The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 1

i I a WEATHER TODAY Sunny, Mild High, 75; Low, 42 Yesterday High, 62; Low, 48 1 (M: I I (hi) I J- jJLS ill i.1 "117m? fie spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty" II Cor. 3-17 1 i VOL. 63, NO. 314 A. Jf, A.

A A. i t4 Sunday, May 15, 1966 Indiana Sesquicentennial Year J5 1 A UV7U 0 I 4 0 PRESS I I i G38-2111 (VA3k' 25 Cents A m) Mil ffiMM StejS VtaM ijj L. 1 mm Km0T immn i mm ill vJ JOAi) Jl JdP il JdC falflT Mi 1 Sequence JPietures dPf 1st Turn Crash 1965's Top Rookie At 166.328 MPH In 1 Lap, 165.899 In 4 By DAVE OVERPECK Mario Andretti smashed all track records yesterday with a breath-taking run that put him and his Dean Van Lines Hawk-Ford on the pole, but the death of driver Chuck Rodee less than half an hour later took the happiness out of the fastest day in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history. Andretti set a one-lap record of 166.328 miles an hour on his first of four laps and averaged 165.899 mph for the 10-mile run as 175,000 fans watched. rulrjX3 'JM' (Star Sequence By Lloyd Masing) Flames Shoot Up Alter impact Today's Events Ctfieff Ilodce's Car 11 it a Wall IVT 1 I fcKuKJ t7, A Careen Back Onto Track Car's Lett Hear Buckle i 8 LIS Iff it' 1 rW I Mario AmlreUi less than half an hour beford the 6 p.m.

closing. The Scotsman tried his best, but his best was almost 2 miles an hour too slow. He settled finally for 164.114 in the STP Gasoline Treatment Lotus-Ford and the middle spot in the first row. The outside spot on the first row went to George Snider, like Andretti a sophomore at the Speedway. Snider, who saved the day for the Sheraton-Thompson garage, actually was the track record-holder when Andretti went out for his run.

Second to finish a qualifying attempt, the 25-year-old Fres no (Calif.) driver had a quick lap of 163.014 and a four-lap average of 162.521. FIVE DRIVERS broke the four-lap record set by Foyt Eighteen cars qualified yester day with the field averaging 160.743. The 33-car starting lineup last year averaged 156.038. The inside position in the second row went to 1963 winner and two-time pole-setter Parnelli Jones in the Agajan-ian's REV 500 supercharged Offy with a speed of 162.484. Then came Lloyd Ruby in the Bardahl Eagle at 162.455 and another second-year man, Gordon Johncock in the Weinberger Homes Gerhardt-Ford at 161.059.

Jim McElreath, who refused Turn To Page 1, Section 4, Column 7 k' I 1 i. Gates Open 9 a.m. Practice Begins 9 a.m. Balloon Race 11:30 a.m. Qualification Begins Noon.

Track Closes 6 p.m. charged Offenhauser-powered car at the Speedway. He regained consciousness briefly and told car owner Bob Wilke that a piece of paper or felt or a rag blew across his face before the skid. A piece of felt did come off the car. But Chief Mechanic Grant King said It couldn't have caused the accident.

ALTHOUGH he already was the star of the show when the track opened for practice at 9 a.m., Andretti disappointed himself mildly on his qualifying run. In morning runs, the 1965 500 rookie of the year had an unofficial track record of 168.3 mph. Still, his efforts were enough to beat A. J. Foyt's track records set last year.

The one-lap record was 161.958 and the four-lap time was 161.233 mph. Foyt washed out any possi bility of retaining the pole when he wrecked his Sheraton-Thompson Coyote-Ford in the fourth and final incident of the day. ANDRETTI, with the pres sure of qualifying on, still was more race driver than anybody else at the Speedway yesterday. His hot lap was his first one at :54.11, 166.328 mph. Then he had :54.18.

166.113; 54.25, 165.899; :54.46, 165.259. For four laps it was 3:37:00 and 165.899 mph. STILL, THE little Italian immigrant had to sweat through most of the day to be sure he had earned the inside position of the front row. Defending 500 champion Jimmy Clark wanted the top spot in the worst way and twice overcame gear trouble before finally going out with Bodee' Car Come To Best TIIIC.S WEBE LOOKING CP Rodee Had Made Balloon Event Highlight Today Rodee was driving a Leader Card racer that Rodger Ward failed to make the race with last year and was warming up for a qualification attempt when he crashed in the southwest turn. The nose of his car dipped into the infield in what appeared to be the beginning of a slow, easy spin onto the grass.

Hut the rear-engine machine suddenly got traction and rocketed 450 feet into the outside retaining wall back, wards. The impact drove the starting shaft of the car 5 Inches Into the concrete wall. Rodee was taken semiconscious from the car and rushed first to the track area hospital and then to Methodist Hospital where he died at 2:05 p.m. The last Speedway victims were Eddie Sachs and Dave McDonald, who were killed in the fiery second-lap crash in the 1964 race. RODEE, a 38-year-old resident of Speedway (1124 Nes-ter Street) and a veteran of 18 years of racing, was the first fatality in time trials since Stubby Stubblefield in 1937.

Rodee, who had driven in two previous 500s, had been impressive in practice with laps as high as 159.9 mph, the fastest ever for a nonsuper- Behave CHUCK RODEE May Was Good Month he blew an engine. Finally, he switched to the Joe Hunt magneto roadster, but his 146.466 effort was too slow. Last year Rodee took over Wally Weir's Halibrand-Offy two days before the final weekend of trials. He quali fied easily at 154.546, but left the race with gear failure after only 28 laps. Still, 1965 was a good year for Chuck, a veteran of 18 years of racing.

He won six midget features and also took a fifth in the 250-mile cham pionship race at Atlanta. D.O. Ilelated Stories And Picture in Sport Section I 11 a.m. and three gates were closed. IT WAS the "largest number of cars ever" at Speedway, Capt.

Robert K. Konkle of the state police traffic division reported. Even the parking lots in downtown Speedway were packed as dry, sharp weather lured the big crowd which saw track speed records broken on this first day of Bands played, flags flew and "500" Festival' Queen Sue Helen Harrison, the 32 Festival princesses and Festival presi dent Robert B. McConnell rode through the pit area in con vertibles. Joseph L.

Quinn Speed way safety director, said to day oaiioon race, wmcn is sanctioned by the National eronautics Association, should last about an hour, depending Turn to Page 14, Column 4 Re-enactment of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 1909 balloon race will be the highlight today of the opening weekend of qualificati ons which yesterday brought to 60,000 autos to the famed track. Participants in the balloon race, a part of the colorful 50th anniversary of the 500-Mile Race, will be Don Piccard, son of the famous French explorer of the stratosphere, Jean Felix Piccard, and Paul Ed Yost, only man to pilot a balloon across the English Channel. ALTHOUGH RACE fans at yesterday's qualifi cations were estimated at 175,000, only one major traffic tieup was reported by police. Traffic went "exceptionally smoothly" all day, police said. The one jam developed near the track on West 16th Street as lots filled up about At Scene 'Bad' Car car just before the accident, but chief mechanic Grant King said it had nothing to do with the accident.

"It was between the fuel and oil tanks and had come off before," King said. "It couldn't have had anything to do with it." CHUCK RODEE was a little man, 5-8 and 145 pounds. But he was a big man in driving ability and courage. He had finished second in the national midget standings in 1956, third in 1955 and 1965 and fourth in 1961. He won the first two midget events of the '66 season and was leading the point standings.

In 1958, Rodee broke his arm so badly in a championship car crash at Trenton that doctors told him he would never race again. Through grijn determination, he exerciseckthe arm back to usability ajfl a year later passed his driver's test at the Speedway. He didn't make the 500 until 1962 after being bumped from the field in 1960, but he lasted only 18 laps until he was involved in a four-car accident at the head of the mainstretch. In 1963 he accepted what seemed to be a safe qualifying speed on the first weekend only to be bumped later. A year later he ran into all sorts of trouble.

FIRST HE crashed his American Rubber Products Special after running over a piece off another car. Then Fireman Arrive flash of flame from the magnesium wheels as they scraped the wall. IT SLID 100 more feet before coming to a stop in the middle of the track. Rodee was unconscious when help reached him. He was rushed first to the track hospital then to Methodist.

But it was to no avail. The Speedway press room set the time of the accident at 12:40 p.m. At 2:05 Chuck Rodee died of head, neck and chest injuries, the 49th man to die at the Speedway. He never regained consciousness. Just what happened may never be known.

The best guess is that Chuck might have pinched the turn too tightly. A piece of felt flew off the The Weather Joe Crow Says: The race for the pole turned out to be the Mario a go go go. Indianapolis Mostly sunny and mild today, cloudy and mild tonight with showers probable. Mild with possible showers tomorrow. Indiana Fair and mild today with cloudy and possible showers in most of the state by evening.

Mild with possible showers tomorrow. It had been the best May of Chuck Rodee's life. After years of driving cars of questionable merit, the 38-year-old Speedway resident finally had a car for the 500-Mile Race that looked like it was going someplace. It was a year-old car built by A. J.

Watson with a non-supercharged Offenhauser in the rear. The car had a bad reputation it was the only one in the last 15 years that Rodger Ward couldn't put in the race, and Johnny Rutherford had spun into the pits and hurt two people with it at Trenton. And the Offenhauser engine was supposed to be a thing of the past at the Speedway. But Rodee and the car seemed like a love match. Chuck kept amazing people and amazing them again this month as he got more and more speed out of a car that most people had written off as a lost cause.

He finally got it up to 159.9 miles an hour, more than enough to make the starting field easily. All seemed to be going well yesterday as Chuck started into the first turn on his second warmup lap prior to his qualification run. Then suddenly the nose of the Leader Card racer dipped into the infield. The machine did a half spin in the grass before heading for the wall tail first. It covered 450 feet before it slammed into the concrete with tremendous force and a '500' Lineup FIRST ROW 1.

Mario Andretti, Dean Van Lines 163.899 2. Jimmy Clark, STP Gasoline Treatment 164.141 3. George Snider, Sheraton-Thompson 162.521 SECOND ROW 4. Parnelli Jones, Agajanian's REV 500 162.481 5. Lloyd Ruby, Bardahl Eagle 162.455 6.

Gordon Johncock, Weinberger Homes 161.059 THIRD ROW 7. Jim McElreath, Zink-Urschel-Slick 160.908 8. Chuck Hulse, Wynn's 160.844 9. Don Branson, Leader Card 160.38S FOURTH ROW 10. Jerry Grant, Bardahl-Pacesetter Homes 160.335 11.

Jackie Stewart, Bowes Seal Fast 159.972 12. Billy Foster, Jim Robbins 159.190 FIFTH ROW 13. Rodger Ward, Bryant Heating Cooling 159.468 14. Johnny Boyd, Prestone 159.384 15. Graham Hill, American Red Ball 139.243 SIXTH ROW 18.

Gary Congdon, Valvoline 158 17. Mel Kenyon, Gerhardt Offy I58'5 18. Art Pollard, Heger 4 Compton 157)81 Inside Today's tar 280 PAGES IN THIS ISSUE Gl KIDNAPED AND SHOT BY CAPTORS-Second service- man listed os missing in Viet Nam. Page 2, Section 1 400,000 TAKE DRAFT TESTS College men's grades to go to their draft boards to help determine their tatus Page 7, Section 1 RESERVE CUTBACK REJECTED Senate defense subcommittee beats down Defense Secretary McNa-mara's proposal. Page 16, Section 1 Index On Page 2, Section 1.