Evening Star Newspaper, May 26, 1929, Page 101

THE QUND AY QTAR VVAQHIN(‘TO\I D. C, MAY 26, HE one-man racing automobile sings its swan song at the 500-mile Mtmorial day races at the Indianapolis Speedway next Tht ;: and’ in the other big speed meets of the year—at Detroit on June 9 and at Rockingham on June 29 and October 12. In the Indianapolis race, now designated as *the grand prize of America,” the daring men who make their livings by betting their lives that they can keep ahead of death through 500 racking miles of speed will be going it alone for the last time. Under new regulations adopted by governing officials of the American Automobile Associa- tion, all racing cars after this year will carry two men instead of one. This change will have two effects. It will somewhat reduce the speed at the big races. But it will restore to the automobile racing game an element of picturesqueness and color that passed when the one-man cars were in- stalled six years ago. Hereafter, as of old, a mechanic will ride with each driver. Once more the spectator will see two figures hunched together in the seat of each car, one gripping the wheel in- tently while the other jerks vigorously at a pump to keep up the air pressure in the gaso- line tank, shoots oil from the main reservoir into the crank case, or cranes his meck to ob- serve the position of rival cars. ‘This change will automatically work a change in the build of the automobiles. The machines that tear around American speedways after this season will be wider and will be equipped with somewhat larger motors. 'HE cars now used, needing to provide room for only one man, are as narrow as they could conceivably be made. They are little more than engines mounted on wheels. The chassis is rarely more than a foot and a half wide. The driver, almost literally, has to be helped into his seat with a shoe horn. In many cases the bottom sector of the steering wheel is cut away so that the driver can get in. As a result, the body of the racing car is an exceedingly narrow contraption, shaped like a cigar, diminutive in appearance between the spraddling wheels. 'Hereafter, however, it will have to be widér-twice as wide, at the very least, in order that the mechanic can ride. This will cut the speed that the cars can make. Wind resistance is an important matter when you are traveling at a rate of something near two miles a minute. To be sure, the cylinder displacsment of the new cars will be increased, but since modern automotive engi- " neers have about decided that a small engine can do about as well as a large one, this will not offset the added size of the car. Why was this step taken? Why has the all- pvowerful A. A. A. ruled the one-man racing car off the track, beginning with next year's races? Why has it decided to sacrifice speed in thesz con*~s's of speed? OnIy These Few Are Skilled Enough to Take Part in Auto Races---And the Races This Year Mark the End of the One-Man Cars---Cars of 1930 to Be Slower, and Carry Mechanics and Pilots. The answer can be told in two words—for safety. The simple fact of the matter is that the average racing car of 1929 can travel faster than the “safety limits” of the t.mh on which it must compete. Themodemautomouleneekhrdlyleon- test between rival cars, except in the vital matter of endurance; it is a contest between rival drivers. The man who has the steadiest drivers simply are not being developed in suf- ficient numbers. It is an expensive business to enter the lists 2s a racer. A car costs around $12,000, and the racer can figure on spending at least $5,000 a year for expenses—not counting a matter of $2,500 or more extra for transporting his car to the various “big league” racing tracks. Now a man is not going to undertake a ven- ture that costly until he knows that he is enough of a racer to finish in the money pretty often. Yet, under the present system, how can he become a good driver? ° He can substitute for the stars, of course, and pick up his knowledge in that matter; but it is an unsatisfactory method, in which the openings are few and far between. To be sure, a few stars of the racing world got in that way. In 1926, for instance, a youngster from Cali- fornia named Frank Lockhart was brought to Indianapolis before the Memorial day race by Harry Miller as exercise boy for llilleta string of cars. 1920—PART 7.’ car went into the ocean while he was trying to establish a new straight-away record. Then, last year, there was Louis Meyers—& shy youngster, also from California, who got a friend to mortgage a garage in order to buy him a racing car, and who slipped over the wire at the end of the 500-mile grind ahcad of everybody. But the Lockharts and the Meyers are few and far between. The one-man car system simply has not developed new drivers, and the A. A. A. has taken cognizance of the fact. In the old days, the mechanic’s seat was the best place in the world for a youngster to learn the business of automobile racing. At the end of a few years’ work with a good driver all. he needed was a little first-hand experience behind the wheel to fit himself for competition on his own hook in any kind of company. There is a regular circuit of race tracks,. sanctioned by the A. A. A., scattered all across the country, and most drivers travel from one to another, competing at all of them. Thus. the entourage is constantly on the move; and the mechanic is a busy man indeed. After a meet is held, the driver crates his car and has it shipped to the scene of the next race, which is probably a month or more in’ the future. The mechanic goes with him to the spot and helps unload the car and transport it to the track. Then the work begins. FIRST of all, the driver takes a few trial spins around the track to see how thes’ engine is performing. His mechanic waits for him in the “pit”"—a small inclosure in the infield bordering the inner rim of the track, where repairs can be made. A few minor- changes are made—carburetor ldjmments. say, or something similar, ‘Then the car is brought into the garage and torn completely to pieces. Each part is care«’ A one-man racer Mu;md a turn. Such a machine can travel faster than the safety limits of the track. That is why the officials are banning nerves, the most stamina, the greatest hardi- hood and the most of that last cheerful disre- gard of the consequerices that makes a man risk his life on a sudden turn of chance—that man is the man who wins the race. ‘There is another matter, at that, which has bothered the A. A. A. men—=a scarcity of quali- fied drivers. At the present day there are hardly more than 30 men in all the country who are quali- fied to take part in the whirring grind of the Memorial day races at Indianapolis. New them in favor of two-man cars. On the day before the race, Miller's star driver, Peter Kreis, who was to pilot a brand- new car, was taken suddenly ill with influenza and ordered to a hospital. Lockhart, quite un- expectedly, was given his chance—and he shot around the track to win first place and put himself in the front rank of the Nation'$ auto- mobile drivers. Lockhart, incidentally, was not to enjoy his fame very long. Less than two years later he was killed at Daytona Beach, Fla., when his Louis Chiron, champion race driver of Europe, who hopes to become the world speedway king at the Indianapolis ‘track. - fully inspected for flaws as it is taken off the engine or chassis, and any faulty part, of course, is quickly replaced. Some parts of the car are, literally, inspected with a microscope to make sure they have no concealed defects. Then the car is put back together again, with the most painstaking accuracy. Mechanic and driver work side by side on this job. When the car has been reassembled, there come more tests. The driver takes it around the track, lap after lap, to check on its per- formance. Finally he pronounces it fit, and everything is ready for the day of the big race. Under existing conditions, the mechanic spends the day of the race in the pits. Here, with two or three assistants hired from local garages, he helps tune up the car just before the race, and stands by while the race is in progress to render such assistance as may be' necessary. He stands by with gas, oil and water, ready to pour them into the car when the driver pulls up for supplies. A big jack is kept handy, along with half a dozen spare wheels and tires, so that if the driver has & puncture or a blowout, and lives through it, he can get a new tire in the quickest possible time. And, of course, there is a supply of spare parts, spark plugs and the like for replacement. Under the old system, and under the system that will prevail after this year, the mechanic had a better time of it. He sat in the car with the driver throughout the race. Ha checked such things as oil and gas pressure and engine temperature. By glancing at the rapidly revolving tires his practiced eye could tell when a casing was beginning to wear thin, so that the change could be made before an: accident happcned. He also kept watch on the position of the other cars in the race—something the lone* driver cannot do. The mechanic had a busy enough time of 8. Continued on Seventeenth Page.