NEWS FROM THE U.S.A.

NEWS FROM THE U.S.A.

By our American Correspondent

T. MERIVVETHER-SMITH.

CHAMPIONSHIP automobile races are always rare in the United States during the summer months. Interest in the A. A. A. sporting events, however, has remained at high-pitch this season due to the many non-Championship races of sterling calibre staged on the various smaller dirt tracks of the nation. Chet Gardner, young Johnny Hannon, and Manzi Rose have all figured prominently in the final summaries of these thrilling contests.

At the sprint races over the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one-mile dirt track June 18th, Mann i Rose defeated a crack field of bigtime racing stars to continue his brilliant season. Driving the late Bob Careys’ big Miller “8,” Rose showed the fastest qualifying speed, and won his heat trial, and the 50-mile feature to defeat many more prominent American cracks.

An amusing interlude was furnished during the Milwaukee races when Frank Brisko deserted his $25,000 Miller 4-wheeldrive race car, and climbed into the towering seat of a newly-designed farm tractor. Brisk° succeeded in rounding the mile course at an average of better than 36 miles per hour, a record for farm machines of this type !

Chet Gardner, fourth in the Indianapolis race, has enjoyed a fine season. Substituting his big Sampson 16-cylinder car for a Miller on the dirt tracks, Gardner captured the entire card of feature races at Atlanta, Georgia, July 4th. Gardner broke the track record for this fiat-mile course with 44 seconds, a remarkable exhibition. Lloyd Vieux, a comparatively new driver, was second to Gardner in the feature race. An unusually large and enthusiastic crowd witnessed the first Southern races of the year. Al Gordon, who with Mauri Rose, forms the only duo of prominent Jewish

drivers on American speedways, has been burning up the track out at the tiny Ascot Speedway, Los Angeles. Gordon had won four consecutive big victories when young Rex Mays finally managed to snap his victory string. Ernie Triplett has returned to the Pacific Coast, however, and winning races will be a more difficult task for the young drivers during the remainder of the season. It is rumoured that Babe Stapp and Wilbur Shaw will leave the Championship and Eastern circuits for the Pacific Coast, also. Frank Suess, a little known, but promising young driver, lost his life in a terrible crack-up at Ascot on June 15th.

In a series of sprint races at Detroit, June 25th, Ira Hall drove his Duesenberg to a spectacular victory over a fine field of drivers. There were two bad wrecks, but Sam Palmer and Harris Insinger, principals, were uninjured as their cars smashed the rails and overturned. Chet Gardner, Miller, was second, and Gene Haustein, Fronty, third, in the feature race won by Hall. The unusually large number of fatal accidents on the Indianapolis Speedway has created a heated discussion among racing men in America. It is unanimously agreed by all that the track is too rough, banked too slightly, and the curves too sharp for the terrific speeds of the modern American race cars. Many fear that a repetition of this year’s catastrophic event would spell the end of racing on the historic old speedway. Engineers, drivers, and spectators alike are emphatic in their opinions that the track must be rebuilt to continue as America’s finest sporting

event. It is said that Colonel E. V. Rickenbacker, former World War ace, premier race driver, and now president of the Indianapolis Speedway, has plans for rebuilding the curves at the speedway under consideration.

The writer of these American articles suffered a profound shock, and was deeply sorrowed at the announcement of the death of Sir Henry Birkin. He voices the sentiments of thousands of other American motorists in offering sincere sympathy to the English nation in the loss of this sterling sportsman, magnificent driver, and perfect gentleman.

According to well-founded rumours in Indianapolis, a single seat Duesenberg racing car, 4-litre, double superchargers, is being prepared for races in Europe late in the season. There was no information as to which particular race, but the Yanks have always liked the Monza track. Bill Cummings, /mist sensational of American drivers, is expected to pilot the car, which will surely be a serious entry in any race, and quite different from the half-hearted efforts of Yanks in recent years.

There is also a rumour of another car being sent over to Italy.

The Detroit, Michigan, newspapers announced just prior to the Indianapolis race, that Harry Miller, race car builder and designer, would retire from race car building at the end of this year and devote his genius to airplanes. Miller, the papers said, is building two machines to attack world’s records next spring. One will shoot after Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Daytona mark, while the other will go after smaller class records.

American Slang. Tyre : “Rubber,” ” Bologna ” or ” Shoe. ‘