Evening Star Newspaper, June 28, 1925, Page 54

19 RACINC: STARS ON LAUREL TRAC PORTRAYED IN WORD PICTURE (Continued from Fifth Page.) of automobile racing has been the Vanderbilt cup race. engendered by the enthusiasm W. K. Vanderbilt, brought away from his performance at Ormond. The first race was run October 8, 1904 over na distance of 2814 miles, For three consecutive Years they were won by forelgn cars, and it remained for the fourth race, at Long Island, October 24, 1908, to be | won by an American driver, George Tobertson, in a_Locomobile. Names | which are watchwords to racing fol- lowers appear in the galaxy of win- ners of the Vanderbilt cup. Ralph | De Palma, Ralph Mulford and Dario | Resta were among those who finished first in the great American motor classic. Another great motor racing feature was the Grand Prize cup of the Auto mobile Club of America, which passed out of competition after 11_years at Santa Monica, California, November 18, 1916, when Resta averaged 86.9 miles an hour. The Grand Prize race was run over a distance slightly in excess of 400 miles. Only once in its history did an American car win, and that was when Eddie Pullen in a Mercer finished first in 1914. With the passing of the classic sponsored the Automobile Club of America o went the annual Vanderbilt cup run for the last time nine| years ago. Road racing gave to the now | popular specdway fe The first of American speedways was bullt at Tndianapolis in 1909, the present derby of the motor race cour: The track at Indianapolis was fixed at 212 miles, and the first surface was of macadam. This would not stand the strain of the race, and after the opening meet this | surface was torn up and paving brick substituted. In 1911 promoters of the Indian- apolis track staged their first 500-mile race for a purse of $25.000, a huge 1m at that time. Its popularity has | acreased until it is looked upon one of the foremost sporting features | of the year. The Indianapolis track was followed by others, many of which have since assed into the discard. Of those re- naining are the tracks at Kansas Cit Fresno, Calif.; Altoona, Pa.: Charlott N. C.. and Culver City, Calif. Four teen tracks have been dismantled be- cause their immense overhead made their continuance prohibitive. Those | that disappeared for this reason were Sheepshead Ba: Cincinnati, | Ohio? Minneapol Los Angeles | (Beverly Chicago, Tl Omaha, s Motnes, Iowa T'niontown, Px Sioux Ci Towa; | Santa Rosa (Cotati), Calif; Tacoma, | Wash., and Atlanta, Ga. The history of motor racing has been made by the men who have pilot- ed their speedsters around the ova Dates are significant, records are in-| but the source of that secure | grasp motor racing has on the minds | of its my of devotees lies in the | slightly designed racing car and its | gritty driver. It is the case of the cen-| aur translated into modern sport. | The one without the other seemingly is out of pla Typical Racing Automobile. First, a glance at a typical racing | automobile. It is little more than a roadster stripped of all but the essen- tials. It frequently is tapered at the rear and sloped off at the hood to provide the needed absence of wind reslstance in traveling at high spee Whee set wide apart to * the r The hood is long slightl the driver's seat. drfver is seated low at the wheel. A common misconception is that rac- ing automobiles are huge cars with giant motors that go snorting over the course_like great engines of destruc- tion. Nothing could be farther from the facts. The cars are small and light. The engines are surprisingly small, with tiny cylinders that maKe a fliv- ver's equipment look like that of a good-sized_truck by comparison. Piston displacement in racing en- gines has been lowered steadily, and with this development has come the rising tide of speed. Ray Harroun won the first Indianapolls 500-mile race fn 1911 with a six-cylinder engine | having a piston displacement of 447.10 cubic inches. That is mearly four times the displacement of the engines that crosszd the finish lines in the last | innual features. The piston dis- -ement now Is but a fraction over | cubic inches, making an engine size one-third less than that of a Ford c Motor Car Development Goes On. It should be noted that with the progress of the speedy sport has gone the continuous development of the motor car. An automobile that can stand the telling pace of 250 or 500 miles must be a superior product. Blowouts must be made wellnigh im- possible, engines must be manufac- tured to “stand up” under the strain. And if they don't, well, there's more than engineering interest in the fail- ure for one man in the race. Automo- bile racing has proved the practical | proof of any laboratory tests that may De tried. There is no theory, no “may- be 50" to a race of a couple hundred miles. The evidence of a long, hard drive is self-llustrated. It cannot be disputed. That is the reason why mo- tor engineers follow the automobile races, particularly the events at the | 0 HTNING MOTOR FUEL 25 035% MoRE.PEP-MORE POWER-MORE MILES The popularity of 16 is best evidenced by the fact that our rapidly increasing business constantly demands the opening of more neighborhood filling stations. One Neighborhood Station Is Selling More Than 1,000 Gallons of Lightning Motor Fuel Per Day The only answer to the ever growing popularity of tln'c. special motor fuel over regular grades is the absolute satisfaction in increased |when he was taken into the racing old brick track at Indianapolis, where the test of an excedingly rough road is given the cars. The racers themselves are sports- men purely and simply. They are men who thrill to the touch of the wheel as surely as the spectators feel the drama of the spectacle they offer. How do they enter the racing game? Well, how does the sandy-haired urchin of the sand lots develop into a big league base ball player? That's the answer. It's in them, and some- how it h to come out. The only way the urge to race can be satisfied is at the wheel of the fastest car yet built. A few high lights from the life his- tory of a new hero of the motor courses—Peter de Paoio—will show the way they come all the way from the wide-eyed kid, through the me- chanic stage, to the champion of the speedw: Noted Speeder a Young Man. De Paolo, who recently leaped into fame as the winner of the Indianap- olis classic, with an average of 101.13 miles an hour, and of the Altoona champlonship feature, is but 27 years old and has had hjs enthusiasm for racing nearly that long. He began his life as a farm boy. He wanted to be a racing driver from his earliest s, and dates his first hopes of realizing that ambition from the time he went to live with his uncle, Ralph de Palma, at the age of 6 years. It was only to be expected that the little fellow would have the ambition to gre up to be good enough to beat “Uncle Ralph,” and that trick was turned by Pete at Indlanapolis. To get close to automobiles he worked for a tire company in New- ark, N. J., and when the war came along Peter joined the Aviation Corps, becoming proficient in engine me- hanics. He was given the oppor- tunity he wanted following the war, camp of De Palma. De Paolo later broke away from his uncle and, after considerable fence smashing, finally proved he could hold a fast car on the course. The rest is too recent for comment. He is well on the way to the year's champlonship. The drivers don't spend all their time racing. There are comparative- ly few races a year. There are other ways, too, for preparing for a race besides sitting at the wheel of one of the world’'s fastest. More likely one will find a group of racers out pedaling the roads in the neighbor- hood where they are waiting for a race. Motor racing drivers are bicycle devotees. De Paolo is almost as proud of a bicycle record he hung up at the Indianapolis track as he is of the motor feat he performed there May 30. Nearly all the big drivers are golf enthusiasts. De Paolo, who again can serve as an' example, is the holder of a championship in the ancient Scottish pastime in California. Thrills Many and Varied. The thrilling events of an automo- bile race are many and varied. The race itself covers more than two hours, if a 250-mile feature, and a correspondingly longer time if the length 0 miles. Were it merely a matter of watching about a score of speed demons dash around the board or brick oval, interest might ag. But there is little chance for flagging interest in a championship | motor race. First there is the start, when the cars are sent flying from the line. There is the usual jockeying for posi- tion. The grind is on, but not for long. “‘Bang" goes a tire. The pit of the un- tunate driver is sought on the next lap around. A “crew” of mechanics jump to his assistance, and the chang- ing of a tire may be accomplished in a little more than 20 seconds. The Endurance? This quality”is the fin buying a car. In the Nash Advance strength in every fiber, beauty of line and finish. There is a kindred quality evident when you buy through McReynolds, successive friendships in May We Show You the ‘Touring Car R. McReyn 1423-27 L St. Main 7228-20 mileage, power and acceleration which it gives. Satisfied Users Are Making New Sales Records FUEL OIL - PENN OIL CO. West 166 g alll For Us Every Month Our Fuel 0il 0il for all type Burners. Phone Rosslyn, Va. e Department specializes in Quick Service THE SUNDAY driver's pit may not wait for the blow- out which may end much more dis- astrouely than merely in the loss of time. When a tire is noticed to be wearing a signal is wig-wagged to the driver to come to the pit on the next lap. Skidding may furnish a few thrills for the thousands of spectators who follow the cars breathlessly around the track. Racing cars have been known to skid and turn entirely around in position to continue on the course, Then there is the occasional unfore- seen mishap. Its cause may be skid ding, a blowout, engine trouble, driv ing too close to the edge of the track, misjudgment on the part of the driver and countless other factors which con- stitute the unexpected. It is the acci- dent, when the racer goes hurtling off the track, that produces the greatest thrill, needless to say. Call it the blood- lust, ‘call it the enthusiasm of the sports follower, or call it what you will, the occasional mishap has lent a glamour to motor racing that cannot be gainsaid. Checking Seen as Difficult Task. Gne of the most difficult tasks around a motor race track is checking the cars as they cover the course. For a fleld of 18 or 20 cars there are six checkers, whose duty it is to see to it that each driver covers every lap needed to complete the race and is of- ficially credited with all the ground he has covered. If a driver does not get the place he thinks he is entitled to there is a protest, and his own checker, stationed in that particular driver's pit, comes forward with evidence to show the correct position at a given time. Timing a race and starting it are callings in themselves. Timers and starters usually do nothing else but perform these dutles at the big auto- mobile races. The championship races are run under the rules laid down by the contest board of the American Au- tomobile Association. These regu- late every phase of the race, from the qualifying of the drivers to the prizes to be awarded. The contest board rules, for instance, that prize money shall be $100 guaranteed for every mile in the race. A 250-mile feature, therefore, requires prizes totaling $25,000. A certain number of points toward the vear's cham- pionship is awarded for each posi- tion in every championship race run during the year. No other sport draws greater crowds than automobile racing. The throng that witnessed the Indianap- olis classic this year reached nearly 150,000 persons and totaled about 15,- 000 more than the number who saw it in 1924. Officials at that track say that a week after this year's race two entire grandstands were re- served for the 1926 event. It dem- onstrates better than words can in- dicate the lure of the game for the thousands who witness the races. From a business point of view, the automobile champlonship races have their pronounced benefits to the nefghborhood in which they are held. It is estimated that the latest Ind anapolis race means an expenditure by the fans of $8,000,000 in that city and mnearby territory. Hotels are packed, eating places are mobbed and every other line of business has its demand in varying degrees. What is it that allures the myriads of followers of auto racing? What- ever the answer, assured it is that while horse racing has been termed the sport of kings, motor rdcing may well be called the sport of all who love a thrill. Such is provided by those heroes of the rumbling motors x_;mkdefy death at every lap of the ck. —_— For the first time a woman has been granted the privilege of -appear- ing as counsel in a Chilean law court. The woman thus honored is Senorita Jovita Valenzuela, a leader in femin- ist circles in the South American republi al decisive factor when d Six vou find rugged combined with a lasting , a firm of sixty years of customers. at $1498.007 olds & Son 14th & Park Rd. Columbia 2619 5 Franklin 391 Franklin 391 13 STAR, W. ASHINGTON D. C John Smith and His Car BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. John Smith is a character whom every motorist should welcome. He it not selfish; rather he is a motoring martyr, a chap willing and glad to nave exploited, in an interesting way, hig experiences for the benefit of the other 10,000,000 or more members of the motor clan. No. 104—Meeting the Ammeter. With two crowded years of motor- ing to his credit Smith began to feel that he was a past master at the wheel. But at this point one of those perplexing little things came along to remind him that experience is merely the ability to recognize the enormity of human ignorance. It was nothing more than the pointer of the ammeter on the instru- ment board, but it served to jolt his pride. Here was the very simplest and smallest of the car's equipment ])c-rfm"lnlng in 2 way that he could not explain. “Watch that ammeter,” he told me as we started down an easy decline. “I'm coasting with the clutch out. The throttle is closed to the idling position. ~ Yet it shows a rate of charge just about equal to the usual rate at this speed when the clutch is engaged and when the engine's run- ning faster. It begins to look as if the ammeter was singing its swan song.” Smith was certainly let down a few pegs when I explained the real trouble to him. But I made the drop as easy as possible by giving him a sample of simplicity in’trouble hunting. Hunting for Trouble. ‘““Whenever you discover anything like this,” I said, “the thing to do is to review your recent experiences with the car to find out whether there has been any other unaccountable be- havio “I've been getting poor gas mile- age,” he said. “You'know I coast whenever it's sensible and safe, and at first 1 used to get results. Now the gas mileage seems to be the same whether I coast or run along down grade with the clutch engaged. nything else?” I asked. 'here seems to be difficulty in rting the car gently and when I shift gears after the car has warmed up I make a mess of it. Sometimes I think the clutch plates must be dragging a littl “Now, if you'll just put together all these symptoms, you'll find your ex- planation for the queer behavior of the ammeter. The clutch drags so badly that when you get it warmed up and push out the clutch pedal the car doesn’t coast at all. It keeps on revolving the engine shaft and, of course, the generator keeps on charg- ing. You might have discovered this long ago if you had taken a tip from the ammeter.” “I never knew it was so useful” Smith confessed. “I remember you once advised me to see that the am- meter pointer stood at zero when I left the car at night and, if it showed discharge with everything switched off, there was something wrong with the relay, or cut-out, thus indicating that the battery was discharging back into the generator. I never paid much attention to the ammeter, however, when driving.” ““Then you've missed a lot of prac- tical scenery,” I added. *You haven't really met the engine until you have met the ammeter. Haven't you often been surprised to find that your en- gine has stalled while you were wait- ing in heavy, noisy traffic?” I should say so,” he admitted. “But v«}']hnt has the ammeter got to do with that?"” Watch the Ammeter. ““The ammeter pointer will flicker a little just so long as the engine is <id Sie <iaid e e A «aidqid Al three endurance. «qiqaia “ 8 4id i aiq e . Undisputed Fact— No car has ever approached the Stutz in the aggregate of the essentials—speed—power— running,” I explained. ‘“When the engine stalls the pointer will rest calmly in a slightly discharged posi- tion just as though vou had some of the lights switched on. If the stop light signal on the rear of the car is properly connected, the ammeter will tell you by a flicker whether it is working when you press on the brake pedal. “If the engine is not firing evenly, it it is missing or if it has been choked too much in starting, the nerv- ous action of the ammeter pointer will be your guide. Used in connection with other parts of the car, it also will tell you much additional facts re- garding the performance of the car. If, for instance, you are not sure whether the jerky action of the car is due to the engine or to some looseness in the clutch, transmission, universal joints or rear axle, hold out the clutch. If the ammeter pointer con- tinues to jiggle, you have traced the trouble to the engine itself. “Using the speedometer in connec- tion with the ammeter, you can tell easlly whether the clutch is slipping. Suppose you are climbing an easy hill at 156 miles an hour and the am- meter indicates a charging rate equal to what you would normally expect at a speed of 25. Wouldn't that tell you all you'd need to know about the clutch Smith took it calmly, but seriously, and it was not until later*that he ad- mitted he was beginning to feel that the ammeter pointer was pointing the way to a new fleld of opportunity in his motoring. Next Week—Bearing on Bearings. (Copyright, 1925.) KNOW THE 'CAR AHEAD. Characteristics of Other Auto Often Determine Safety. It is valuable to know the charac- teristics of the cars that are ahead of you on the road. Some stop quickly. Some stop’ poorly. And there is often just as wide a varfation In their other controls. You might easily be led into a double collision by not knowing that when the car ahead is slowly slowing down, its driver is trying hls best to avoid an obstacle in the road. It may be very dangerous to attempt to pass a car that does not steer well. When you only have a small margin of safety in_which to pass another car on a hill it is very important to know whether that car could spurt ahead it the driver was so inclined. SAFEGUARD THE WHEELS. 1925—PART o o STARTING MIXTURES STUDIED IN TESTS Very Lean Gas Fires Engine on Fewer Revolutions, It Is Found. Tests are in progress at the Bu- reau of Standards to determine the influence of different factors upon the starting of internal-combustion en- gines. Measurements are made both of the time required to start the en- gine and the amount of fuel used. In many of these experiments many fuel-air ratios have been employed, and the results show that, in general, it requires a longer time to start with lean mixtures than with rich ones. The fact that with lean mixtures the engine fires after it has made sev- eral revolutions indicates that the mix- ture in the engine cylinder becomes richer each revolution, although the mixture delivered by the carburetor remains the same. l ‘What s of particular interest, how ever, is that with the very lean mix- tures the total quantity of fuel which enters the engine before an explosion is obtained is greater than when rich- er mixtures are employed, and the en- gine fires after fewer revolutions. In other words, according to the experi- ments, with certain limitations using more fuel per revolution makes it pos- sible to start the engine with a smaller total quantity of fuel. ENGINE POWER FEATURE. Compression Regarded as Matter Neéding Careful Attention. Compression is the big feature of engine power. Watch it. The pres- sure of the burning gas vapor in a cylinder—the actual downward push of the plstons—is approximately four times the compression pressure. Sup- pose your engine e bullt for a| normal pressure of 70 pounds in each | cylinder. Suppose there are six| cylinders. Suppose the engine is| running at 2,000 revolutions per minute. Cylinders fire eve: two revolutions of the shaft, or in this case there would be three cylinders firing for every revolution. The compress ion pressure is, therefore, 210,000 pounds per minute per square inch of piston head surface. The explosion pressure is four times this figure 540,000 pounds. Now assume the valves to be leaky, or the rings to be worn, and reduced the per inch com-| pression cylinder to 65 pounds. There | is then a loss of 60,000 pounds of explosion pressure every minute for every square inch of piston head area. Thats when the engine seems to be dying out. Water May Collect in Rims When You Wash Car. When you wash your new car with its balloon tires, assuming that you use artillery wood wheels, do not move the car when you finish the job until you have considered a point in connection with the wheels. You will find that a lot of water has collected around the rim, running down to the lowest level so as to form a minlature reservoir. Unless this is drained off the wheels will be streaked when you start off. e elW qie G4 <l aie e IEERErE 1a s14 o1q 1% a1d ) (Washington now ha -M:rwhoh:‘l’eduz to uphold the Stutz standard of service.) STUTZ MOTORS GEORGE M. NORRIS, President 1724 Kalorama Road—Columbia 7484 Choosing an Automobile In selecting his automobile, the experienced motor- ist looks further than finish, body lines and seating arrangement. He looks even further than under the hood. He learns the reputation of the car, the dealer handling it and his ability to render the proper kind of service when he needs it. In the combination of Buick automobiles and Horner reputation you are assured of automobile satisfaction. Stanley H. Horner - Retail 1015 14th St. ‘ Dealer Main 5296 “Convenient to Downtown” Announcement We wish to announce that we are now open for busines: Large Stock of Genuine Ford Parts and Accessories Look for the Green Front Auto Service Co. M. A. Bayles, Mgr. 462 Penna. Ave. N.W. Speedway Facts and Figures Dedication race is scheduled for Saturday, July 11, at 2:30 p.m Speedway is situated less than one-half mile off the main boulevard about two and one-half miles south of Laurel. Opening event will be a distance of 250 miles. A purse of $25,000 is offered by the speedway include Peter de Paolo, Tommy Contestants will Indianapolis and Altoona races: officials. of the recent champlon; winner Milton, former Earl Cooper, Harry Hartz, Bennie 1ill. Leon Duray and all the other popular stars of the motor racing world. The same fast champlonship events ars that have ill be used in this race. set world records in other The race will be Tun under the rules of the contest board of the American Automobile Association, the governing body in such events since the inception of racing. Fred J. Wagner, who racing events of the past as officlated as starter in all the famous 5 years, will be the starter of this contest and present the coveted checkered flag to the winner. The track is a board oval banked 48 degrees at the turns. This pitch, racing experts declared, will establish a new speed record. The grandstand alone will seat 25,000 persons comfortal Approximataly 15600 cars can be parked within the a their occcupants waich the race. Outside ihe track 23000 cars can be parked in safety on land owned by tae speedway corporation. TIME SUITED FOR JOB. Hint Given on Necessary Greasing of Chassis. There is a time for greasing the chassis that is best suited for the job. It is natural to assume that after a rough ride grease has worked into the spring bolts and steering assembly to even better advantage and that another greasing is not immediately necessary. This, however, means over- looking the’ habit which grease, as a lubricant, has of not resisting shock. The car gets a severe jolt and greese at a few important points is squeezed from between the bearing contacts. It is characteristic of greese, except in very hot weather, not to return to its original position” until forced back. A “grease gun is the only safe solution. S No Talk, Real Action. The Reading Railroad does not talk about removing grade crossings nor circulate statistics regarding crossing accidents. It just goes ahead and re- moves them. Two in Bethlehem, Pa one in Allentown; seven in Camden, N. J., is the 1924 record. More in 1925, It requires only 71 cents per dol- lar, compared with pre-war prices, to buy an automobile today. Motor Car Deaths Reach New Record; 439 Killed in May The automobile death rate, per n lion population, reached a new high point for the year during the last month, according to reports rece! from 84 cities, representing a total population of more than 30,000,000 There were 439 persons killed automoblle accidents during May, more than 14 deaths each day. While many of the larger citfes ported Increases in traffic fatalities, records of the office of the director of traffic here show that May was a most encouraging month from tha point of view of traffic deaths, there being fewer in Washington than in any similiar period this year. The most common circumstances attending the occurrence of accidents last month, as far as the driver w concerned, ' were dispute over ris of way and exceeding the speed limit Female motorists were involved ir only one-twelfth as many accidents as male drivers. Almost twice as many male pedes- trians were injured or killed as female pedestrians. The great major accidents occurred under id conditions—in daylight, clear and on dry roads. Most of dents occurred at inters No Other Way To Get Cadillac Results To obtain the complete absence of vibration which is so remarkable a characteristic of the Cadillac, it is necessary to adhere to the Cadillac develop- ment of the V-type Eight. Any deviation from these principles of V-type eight construction, inevitably entails the loss of many of the advantages. The ripened judgment of 11 years of continuous ex- perience with V-type eights has contributed richly to the perfection of the Cadillac of today. In it you will find no vibration at any speed—be- cause the sources of vibration are not in the Cadillac V-type Eight. The Washington Cadillac Company RUDOLPH JOSE, President Authorized Ford Service Dealer 1138-1140 Conn. Ave. Frank. 3900, 3901, 3902 Packard Beauty Enduvres Packard Six and Packard Eightbothare furnished in ten body types. Packard Six en- closed cars have been reduced in priceby an average of $750—and now sell at the same level as the open cars. The lasting distinction of Packard Six style is firmly established Packard Six owners expect to keep their cars over a period of years. And Packard makes it easy and desirable for them to ki and enjoy their cars for yeirs. Long life is built into every Packard car. But Packard cars are not only well designed and well built. Their original factory preci- sion is insured by the new Motor Oil Rec- tifier and the Chassis Pressure Lubricator. Proper and regular lubrication means that their mileage life can at least be doubled. Packard appearance and finish, too, are de- signed for long life. Packard has set an enduring style. Everyone knows that Packard cars are not ted by frequent and needless changes in design. The buyer of an improved Packard Six can be sure that it will e as true a Packard in 1930 as it is today—in performance, and in comfort, beauty and distinction. PACKARD WASHINGTON MOTOR CAR COMPANY Connecticut at S North 600 PACKARD -