“500” Platolene gasoline

 

Several  years ago an episode of the History Channel "reality" television program 'American Pickers,' made a visit to Southern Indiana. At one site, one of the show's two protagonists bought a large old porcelain service station sign that read “500 Platolene” which used a checkered flag. The owner of the sign mumbled something about the people that ran the Indianapolis ‘500’ had owned this service station chain. Was this truth or reality show fiction?
 

Anton “Tony” Hulman Junior, who bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Eddie Rickenbacker in 1945, was born in Terre Haute Indiana the only child of grocery magnate Anton Hulman and his second wife Ada Grace Smith Hulman.  Ada’s family owned the Princeton Mining Company and the Deep-Vein Coal Company both bituminous coal mining operation as well as Princeton Farms all in the vicinity of Princeton Indiana about 80 miles due south of Terre Haute.

Henry P. Smith Junior operated those businesses after the death of his father as well as the RJ Oil and Refining Company which in addition to its refinery RJ operated 100 service stations in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. Henry’s cousin, Tony Hulman was a partner in RJ Oil and Henry’s son, Donald Smith (later a Hall of Fame racing promoter) was RJ Oil’s sales manager.

In 1953 RJ Oil undertook a one million dollar expansion of its refinery that was completed in August 1953. The refinery was the first such plant in the area that used a new process developed by Universal Oil Products of Des Plaines Illinois known as “platforming”

In an article published in the Terre Haute Tribune,  Smith promised motorists that the company '500' service stations  will have “the most powerful, cleanest burning, most economical gasoline that has even been refined” because of “the specially developed catalyst in this secret new process.” The process used “precious platinum, a metal more costly than gold;” in 1953 an ounce of platinum cost $70 compared to $40 for an ounce of gold.  The name of the new gasoline was “Platolene” - the “gasoline made with platinum.” The name and logo ‘500 Platolene’ was trademarked in 1953.   

 

A matchbook from the author's collection combines two

Tony Hulman businesses - 500 Platolene and the

Meadows Shopping Center (Terre Haute's first mall)

 

 

Today the Smith and Hulman family business interests remained intertwined. Tony George, Tony Hulman's only grandson, recently re-installed as chairman of Hulman & Company currently sits on the board of directors of First Financial Bank N.A. (once run by the late Don Smith), Deep Vein Coal Company, Princeton Mining Company, and R.J. Oil Company.  

Postscript

 

 

 

There is one final racing connection to this story. In the early nineteen seventies Universal Oil Products (UOP) developed a new process known as ‘CCR platforming’ that allowed refineries to produce high-octane lead-free gasoline. To help promote their new process, in August 1971, UOP signed a sponsorship deal with Don Nichols’ Advanced Vehicle Systems.

The series of sinister black race cars in the SCCA Can-Am and Formula One series were known as “UOP Shadows.” The UOP Shadow DN4A driven by Jackie Oliver and powered by a 494-cubic inch Chevrolet engine powered by lead-free gasoline won the 1974 SCCA Can-Am championship.   

Postscript 2

Tony Hulman became a partner with RJ Smith in the Princeton Farms the primary product of which was popcorn. Around 1940 Smith and Hulman hired the former Vigo County Farm Bureau extension agent to run the Princeton Farms. The agent who ran the Farms for 12 years later became world-famous for marketing his own brand of popcorn: Orville Redenbacher.

The 1970 Shriner’s Indianapolis race

 

 

1970's IMS logo

For many years, from 1919 until 1994, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosted just one race each year, the International 500-mile Sweepstakes. Today when the Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts multiple races and events during the calendar year, it is hard to imagine that the great track sat idle for eleven months out of the year except for testing sessions.  The exception is an all-but-forgotten exhibition race held at the Speedway in mid-July 1970.

The 1970 Shriner's Convention

During the third week of July 1970 from the 13th to the 17th the City of Indianapolis Indiana hosted the 96th annual convention of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, an organization commonly known as the Shriners. 1970 marked the third time the city played host to the Shriner’s Convention with the previous conventions held in 1919 and 1940. Unlike the 2013 Indianapolis Shriners convention which hosted 15,000 members, in 1970 the convention hosted an estimated 40,000 Shriners as articles in the local press described local hotels as “jammed.”

With the convention held in the hometown of the first native Hoosier Imperial Potentate J. Worth Baker, the principal theme was automobiles and automobile racing so many of the meeting venues used a black and white checkered flag motif.  The highlight of the week, at least for racing fans, was what was described as “a shortened version of the Indianapolis 500” held on Wednesday afternoon July 15 between sessions of the Shriners Convention. The Superintendent of the Speedway grounds since 1948, Clarence Cagle, himself a Shriner was the driving force behind the special event. 

The United Press International (UPI) reported that the 10-lap exhibition race would be contested by seven drivers but listed eleven drivers as probable entrants; Johnny Rutherford, Roger McCluskey, Art Pollard, Rick Muther, Bruce Walkup, Jim Malloy, Mike Mosley, Bob Harkey, Joe Leonard, Bentley Warren and Mel Kenyon. During the 25-mile race, drivers and the teams would be required to complete one demonstration pit stop complete with a tire change.

In addition to the estimated 10,000 Shriners on hand, there were several distinguished guests Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Anton “Tony” Hulman Junior was joined the Imperial Potentate Worth, the 43rd Governor of the State Indiana Edgar Whitcomb, and Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar.

There were long-standing connections between the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the local Shriners Murat Temple, as Captain Eddie Rickenbaker the owner of the Speedway from 1927 to 1945 was a member. The traditional Pole Position Mechanic and the Indianapolis ‘500’ Victory banquets were both held in the huge Egyptian Room at the downtown Murat Temple until 1972 when the Victory banquet moved to the newly-opened Indiana Convention Center.

The Shriners’ national leader in 1970, J Worth Baker, then the local potentate was one of four men who founded the “500 Festival Associates in 1957 along with then Mayor Alex Clark, Joseph Quinn, Safety Director for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Howard S. Wilcox, promotions director for the Indianapolis Star and son of the 1919 Indianapolis ‘500’ race winner.


The 1922 Shriner's Day race

1970 was not the first time that an automobile race had been staged in connection with a Shriner’s Convention. On June 14, 1922, as part of the 40th annual meeting of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine Imperial Council, the Aahmes Temple in Oakland California sponsored a “Shriner’s Day” non-championship AAA-sanctioned 150-mile race at the Greater San Francisco Speedway, a 1-1/4 mile board track actually located adjacent to an airfield 25 miles south of San Francisco on the peninsula town of in San Carlos.

The race which was held as part of a day-long celebration was preceded by a parade, picnic and an aviation and automobile thrill show. Following a 25-mile “semi-stock Ford race”  the day's featured race was won by Joe Thomas in a factory Duesenberg over his teammate Roscoe Sarles.

Less than a week after the Shriners Race, on June 18 1922, about half of the San Carlos track and 3/4 of the grandstands were consumed by flames carried by a strong wind. Initially blamed on “hobos,” (a quaint term for homeless men) the cause of the fire was later traced to a pile of oil-soaked wood scraps and shavings left under one of the turns after the track’s construction. 

Jack Prince who built the San Carlos facility in partnership with engineer Art Pillsbury traveled west from Kansas City where he was supervising the building the pair’s next board track and estimated it would cost $200,000 to rebuild the facility as 1-1/2 mile track.  Despite and immediate pronouncement by Speedway association president Fred Morton that the loss was entirely covered by insurance and general manager Bill Pickens’ mid-July 1922 announcement of a scheduled 250-mile championship race on October 15, the seven-month old San Carlos track which hosted three automobile and two motorcycle races in its time was never rebuilt.

The outcome of the 1970 Shriner's race

With the last previous race on the 1970 United States Auto Club (USAC) National Championship Trail schedule the 'Michigan Twin 200s' held on July 4, many teams were in Indianapolis to prepare for the ‘Indy 150,’ scheduled for July 26 at the nearby Indianapolis Raceway Park road course. Prior to the start of the exhibition race, 25 members of the Indianapolis ‘500’ Shrine Club drove their modified Volkswagens mini-Indy cars on a ceremonial parade lap around the historic 2-1/2 mile Speedway.  

Johnny Rutherford won the 25-mile race

 

Texan Johnny Rutherford won the July 15 exhibition race reportedly by a mere five feet over Mike Mosley as he averaged 142.787 miles per hour (MPH) for the 25 miles. While the car that Rutherford drove was only identified in news articles as being powered by a turbocharged Ford, research can identify the likely car. 1970 marked the third year that Johnny drove an updated 1967 AAR “Patrick Petroleum” Eagle for Michigan car owner Walt Michner which at various times during the 1970 USAC season was powered by a turbocharged Ford engine. Mosley was behind the wheel of the Ralph Wilke owned “G C Murphy Special” turbocharged Offenhauser-powered Watson originally built new for the 1969 USAC season.  

Jim Malloy finished third

 

Third place fell to Jim Malloy in the Federal Engineering owned Gerhardt turbocharged Offenhauser “Stearns Transi-Tread Special.” This was the car sponsored by the manufacturer of rubber conveyor belts used in airport baggage handling carousels that Malloy had qualified in the ninth position for the 1970 Indianapolis ‘500’ but crashed in turn four during the pace laps after a heim joint in the Gerhardt’s right rear radius rod broke.

Art Pollard finished in fourth place in the Shriners exhibition race as he drove Jim Hayhoe’s Clint Brawner built Scorpion powered by a turbocharged Ford engine which was driven by Roger McCluskey during the 1970 USAC season with sponsorship from Quickick, an “isotonic action drink” and “sports gum” from sports medicine supplier Cramer Products.



Art Pollard's 1970 USAC season

Pollard was between rides after the dissolution of his Art Pollard Car Wash/Race-Go Incorporated racing team at the end of June.  

Art Pollard's 1970 Indy 500 photo

courtesy INDYCAR

 

The March 14 1970 edition of the Indianapolis Star carried the story that Art Pollard had signed to drive a new Grant King built 750 horsepower turbocharged Offenhauser semi-monocoque entry for Race-Go Incorporated. The unique part of the deal was that the car one of three entered by the new team would be called the “Art Pollard’s Car Wash Systems Special,” which made Pollard one of the few racers ever to be his own sponsor. 

The Star article said Race-Go Inc. “was organized two months ago by John F Newcomer and Allan Warne of Indianapolis to sell car wash systems” and that “a second driver will be named to the team after Pollard qualified for the ‘500.’” Grant King, like Pollard a veteran of the Northwest CAMRA racing circuit was identified as the team’s chief mechanic; King and Pollard had worked together the previous season with STP Oil Treatment sponsorship.

Contrary to the claim in the Star, Art Pollard Car Wash Systems Inc. filed for its Indiana State business license on July 21, 1970, with three principals: Newcomer, Warne and Roger R Isch of Bluffton Indiana. Newcomer, Race-Go’s Chairman of the Board, had relocated his family to Indianapolis in early 1970 after he worked as an area manager for a grocery store chain and a homebuilder in Tucson. Newcomer told the Star that “auto racing will go down as the sports of the 70’s,” and that his company was getting in on the ground floor.

Allan Warne was a vice-president of Acme Building Materials Incorporated a well-known Indianapolis building material firm and local manufacturer of Precision Homes, prefabricated homes sold in five Midwestern states. Nothing is known of Isch or Marley Mangold who was identified as the President and General Manager of Art Pollard Car Wash Systems Inc., but it suffices to say that none of the four men had been involved in the racing industry prior to the formation of Race-Go Inc.

Nearly 50 years later, Pollard’s role in Race-Go Inc. is confusing to say the least. At different times it was stated in various Indianapolis Star articles that “Pollard signed a contract to drive,” “Pollard got into the car wash business,” and at one point the Star reported that the company named Pollard President. Pollard was quoted “they even gave me an office. The other day I sat in on a board meeting and they even let me say something once in a while.” Later, Pollard told the Associated Press (AP) auto racing editor reporter Bloys Britt that “his investment for the year” would exceed $400,000. Depending on which statement you chose to believe, Pollard was a contract driver, employee, investor, car owner or some combination of the four.  

 

Greg Weld's 1970 IMS photo

Courtesy INDYCAR

 

Pollard drove the #93 turbocharged Offenhauser powered 1969 Gerhardt chassis at the 1970 USAC season opener at Phoenix, and was running in fourth place when he spun. Pollard then drove the new #10 King chassis at Trenton New Jersey with the Gerhardt driven by Greg Weld. At Indianapolis Art Pollard qualified the #10 at 168.595 miles per hour to start the ‘500’ from sixth position on the outside of the second row.  

Car owner Newcomer told the Star “the whole thing is very exciting, of course, but it is also great for promoting our car wash business. This is the best advertising in the world."  After he crashed on the first day of time trials, Greg Weld qualified the #93 Gerhardt chassis at 166.121 MPH on the third day of time trials to start from 28th position as the fastest rookie driver in the starting field.    

In an article published in the Anderson Herald on May 30 the day of the ‘500,’ Grant King related “there is no such thing as a car being completely ready. You keep tearing them down and putting them back together. You never know what you’re going to find after even a practice run of a lap or two.” “After Art qualified we discovered missing tooth in the rear end so we replaced the entire rear end with a new unit,” said King.  Prior to the race, King decided he wanted to re-size the rods and shipped them to Los Angeles. On return flight, the plane carrying the rods was delayed eight hours in St. Louis so the team worked all night to get the car completed in time for tests on Carburation Day.  

 

The end of Pollard's 1970 Indy 500

courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway collection

IUPUI University LibraryCenter for Digital Studies

 

In a pre-race poll of four unidentified veteran observers Bloys Britt quoted the following odds: Al Unser at 2-1 was ranked as “tough to beat if he doesn’t break.”  Pollard was ranked as “could finish well up with 15-1 odds, while Weld went off at 30-1 odds with the comments “if it was only a sprint race.”

Alas both the “Art Pollard Car Wash Systems Specials” were eliminated very early in the race both with burnt pistons. Weld retired on lap 12 and Pollard brought out the race’s first caution flag on lap 28 to finish 32nd and 30th respectively. Pollard appeared in the #10 car in the Rex Mays Classic and fell out on lap 119 with an oil leak. Pollard was entered at Langhorne on June 14 but the car did not appear.

In his “Speaking of Speed” column in the June 21 1970 edition of the Indianapolis Star, George Moore’s revealed that Race-Go had fired Grant King. Moore reported that ”financial remuneration-or the lack of it” was the root cause but also that “there were some personality differences.” Moore wrote that “the team is reorganizing personnel and moving its base of operations to Atlanta.”

Newcomer admitted that “Atlanta doesn’t sound like the best location for running a championship car, but then we may not be there permanently.” The new chief mechanic was Jim Ruggles backed up by JD Roberts. As the team decided to switch to Ford engines, “Ruggles is slated to spend some time at the Foyt engine plant in Houston to pick up some points on the power plant.”

Ruggles earlier in his career was a shop foreman at Nichels Engineering and would later build the Buick V-6 engines which powered Rich Vogler to the 1989 USAC national sprint car championship. Art Pollard told Moore that he “had worked with Grant King for a long time but there were factors involved which just made it advisable for the people involved to pursue another course.”

Pollard appeared at the ‘Rocky Mountain 150’ at Continental Divide Raceway on June 29 and drove the #21 “Art Pollard Car Wash Systems” entry a turbo-charged Ford powered 1967 Vollstedt chassis rented from Rolla Vollstedt. John Cannon had failed to qualify the #21 Vollstedt chassis at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Pollard retired after just two laps due to overheating, and this was the last time the Art Pollard name appeared on a car as a sponsor. In four months, Pollard went from sponsoring his own car to hunting for a new ride mid-season.  

Pollard picked up a ride for the “Michigan Twin 200s” at Michigan International Speedway in Dayton industrialist George Walther’s Morris Marauder chassis powered by a turbocharged Ford engine. The entry built by former Halibrand employee George Morris known as “Walther’s Tyrone” carried sponsorship from a Volkswagen dealership located on Tyrone Boulevard in St. Petersburg Florida that Walther co-owned with Ted Meuche.

Pollard would later drive a sister Scorpion to the car he drove in the “Shriner’s Race” to a second place finish at the Ontario Motor Speedway in the inaugural ‘California 500.’  Pollard initially lodged a protest that he won by a lap but withdrew after he reviewed the scoring tapes. Based primarily on his finish in the California 500, Pollard wound up third on the USAC winnings list with earnings of $102,155 for the 1970 season.

The final finishers in the Shriner's Race

Rick Muther grabbed fifth place

Fifth place in the Shriner's Race went to Rick Muther in the Two Jacks Racing tube frame Brawner-Hawk which had sat on the pole for the 1965 Indianapolis 500. Of the seven exhibition racers, only Muther had finished the 1970 ‘500’ as he recorded an eight place finish.

Bill Vukovich Junior crossed the finish line in sixth as he drove Don Gerhardt’s Thermo-King Gerhardt Offenhauser in place of Gary Bettenhausen the USAC trail’s most recent winner at Michigan International Speedway.

Bruce Walkup finished seventh in the seven-car exhibition as he drove a car only identified as a “car that did not qualify for the Indianapolis 500.” Walkup had qualified for the ‘500’ only three months earlier in JC Agajanian’s “Wynn’s Special” the only car fitted with a roll cage to qualify for the ‘500.’

After the completion of the Shriners exhibition race the Indianapolis Motor Speedway remained mostly silent for over nine months until May 1 1971 when it opened for practice for the 55th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes.

All images appear courtesy of INDYCAR except as noted

 


 

 

‘Doc’ Williams at the Indianapolis ‘500’

Part four- from 1941 to 1949

Doc's 1941 qualifying photo

In early 1941, Merrill ‘Doc’ Williams was nominated as the driver of the Race Car Corporation of Indianapolis’  Offenhauser-powered Cooper front-wheel drive machine entry for the 29th edition of the International 500-mile Sweepstakes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the ‘Indiana Fur Special.’

Joseph Davidson founded the Indiana Fur Company in downtown Indianapolis during the eighteen nineties and after his death the company was operated by his widow before she turned over the operation of the business to her two surviving sons Herbert and Fred. The Indiana Fur Company first sponsored a car at the Indianapolis in 1938 with car owner Paul Weirick and driver Frank Wearne. In 1939, Indiana Fur sponsored a car scheduled for Louis Tomei which never arrived, and in 1940, sponsored the car owned and driven by 1935 Indianapolis ‘500’ winner Cavino “Kelly” Petillo.

On the windy first day of time trials May 17 1941, “Doc’s” red #36 was the first car to make a qualifying attempt and he shocked the railbirds by posting an average qualifying speed of 124.014 miles per hour (MPH) in a car that debuted at the Speedway thirteen years earlier. With a strong wind blowing north to south, many veterans elected to wait to make their timed run, and only twelve cars qualified the first day.  Williams’ time held up as the day’s fifth fastest, and ninth overall, so on Decoration Day 1941, the ‘Indiana Fur Special’ started the ‘500’ from the middle of the second row.    

In an informal poll conducted during the annual Champion Spark Plugs 100 MPH Club banquet, attended by 16 of the 21 surviving members,  ‘Doc’ was not mentioned as potential ‘500’ winner, as six members selected Mauri Rose, while two each selected Rex Mays and Wilbur Shaw to win the 1941 500-mile race. In a nationwide newspaper article published on the eve of the ‘500,’ famed United Press International sports editor Harry Ferguson picked Shaw as the 5-to-1 favorite, Mays 6-to-1, Rose 10-to-1, while Ferguson gave ‘Doc’ 15-to-1 odds of winning.

Williams’ 1941 500-mile race was disappointing as the crew fought to fix a leaking radiator before the car was retired with just 68 laps completed. The 100 MPH club odds makers were partially correct as Rose won the 1941 ‘500,’ but not in the car he started, as he had replaced Floyd Davis in the “Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special” on lap 72 after his original entry retired.  At the driver’s party held the next night after the race, “Doc” who had won $620, requested Speedway management increase the minimum award for race starters from $500 to $1000. “Doc’s” demand was supported by race co-winner Floyd Davis and Frank Wearne, but the Speedway paid no additional money.  

On December 7 1941, the Japanese military attacked United States forces on Pearl Harbor, and 22 days later, under pressure from local labor unions due to sabotage concerns, Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner and President Eddie Rickenbacker canceled the 1942 running of the ‘500.’ Racing at the big oval would remain suspended for the duration due to the consumption of rubber and gasoline.    

On January 6 1942, Speedway vice president and general manager Theodore E. “Pop” Myers resigned his position as he told the Associated Press that he “had no more active duties with the Speedway.” Eddies’ brother, Al, took over Myer’s management duties. Eddie Rickenbacker, a former fighter pilot reportedly offered the 1,025 acre Speedway grounds to the government for use as an aircraft testing grounds as it had been used in the First World War. The offer was not accepted, likely because the Speedway’s infield was not large enough to accommodate a runway longer enough for the larger and faster aircraft then being used.  

The Speedway remained padlocked and an Associated Press article published over Memorial Day weekend in 1943 described the Speedway as “a ghost area,” as “grass grows in the track and the grandstands show the effects of two years of disuse.” On August 29 1943 Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company used the Speedway to conduct a 500-mile test at a maximum speed of 35 MPH of experimental Celanese passenger car tires.

In February 1944 the Speedway was used to record the first 5000 miles of a test of tires recapped with synthetic rubber as part of an overall 25,000 mile test that was mostly conducted on public roads in a fleet of three well-marked passenger cars. In August 1944 Howard Chown, chief of the Indianapolis American Legion voiture #145 announced that his group had an obtained an option to buy the Speedway and its assets, and that a post-war committee would be formed to discuss financing, but nothing ever came of this proposal.

On November 29 1944 Wilbur Shaw ran a 500-mile test in the former Boyle Valve Miller front-drive two-man car in order to test new synthetic rubber Firestone tires. During the test, Shaw noticed the alarmingly bad condition of the Speedway and grounds and after talking to Rickenbacker, Shaw began his search for buyers of the Speedway. 

Shaw realized his dream to save the Speedway when on Wednesday, November 14, 1945, in Parlor D at the Indianapolis Athletic Club, Terre Haute Indiana grocery executive Anton Hulman Junior signed papers which completed the purchase of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Rickenbacker.  “Pop” Myers, now over 70 years old, immediately rejoined the Speedway Corporation as vice-President and General Manager and in that role, reopened the Speedway’s office at 444 North Capitol Avenue on November 19 1945.

In the run-up to the first post-war Indianapolis 500-mile race, the April 1946 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine mentioned “Doc” Williams as the “tentative driver” of the supercharged 500 horsepower overhead valve V-8 race car that was being developed by W.C. “Bud” Winfield and Leo Goossen to be known as the “Novi Governor Special.”   Apparently based on this speculation, the Race Car Corporation of Indianapolis entrusted the Copper front-drive machine to Clarence “Chet” Miller for the 1946 ‘500,’ with Merrill Williams listed as the entrant.  

Chet Miller in the Cooper FD in 1946

However, at the May 1 filing deadline, “Bud” Winfield entered the “Novi Governor Special” with no driver listed, with “Doc” entered as the driver of a “four-cylinder Offenhauser” powered car owned by the Hughes brothers of Denver Colorado who had entered a Miller front drive for Louis Tomei in the  1941 ‘500’ as H-3 Racing.  “Doc” did not make the 1946 starting field, but Ralph Hepburn set new one and four-lap qualifying records in the “Novi Governor Special” and Chet Miler made the field in 17th position in the Offenhauser-powered Cooper front-drive. Neither car finished the race; Hepburn stalled in the pits on lap 121, while Chet retired with a broken oil line on lap 64.

For the 1947 ‘500,’ Merrill “Doc” Williams got the opportunity of a lifetime as result of the American Society of Professional Auto Racers (ASPAR) controversy. Before the May 1 deadline for ‘500’ entries was reached, a “drivers’ union” had been formed, led by car owner Joseph Lencki with veteran Ralph Hepburn as the group’s nominal president. ASPAR demanded that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway double the 500-mile race’s total purse to $150,000, a demand which Wilbur Shaw, as President of the Speedway Corporation flatly refused. The entry deadline passed with ASPAR claiming to hold 35 entries. When the Speedway opened for practice neither Lencki nor Shaw had changed their original positions. 

As the first weekend of qualifications approached “Novi” car owner Lew Welch, who had promised Tony Hulman that his popular pair of cars would appear, replaced his drivers. Ralph Hepburn and Sam Hanks were replaced by veteran Cliff Bergere and “Doc” Williams. 

This was an ironic turn of events, since “Doc” had voiced complaint about his share of the purse in 1941, and now he became the beneficiary of the ASPAR driver walkout over the low purse.  Welch probably would have preferred someone besides “Doc” but many veterans such as Chet Miller were ASPAR supporters, and “Doc” did have extensive experience at the Speedway with front wheel drive race cars.   

  

"Doc" in his trademark red helmet receives 

instructions form the Novi crew

The pair of ‘Novi Governor Mobil Specials’ were among the seven cars that qualified on May 17 the first day of time trials but not without some drama. Bergere spun in the morning practice session and wound up in the turn one creek, and then after repairs, qualified with an average speed for the ten mile run of 124.957 MPH. That speed was fast enough to start from the middle of the front row, but was 2 MPH off Ted Horn’s pole speed in the former Boyle Maserati.

Before he took the green flag to qualify, "Doc" spun into a drainage ditch 

“Doc” spun out during his warmup laps and the #54 ‘Novi Governor Mobil Special’ wound up with its nose partially into the drainage ditch at the north end of the track. The car was not damaged, and after a quick cleanup, “Doc” qualified for fourth starting position at 120.733 MPH. 

Car owner Welch was angry with both drivers, as he claimed the “Novi” was capable of laps that averaged 140 MPH, a speed which would not be recorded at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for seven years.  Welch tried to wave off “Doc” on the final 2 laps of his 4-lap qualifying run, but ‘Doc” claimed not to have seen Welch and completed his time trial.  Legend has it that Welch fired “Doc” on the spot after qualifying, but the legend is not true.

The May 20 1947 issue of the Rushville Republican newspaper reported that the day following his spin, “Doc” complained of severe pain in his side. On Monday May 19, “Doc” Williams gave the American Automobile Association (AAA) stewards a written statement that was he “convinced I am not in shape to drive such a fast car.” AAA officials accepted his resignation in “the interest of safety,” and authorized Welch to nominate a new driver. Unfortunately, many newspapers nationwide reported only that Williams said he was quitting the race because the car was "too fast." 69 years later, it remains open to speculation whether “Doc” made the decision to quit or was coerced by Welch.

After Marv Jenkins was considered and rejected as a replacement, Jimmy Jackson and Herb Ardinger each tested the ‘Novi Governor Mobil Special’ and Ardinger had a front tire come apart on the front stretch at speed. Welch selected Ardinger who had driven Welch’s supercharged Offenhauser powered ‘Chicago Rawhide Special’ in the 1937 and 1938  500-mile races   Ardinger with Chief Steward Jack Mehan's approval was allowed to keep the car’s original fourth place starting position (nowadays he would have to go to the back of the field). Meanwhile, on May 21 the ASPAR standoff ended, but because of the delay an additional qualifying period was held on May 29 which added two car and brought the starting field to thirty cars.

At the drop of the green flag on race day, Bergere shot in the lead with the new #18 Kurtis-chassis ‘Novi Governor Mobil Special’ and led the first 23 circuits until he had to pit for new front tires, but eventually retired on lap 63 with a burned piston. 

Ardinger in the meantime, was too conservative for Welch, who called him in on lap 69 with the #54 ‘Novi Governor Mobil Special’ nine laps behind the leaders and put Bergere in the car. Cliff drove the last 130 laps and finished in fourth place, seven minutes behind second-time winner Mauri Rose.

"Doc" poses with a monkey in the garage area

it was not reported whether the  monkey made any suggestions

For the 1948 Indianapolis ‘500,’ “Doc” Williams was back behind the wheel of the familiar Race Car Corporation of Indianapolis Cooper front-drive chassis that carried the #47 and was entered as the “Ford Moyer Special.” Car owner “Fritz” Holliday had apparently entered the car with Moyer’s name to honor a long-time Speedway personality who had been ill at home for over a year. 

Ford Moyer born in Findlay Ohio in 1897, started as a racer on the rough-and-tumble Hoosier dirt-track circuit in the nineteen twenties at tracks that included Hoosier Motor Speedway on what is now Pendleton Pike in Indianapolis and Funk’s Speedway near Winchester Indiana. In a 1950 interview with United Press International, Wilbur Shaw related that “when I broke in, my hero was a guy named Ford Moyer. He was a big handsome guy and it surprised me when later on he became my mechanic.”

In February 1931 Ford was one of three men along with Clessie Cummins and Indianapolis racer Dave Evans who drove the first diesel-powered transcontinental truck run.  The trio drove a Reo retrofitted with a Cummins diesel engine in shifts non-stop from Lansing Michigan to New York City a distance of 959 miles in the first diesel truck to make a long-distance service run.  

Working with Shaw, Moyer helped build the Shaw/Gilmore entry that won the 1937 Indianapolis ’500;’ Al Bloemker's 500 Miles to Go book related that “He (Wilbur) toiled side by side with Ford Moyer on body and chassis for many weeks.”  When Shaw joined the Boyle Racing Team, Moyer went along. In the 1950 UPI interview, Shaw related a timeless story "Moyer was my mechanic in 1940 when I went after my third Indianapolis victory. But a week before the race the old shoes of mine turned up missing. I'm not superstitious, but it jarred me. The day of the race, I went into the garage and there on a shelf was an exact duplicate of the pair of shoes that I had lost. Moyer had even rubbed grease and aluminum paint into that brand new pair of shoes to make them look like an exact replica of the shoes which had been stolen—or mislaid.”

In the victory lane “bull pen” in 1940 over the nationwide radio broadcast,  Shaw extended a "thanks-much" greeting to his crew: Cotton Henning, chief of the Boyle Valve racing team staff,  Bob Jackson,  Ross Hadley, “Pern” Cornelius and Ford Moyer, who did the behind-the-scene work in the pits. The Indianapolis Star said that his competitors described Ford Moyer as “a talented, skillful mechanic, an unsung hero behind the scenes in aiding many successful drivers always ready with sound mechanical advice,” and that “Moyer's practice was to wrap each disassembled engine part individually.”

During the period he worked with Shaw, he owned and ran the Ford Moyer Garage at 409 North Talbott Street in Indianapolis near the Indianapolis Star office at 307 North Pennsylvania Street. The Indianapolis Star article described Moyer’s shop as “a popular hang-out for big-time race drivers, and it was there that Moyer tinkered on Shaw's car for many long hours.” Before he became too ill to work, Moyer had last worked for the Century Tire Company on 933 North Capitol Avenue.

“Doc” Williams qualified the 21-year old ‘Ford Moyer Special’ for the 1948 ‘500’ on Saturday May 15 with a four-lap average of 124.151 MPH to start from the sixth position.  Sadly, four days later, Ford Moyer died in his home at 5995 East 30th Street never having a chance to see “his car” in the race.

In the Star's Moyer obituary article, Shaw, a close friend for many years, paid tribute to Moyer as "one of the grandest men I ever knew and among the finest mechanics in the racing business who was noted for the meticulous care with which he nursed racing cars.” Moyer was survived by his wife and was interred in Washington Park East Cemetery.

"Doc" poses with his sponsors from Clarke Auto Company 

Before the 1948 ‘500,’the Race Car Corporation of Indianapolis # 74 Cooper gained a sponsor and started the race as the ‘Clarke Auto Company Special,’ with sponsorship from the two-year old company owned by Ed Clarke with a sales lot at 921 East Washington Street in Indianapolis.  Unfortunately, the ‘Clarke Auto Company Special’s’ day ended early when either the clutch or the ignition (sources vary) on the car failed on lap 19. At the driver’s banquet, “Doc” Williams got a check for $1300 for his 29th place finish.  This marked the end of the Cooper front-drive chassis at the Indianapolis; after 21 years it was not entered again.

"Doc" with Tom Saraffof

For the 1949 ‘500’ Williams drove Tom Sarafoff’ s  255-cubic inch Offenhauser-powered Miller front-drive car originally built in 1928 for Cliff Woodbury.  With a history similar to the “Fritz” Holliday Cooper, the car had been widened in 1930 for the AAA “Junk Formula” rules by “Cotton” Henning to create the successful Boyle two-man car.

In 1938, Henning narrowed the chassis and enclosed it in new bodywork and it was raced by the Boyle team through the 1941 season.  During the war, Mike Boyle sold the car to Jimmy Jackson, who raced it in 1946 and 1947 before he sold the car to Sarafoff.  Unlike the Holliday Cooper, the car was quite successful in its later career following its conversion back to a single cockpit car - in five appearances in the ‘500’ from 1939 to 1947, it never finished out of the top six.

Sarafoff born in 1893, described as “of Middle Eastern descent” built a chain of “greasy spoon” diners near defense factories in the Terre Haute area during World War Two, but by 1948 there were just two “Tom’s Diners” located at  1900 Maple Avenue  and  638 Cherry Street in Terre Haute.  In 1948, Sarafoff entered the white #10 eponymous car for veteran Louis Tomei crewed by his friend Bill Watts and his brother-in-law Steve Nyers, but it failed to qualify.

In 1949, “Doc” Williams was one of 15 qualifiers on the first day of time trials, May 14, and posted a four-lap average speed of 125.161 MPH.  Everything seemed to be on track until practice on May 21st. Veteran Chet Miller had originally been named in March as one of three drivers along with Leland “Lee” Wallard and Harold “Hal” Robson to drive for the three-car Indianapolis Race Cars Incorporated (IRC) a partnership of local men formed to buy the assets of the Boyle Racing Team after the death of Harry C “Cotton” Henning in December 1948. 

Chet Miller was slated to drive the “biggest money-winning car ever at the speedway” the ex-Boyle Maserati that Shaw won with in 1939 and 40 then Ted Horn had compiled a post-war record of two third place finishes and  a fourth place in three races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. IRC named journeyman and former riding mechanic Ed Metzler as the chief mechanic but after numerous problems with all three cars, Metzler was fired and replaced by Peter DePaolo and Art Sparks after the first weekend of time trials in which none of the IRC entries participated.     

Chet Miller climbs out of the burnt Saraffof Special

On the 21st, Chet Miller took the already qualified #66 “Tom Sarafoff Special” out for a carburetor test, the engine caught fire and damaged the car, but the 46-year old Chet escaped unharmed.  Chet did not drive in the 1947 ‘500’ due to his ASPAR membership, then in 1948 had quit the Lew Welch  “Novi Grooved Piston Special” along with teammate Cliff Bergere over handling concerns created by the Novi’s new huge fuel tanks. 1949 was not shaping up so well for Chet either, and on May 25 he resigned the IRC Maserati ride and was replaced by California midget champion Fred Agabashian.

The volunteer crew worked long hours to repair the fire damage to the “Tom Sarafoff Special” but in the end it didn’t matter. On May 29 the last day of time trials for the 1949 ‘500,’ Emil Andres in the “Tuffy’s Offy” Kurtis 200 owned by Chicago crime figure George “Babe” Tuffanelli, was one of five drivers, along with Agabashian, to “bump” their way into the 33-car starting field.  Emil’s run of 126.042 MPH knocked “Doc” Williams from the ‘500’ field

Tom Sarafoff entered his ancient Miller front drive chassis twice more at the Speedway. In 1950 rookie Cliff Griffith passed his rookie test in the car but never attempted to qualify and then in 1951 Norm Houser son of Thane Houser 1926 ‘500’ competitor failed to qualify.   Sarafoff bought the Agajanian “featherweight” Kurtis 2000 chassis which had started from the pole position in 1950 and entered it in the 1952 ‘500’ with Cliff Griffith and finished  ninth.

In 1953, Sarafoff entered the Kurtis for Bob Sweikert, but Bob quit the team before the Speedway opened and drove for Al Dean during the 1953 AAA season.   Dayton Ohio’s J. Carlyle “Duke” Dinsmore then tried the car but was too slow to make the field. In 1954, Cliff Griffith one the comeback from serious burns suffered in a 1953 Indianapolis practice crash, tried but on quit on May 12 as he explained “one hand doesn’t fully work and there’s no use kidding myself I don’t feel comfortable above 124 MPH.” After George Tichneor failed to make the 33-car starting field, Sarafoff sold off all his racing cars and equipment.

"Doc" poses with his wife Esther and their daughter

1949 would prove to be “Doc” Williams’ final appearance at the Speedway as a driver. Williams’ son Johannes reported in a 1994 interview with the Franklin Daily Journal that “he moved his family to Michigan where he worked as a test track driver and later purchased a motel in the Detroit metropolitan area.” 

Historical research shows however, the “Doc” Williams had a number of legal scrapes after his racing career ended. The first came in January 1950, as Williams and two other men were arrested in Michigan and charged with breaking and entering, larceny, and possessing stolen property after the theft of $4000 from a suburban Detroit area drug store the day before.

The outcome of that 1950 burglary charge is unknown but in May 1955, “Doc” was in Federal Court in Detroit, this time charged with concealing over $23,000 in assets during bankruptcy proceedings.  Williams’ estranged from his wife Esther, filed for bankruptcy in January 1955 and claimed $18,000 in debts and no assets. After filing, Williams disappeared and later the bankruptcy referee learned that his wife had sold a motel they owned and that he received $23,453 as his part of the proceeds on January 27. 

“Doc” was then indicted in March on fraud charges but did not appear. During the May 11 hearing, “Doc” explained to Judge Ralph Freeman that he had gone to Germany for his health and was unaware of the charges against him. Williams again claimed he had no assets and related that he had lost $4000 in “one fling at the gaming tables in Reno Nevada.”

Again, we do not know how the fraud case turned out, but “Doc” was indicted again for perjury in Federal Court in Detroit a year later. This charge resulted after an inventory of a safe deposit box in his name in a bank in Marion Ohio which he testified under oath contained nothing of value was found to contain $2000 in $500 bills.  Williams pled guilty to the perjury charge on August 14 1956 in front of Judge Frank A. Picard. 

Williams faced five years in prison and a $50,000 fine but on October 16 Judge Picard sentenced “Doc” to two years in a federal penitentiary.  In 1970, Williams returned to his home state of Indiana and operated a motel near Centerville, Indiana his death in nearby Richmond on April 28, 1982 at the age of 69.

Merrill “Doc” Williams stands as a shining example of persistence as a driver at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Consider that he entered the race thirteen times, qualified for the ‘500’starting field five times but only started four races. In those four races, all behind the wheel of the same Cooper front-drive car, he only completed a total of 340 laps in his Speedway career with his highest finish coming in his first race appearance in 1936.

All the photos that accompanied this article appear courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection in the IUPUI University Library Center for Digital Studies.