. He was official timer and scorer for all the great m6tor boat races held at Detroit, including the Qold Cup Race. The Speedway won't be the same today without Chet. mm, You can probably fig-ore out for yourself what this pit signal meant. The message from Mechanic Harry Stephens tells the driver that he averaged 128 miles an hour on the previous lap, of more than 20 stations, blanketing the Midwest and Includ ing points on the West Coast and the Gulf.

Non-competing stations in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, 1111 nois, Indiana and possibly Lou isiana, California and Florida will take the race directly from WIBC on a network to be known for the day as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway network. Plans are also being made by the Voice of America to beam a rebroadcast to Italy because of the entry of Italian driver Alberto Ascarl and four Italian-built cars, the Ferraris. Mutual, through its WIBC outlet, will air the Borg-Warner Speedway party for race personalities from 9:30 to 10 p.m., May 29. Collins, emcee of show, will conduct an Interview-type program, featuring top drivers, Arlene Dahl, movie queen at the race, Jerry Colonna and other celebrities in town for the classic. LOCAL COVERAGE of the Memorial Day race by other stations will be restricted to up-to-the-minute reports from the track on official standings, accidents and other news.

Member stations of the Indianapolis Motor Sneedwav net. work, to be fed from WIBC, art in inaiana: WKJG, Fort Wayne; WJOB, Hammond; WTRC, Elkhart; WHOT, South Bend; WITZ, Jasper; WIMS, Michigan City; WCSI, Columbus, and WTHI, Terre Haute. Other stations are: Wisconsin WFOX, Milwau kee; New York WBEN, Buf-falo; Virginia WXGI, Richmond: Ohio W.IEI. Snrlfir. field; WTOD, Toledo; Kentucky -www, Louisville; WZIP, Covington: WLAP.

IxWtniv Illinois WQUA, Moline; WRBI, r.iue island; WJOL, Jollet; Michigan WTVB. Coldwater: WSTR, Sturgia. jjg i Everyone In Reach Of Radio Will Have 'Ticket' To Race iu i ifri) IS 11 0 pyi uiu7 If, .1 aVx I Hot a trace of siveetnass Rdtop drier-far drfer-than any other leading Cincinnati proved by Independent laboratory comparison llevcr that "filled-up" tou an with Redtop, glass after glass, as long as you like enjoy it more, enjoy more of itl Every glass tastes as good as the first one Redtep's fteaffy Extra Dry flavor never Sets you down- Its magnificent quality neverchanges! Buy Redtep today! By TOLLY COCHRAN A ticket to the 500-mile classic is guaranteed everyone this year through radio. Although it will have to be a second-hand experience, the color, excitement and activity of the race can be obtained in the comfort of one's living room by a flick of the dial. Actual broadcast of the spectacle from the Speedway will be strictly a local affair.

WIEC, for the seventh year, was awarded the exclusive right for the airer. Capitol Paper Company and the Crosley dealers of the Indianapolis area will bear production costs. The Mutual network which in previous years took over the radio broadcasts, came in only for "feeds" in 1951 and this year will take only the last half hour of the local broadcast for a transcribed web program, SID COLLINS will describe the race for his fifth year, broadcasting directly from the radio booth in the pagoda. For pit interviews, drivers dropping out and the talk with the winner in Victory Lane, Gordon Graham, WIBC director of news events, will be stationed in the pit area. Tune-in times from the track will be 10:45 to 11:15 a.m.; 11:45 a.m.

to 12 toon; 12:45 to 1 p.m.; 2 to. 2: 15 p.m., and 2:45 p.m. to the end of the race. Bill Dean, WIBC program director, is handling production. Television coverage is completely out this year, with WFBM-TV limited to newscasts during the day and a program of race films later on.

Eary plans included the possibility not only of WFBM-TV coverage but also of putting the race on a TV network across the country. The project was abandoned when no takers, appeared to pick up the tab, reported close to one-third of a million dollars. WHAT'S NEW in the '52 ra-ilo coverage is a special network REDTOP 1.