The Pete Kreis story Part four - 1929 through 1931

 

The Pete Kreis story

Part four - 1929 through 1931

In February 1929, 29-year-old Albert Jacob ‘Pete’ Kreis was named in a lawsuit by a dancer named Irma Sedivic for injuries she suffered in a brawl in the Avalon nightclub in St Louis on December 22 1928. Ms. Sedivic alleged in her suit that Kreis threw a glass goblet during a club melee that injured her eye and asked for $25,000 in actual damages and $25,000 in punitive damages. 

In response, Pete told Knoxville reporters that it was a case of mistaken identity, saying “I had nothing to do with throwing that goblet.” The author has been unable to find any information about the final outcome of the case.  

When entries closed for the 17^th running of the International 500-mile Sweepstakes on May 30 1929 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, no team nominated Pete Kreis as a driver. Kreis nonetheless made his annual trip from Knoxville Tennessee to Indianapolis in May to watch practice and visit his friends in the racing community.

All the racers knew that this would be the last time that they would race under the 91-1/2 cubic inch rules package. On January 17 1929, the American Automobile Association (AAA) Contest Board published the new rules package for the 1930 Indianapolis 500- mile race pushed through by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Eddie Rickenbacker.

As the AAA stated, "At the request of the Speedway, engineers drew up a set of regulations designed to return a type of car less expensive, less specialized and calculated to furnish experimental departments with more constant and tangible lessons of value in every-day motor car designing and building."  

Throughout the month of May 1929, Tommy Milton and the ‘Detroit Special’ team tested the car which Milton and Van Ranst refined over the long winter. Van Ranst and Milton developed new designs for the engine block, timing gears, and valve springs to deal with the engine’s high boost pressure. Chief among the new innovations were the enlarged “pop-off valves” in the supercharger piping system which now sported a large external intercooler.  

These valves redesigned by Cornelius Van Ranst with larger surface areas were located in the supercharger piping and designed to open when the supercharger or engine backfired to relieve pressure rather than wreck the manifolds on the straight-eight Miller engine. Van Ranst also designed a new rubber coupling for the supercharger drive.    

As he waited for mechanic Harry “Cotton” Henning to reassemble the Miller front drive entered for him by Santa Ana California oil company executive M R. “Dick” Dodd, Milton’s protégé Bob McDonogh turned many laps of practice over the 2-1/2 mile brick oval in the ‘Detroit Special’ as the Milton team waited for the car owner - multi-millionaire sportsman, financier and driver - Russell “Cliff” Durant to appear.

Cliff Durant photo courtesy of the IUPUI University Library

Center for Digital Studies Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection 

On the evening of May 22^nd, just two days before time trials began, the hard-living Durant announced the end of his 14-year race car driving career at age 38 and named Pete Kreis as his replacement. “Time has taken its toll” said Durant in an Indianapolis Star interview, “I could not give the car which Milton has prepared the ride it deserves.” 

With little time to test, Pete Kreis drove the ‘Detroit Special’ to the second fastest qualifying time on the second day of time of Sunday May 26^th.  Johnny Seymour in a Cooper Engineering Company front-drive (Marmon did not renew the 1928 sponsorship) qualified with a 114 MPH average followed by Kreis in the ‘Detroit Special’ at 112.528 MPH. The pair started the 1929 Indianapolis 500-mile race side by side in the seventh row.   

The 1929 Indianapolis 500-mile race starting field included two cars with female owners. Maude Yagle of Philadelphia owned the #2 Simplex Piston Ring Special formerly owned by Frank Lockhart and driven by Ray Keech, while Marion Batten the widow of Norm Batten lost at sea in the sinking of the SS Vestris in November 1928 owned the #49 Miller driven by Wes Crawford.

Pete Kreis and the Detroit Special in the garage area in 1929 

Contemporary new reports suggest that Kreis and the ‘Detroit Special’ ran well, in the top five as they neared the 200-mile mark, but the engine seized on course on its 91^st lap. Pete returned to the pit area and relieved Cliff Bergere behind the wheel of the ‘Armacost Special ‘Miller front-drive for 54 laps. Pete turned the car back over to Cliff on lap 146 and Bergere drove the rest of the way to finish in ninth place and earn $1,500.

Pete Kreis left Indianapolis with the knowledge that if he drove at the Speedway again in 1930, the cars would be fair different than the small jewel-like Miller machines with which he became familiar. In general, the new rules package for the 1930 Indianapolis 500-mile race were in the AAA’s words  “designed to produce either (a) a car susceptible of adaption from production car chassis or (b) development cars that embody new engineering principles or adaptions as contrasted against what may be termed ‘normal’ cars.”  Rickenbacker and the AAA officials believed that passenger car manufacturers would become involved in racing in a big way.

Beginning with the 1930 ‘500,’ engine size was limited to 366 cubic inches with a maximum of two valves per cylinder no supercharging allowed and a maximum of two carburetors. Each race car weighed a minimum of 7-1/2 pounds per cubic inch of engine displacement and not less than 1750 pounds in any case. By comparison a 1929 Miller 91 typically weighed 1450 pounds. Finally, each car would carry both a driver and a riding mechanic. Today, historians derisively refer to this rules package as the “Junk Formula.”

Harry Hartz recovered from burns and back in racing as a car builder and owner bought the Miller front-drive chassis #2703 built for Peter DePaolo in 1927 that had been driven by Bob McDonogh in 1929 for car owner Dick Dodd.  With the help of metalsmith Phil Sommers Hartz converted the car into the required two-man configuration. For power, Hartz built a 152-cubic inch Miller engine with his stash of leftover Miller 122-cubic inch parts.

Early in the month of May 1930 Hartz, Ralph Hepburn, and Billy Arnold all took practice laps in the car (Miller-Hartz 1) which led to speculation who would drive the car in the race. On the first day of time trials, Hartz took the car out, made a single timed lap at 110 MPH and returned to the pit area.

Later in the day, Arnold took the car out for a qualifying attempt with William “Spider” Matlock as his riding mechanic. The pair won the coveted pole position with a speed of 113. 268 MPH, the fastest car by over two miles an hour. Peter Kreis spent the month of May 1930 in Indianapolis but never landed a ride. After the race, Pete returned to his construction project in Kansas.

On Race Day 1930, second fastest qualifier Louis Meyer the 1928 500-mile race winner took the early lead, but Arnold passed him on lap three and never looked back. Arnold led a record 198 laps and won by seven minutes (estimated as four laps) over William “Shorty” Cantlon in a 183-cubic inch Miller powered machine owned by Bill “Hollywood” White.

Lou Moore and Floyd Sparks built two front-drive machines for the 1930 Indianapolis ‘500’ the Coleman Motors Company that built four-wheel drive trucks. Coleman intended for Joe Unser (uncle to Al Senior and Bobby) to drive one car and Moore the other but Unser died in an accident and was replaced by Phil “Red” Shafer. Both Coleman cars, which reportedly used parts from Coleman production vehicles, qualified for the 1930 ‘500.’ The #14 Coleman driven by Moore and mechanic Sparks wound up perched on top of the third turn wall after a six-car tangle on lap 23 while and Shafer finished in seventh after he started eighth with mechanic Terry Curley who started his riding career in 1922. 

For 1931, Coleman Motors entered a single car fitted with both the Miller 183 cubic inch engines to drive the front wheels. Driver Lou Moore found the beast uncontrollable and withdrew to join the Boyle Valve team. Late in the month, Pete Kreis agreed to give the car a shot. While it was undoubtedly powerful as with two engines it pushed the 366 cubic inch maximum engine size requirement, the Coleman had to be a handful to drive. On May 27, Pete qualified the Coleman Special at 102.860 MPH but subsequent clutch troubles led the team to withdraw the machine before the race.

Harry Hartz still dabbled as a driver and took test laps in Arnold’s machine during practice for the 1931 Indianapolis 500-mile race. Arnold did not qualify well, but on Race Day Arnold in the Miller-Hartz 1 passed seventeen cars and took the lead on lap 7. Arnold and riding mechanic Spider Matlock led the next 155 laps through intermittent rain showers that slowed the field twice. On lap 162, with a five-lap lead, Arnold spun in oil on the track in turn three and collided with Luther Johnson’s Studebaker.   

The Miller-Hartz hit the north short chute wall rolled over and both Arnold and Matlock were injured as Arnold suffered a broken pelvis and Matlock a broken collar bone. A wheel off the car flew over the wall bounced, rolled and struck young Wilbur Brink playing in the front yard of his family home on Georgetown Road. The 11-year old boy later died from his injuries.

After crews cleared the accident, Indianapolis police officer Louis Schenider took the lead in the Bowes Seal Fast-sponsored Miller-powered machine and won in the 1930 International 500-mile Sweepstakes by 43 seconds over Fred Frame in Hartz’ second entry, a 142-cubic inch Duesenberg powered machine.    

During the 1931 500-mile race, records credit Pete Kreis with 53 laps driven in relief of Ralph Hepburn in Harry Miller’s entry. On lap 144, Hepburn returned to the seat and finished the race in third place. The local Knoxville newspapers suggested that without Kreis’ assistance, Hepburn would not have finished in third place. Depending on which paper you read, Kreis drove either 250 or 300 miles. The Knoxville News-Sentinel claimed that Pete’s performance “marks him as one of the outstanding drivers in the game.”

Less than a month after the 1931 ‘500,’ Kreis announced that he had accepted the role of manager at the Morristown Speedway in Morristown Tennessee and that his first race promotion would be on July 4^th. 

Alternately known as Inskip Speedway, the ¾-mile dirt oval built in 1928 by a group of six men led by Fred Wallace. The track near the community of Inskip planned to stage its first race on Labor Day 1928, but rain ruined the opening. The track known as the Knoxville Motor Speedway set its opening for September 8 1928 but continued rains postponed the opening to Sunday September 16 1928. The selection of this date immediately caused controversy as ten local pastors protested races held on Sunday but manager Frank Easley ignored the outcry and staged the races anyway.

The opening day’s races boasted 8000 fans who saw Homer Linebaugh win the 50-lap feature in his Essex after early leader Al Romans’ Frontenac Ford overheated while he held a lap and a half lead.  Gordon Willis won the 14-lap and 25-lap races in the second event held on Sunday October 14, and it appears that the season finale set for Armistice Day November 11 1928 rained out.   

During the winter of 1928-1929 Easley proposed a slate of four races for 1929 on Decoration Day, Jul 4^th, Labor Day and Armistice Day but in early March the original ownership was replaced by a new group led by Joe B “JB” Cate.  “JB” came to Knoxville in 1923 as a traveling demonstrator of the Rickenbacker automobile then stayed in town and worked as a real estate salesman and later finance company official.

The new group which boasted $50,000 in capitalization planned eight races for 1929, with the planned construction of a 30,000-seat grandstand and the track was rebuilt with 90-foot radius turns with 8 feet of banking and 70-foot wide straightaways. 

After successful 1929 and 1930 racing seasons which drew big-name drivers to Knoxville that included Al Theisen in the Witte “Dayton Special” and Mauri Rose in the John Vance Special from Dayton the future appeared bright. But in late October 1930 Cate was charged with theft and in March 1931 the Knox County Grand Jury indicted Cate for the alleged embezzlement of $500 from the Knoxville Motor Speedway involving a stock sale.

Cate’s involvement with the Inskip Speedway ended with his indictment, and Pete Kreis temporarily took over as track manager for several months.  Cate pled not guilty and a jury acquitted him in October 1931.  The Knoxville track continued to operate under a succession of different managers through the 1935 season.

Our final installment will review Pete Kreis’ life after 1931.

“No one ever regretted buying quality”

the Hinchman story

 

Hinchman Racing Uniforms started the race suit industry in 1925 when  Peter DePaolo wore the first Hinchman uniform as he drove the winning Duesenberg in the 1925 Indianapolis 500-mile race .

 

This photo from the author's collection shows

Peter DePaolo is his Hinchman suit



 

Over the following  90+ years, Hinchman innovations have included:

The wrap around buttoned collar, first used by Hinchman, was developed after Eddie Sachs complained that the wind made the collars flap. Later  buttons were replaced by Velcro®

In 1966 Hinchman became the first racing suit manufacturer to use Nomex® in their suits, and In 1999 Hinchman was the first company to use the new fire resistant material called Carbon-X®.

 In 2004 Hinchman introduced their new lining called “Comfort Tech” which creates a 3-layer suit that is lighter, thinner, comfortable and more protective than most 2-layer suits.

In 2011, a Hinchman Racing Suit that was worn by actor Steve McQueen in the classic racing film LeMans fetched $984,000 at auction.

In 2013, Hinchman introduced its new 'Hinchman Performance' liner in its new HTO line of racing uniforms, and included it in the new "HP Series" in 2015.

Hinchman believes customer support after the sale is vital and is committed to customer satisfaction, just ask any racer wearing a Hinchman driving suit.

For more details visit their website at http://www.hinchmanracewear.com

 

Information for this article provided by Hinchman

George Souders- the story of the 1927 ‘500’ winner

Part three

George Souders portrait

courtesy of the IUPUI University Library

Center for Digital Studies

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection

 

In 1927 George Souders born near Battle Ground Indiana was a full-time resident of Abilene Texas and worked as a “service man and expert mechanic” at Roberts & St John Motor Company the local Chrysler-Plymouth dealer located at the corner of Fifth and Pine Streets in downtown Abilene.

George was one of fourteen drivers who appeared at the one-mile Albuquerque Fairgrounds track on New Year’s Day 1927.  The five-race program which began at 2 PM featured the “Rocky Mountain States premier drivers” the Gardner brothers, Raymond and Chester, each driving a "Rajo Special." “Rajo” was a brand of racing overhead valve cylinder heads designed for Ford Model T engines.

Built and sold by Joe Jagersberger of Racine Wisconsin, he used the first two letters of his hometown and combined it with the first two letters of his first name to create “Rajo.”  Chuck Anderson “the favorite of the Southwest,” also drove a Rajo while  H. Peterson “who holds the fastest record on the Douglas Arizona track” was entered in a Duesenberg.

Roy Miller from Albuquerque was entered in a Frontenac (another brand of Ford cylinder head built and sold by the Chevrolet brothers) along with Jimmy Randolph described as the Arizona State champion and “Slim” Harper in the John Mais “Dodge Special.” Two previously unknown drivers came from Colorado both described as Pike’s Peak masters - BS Burgeman and Fred Schultz. Souders, “who furnished thrills the last two races here,” Fred Frame “of Ascot Speedway fame” and San Antonio’s Harry Milburn were all entered in Millers.   

The day’s first race was a 10-mile “free for all” while the second 10-mile and third 15-mile race were reserved for “modified stock cars” (non-Millers). The auto racing program was capped by a 25-mile “free for all,” with the final event was a 10-mile motorcycle race during which the promoters claimed “the riders travel like greased lightning.” 

In time trials, Souders set new “local track record” of 44 seconds for the one mile course then swept the two “free for all” races. Chet Gardner in his ‘Rajo Special’ finished second in the first 10-mile heat, won the second and third ten-mile heat races and finished third in the 25-mile finale behind Souders and Milburn. Souders provided a thrilling finish as according to the next day’s Albuquerque Daily Reporter his Miller engine “burned a bearing then threw a connecting rod and he coasted the last ¼ lap to victory.”

On May 6 the day the entries closed for the 15th annual International 500-mile Sweepstakes Souders was listed as the driver for William S. White’s Duesenberg.  An article in his adopted hometown Abilene Journal newspaper described Souders as “equally fearless as Frank Lockhart although probably not as steady or careful.”   There were a total of 41 entries for the ‘500’  the largest list since 1919, with eleven front wheel drive entries, this only two years after the first Miller front drive machine debuted at the Speedway.

 

Fernic FT-10 drawing

 

There was only one foreign driver entered in 1927 Indianapolis 500-mile race Romanian George Fernic who entered his own Bugatti. Fernic, an accomplished pilot dating back to World War One, also designed and built aircraft.  Although Fernic’s Bugatti broke a connecting rod on May 24 and did not qualify for the 33-car starting field, he drove 182 laps during the 1927 ‘500’ in relief for Fred Frame.

Frame started the car but yielded to Fernic as Fernic had purchased the car started by Frame after his won Bugatti was withdrawn. Fernic later was killed in a plane crash during the 1930 Chicago National Air Races as he was demonstrating his radical twin-engine canard-wing plane with tricycle landing gear the Fernic FT-10 Corsair.       

A 1981 Indianapolis Star article recounted that few experts thought George Souders could even make the starting field as one recalled him as "the darkest of dark horses."  According to the 1981 article, the older 90 ½ cubic-inch supercharged Duesenberg owned by Hollywood millionaire William S. White was beset by many mechanical problems during the month. In an interview nearly fifty years later Souders recalled that he "lost count of the number of times that that ‘Duesy’ was taken apart and put together during Speedway practice."

The chief mechanic on the White-owned Duesenberg was 31-year old Frenchman Jean Marcenac who had first appeared at Indianapolis in 1920 a crew member with the three-car Ballot team. A World War One veteran Marcenac served in both the French Navy and the Air Service before he went to work in the Paris-based Ballot automobile factory.

Jean helped to build the four Ballot race cars completed in just 101 days that participated in the 1919 Liberty 500-mile Sweepstakes, and in 1920 came with the team to the United States. In addition to his mechanic duties on the low-slung  311-cubic inch  inline eight-cylinder entries  Marcenac who weighed just 150 pounds and stood 5 feet 6 inches tall served as the riding mechanic with Jean Chassagne, and together the pair finished the 1920 ‘500’ in seventh place.

Marcenac returned to Indianapolis in 1921 to work on Ralph DePalma’s new 183 cubic inch straight eight double overhead camshaft Ballot and then stayed in the United States working with DePalma. Jean rode with DePalma in the 1922 Indianapolis ‘500’ the last year riding mechanics were required.  The pair started from the third position and finished fourth behind a Ballot entered by 1913 ‘500’ winner Jules Goux and driven by Eddie Hearne. Goux at 37 years old drove the other Ballot entry but retired on lap 25 with a broken rear axle. Marcenac worked with DePalma and his nephew Peter DePaolo through the mid-nineteen twenties and started the 1927 season as DePaolo’s mechanic.  

Since George didn't qualify for the starting field until his third attempt, he started the 1927 ‘500’ from the 22nd position on the inside of the eighth row.  Lockhart dominated as the other pre-race favorites - Harry Hartz, Bennett Hill, Peter DePaolo and Leon Duray dropped by the wayside before the first 100 miles were completed. Lockhart’s intercooled Miller engine broke a connecting rod and retired with 119 laps completed.

 

 

George Souders official 1927 Speedway photo

courtesy of the IUPUI University Library

Center for Digital Studies

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection

 

In 1932 car owner William White commented that Souders was “a great little driver with good form. I was tired of bringing veterans here –they know how hard it is to win. George didn’t know how really tough it is to win this race.”  Souders steadily moved up and was scored ninth after 75 miles, sixth at 50 laps and third at 275 miles. At the 300-mile mark he was second behind Pete DePaolo who was driving relief for Bob McDonogh in the supercharged Miller powered Cooper front drive machine. Souders took control at lap 150 and with the lead  with 100 miles to go George stopped for gas and three new tires and still won the race by more than twelve minutes over Earl Devore.

In a 1976 interview Souder remembered that the crew tried to talk him into letting Frank Lockhart finish the race but George declined. "The track was pretty slick and I knew how to handle the car," he said. "Someone else might have had trouble with it." In Victory Lane a shy George gave the credit for winning to his mechanic Jean Marcenac. Reportedly when Speedway officials asked George who they should notify by telegram, he replied, "There's nobody but Mother - I’ll send it myself pretty soon." One reporter claimed that George told him that he planned "to return to Purdue and resume my studies.”

 

A 1960 trading card issued by the Hawes Wax Co Ltd.

showing the 1927 '500 winner 

 

Statistically, Souders’ win marked the second and last time a yellow #32 race car won the Indianapolis ‘500,’ George was fifth winning driver to use Champion spark plugs and the fifth winning driver to use Firestone tires. Souders was the fifth “rookie” driver to win the ‘500’ in the first fifteen races, but the great Indianapolis 500–mile race was run thirty-five more times before a “rookie” Graham Hill won again in 1966.  The 90 ½ cubic inch Duesenberg power plant remains the smallest displacement engine ever to win the 500-mile sweepstakes.  

George returned home to Lafayette the day after the race and soon after the city was decorated with bunting news reel films of the race were shown in the theaters and a parade was held in Souders’ honor led by the Purdue marching band. At a banquet that evening, the mayors of Lafayette and West Lafayette each gave speeches honoring Souders and Purdue President Edward C. Elliott gave George a Purdue varsity letter. "I want to tell you how glad I am to be received in this way by my own," George Souders told the crowd. "It means more than winning the race."

Souders and the White Duesenberg appeared at the next race on the 1927 AAA (American Automobile Association) schedule a 200-miler on the 1-1/4 high banked Altoona board track but the supercharged engine broke a piston in practice. Despite not starting any other points races during the season, Souders finished the 1927 AAA season third in points behind Peter DePaolo and Frank Lockhart (who won ten of the remaining eleven 1927 races between them) based upon the 1000 points earned from his Indianapolis win.

Jean Marcenac after the 1927 ‘500’ win

Sometime after the 1927 ‘500’ victory, Jean Marcenac accepted Frank Lockhart’s offer the replace Ernie Olson as one of the mechanics on Lockhart’s team. During the winter of 1927-28, as a member of Lockhart’s team Marcenac helped build the radical U-16 powered “Stutz Black Hawk” Land Speed Record Car funded by Stutz president Fred Moscovics. Marcenac appears with the Black Hawk in photographs taken at Daytona Beach during February 1928, but it is unclear if Jean was present on April 25 1928 when Lockhart was fatally injured in the crash of the Black Hawk.

After one of the Lockhart Millers was sold his estate to Philadelphia real estate developer Edward C.Yagle, Marcenac went along with the car and won the 1929 Indianapolis 500-mile race with Yagle’s wife, Maude listed as the car owner. During the winter of 1929-1930 Marcenac worked with Harry Hartz and Phil Summers to build a new car to meet the new AAA “junk formula” rules. The new Hartz entry driven by Richard William “Billy” Arnold dominated the 1930 Indianapolis 500 as Arnold led 198 laps which gave Jean Marcenac his third “500’ win in four years. Arnold led the first 155 laps of the 1931 ‘500’ in the same machine and built up a six-lap lead until he crashed.  

 

Jean Marenac's official 1956 Speedway photo

courtesy of the IUPUI University Library

Center for Digital Studies

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection

 

Arnold returned in the repaired front-drive Hartz machine in 1932 and led the first 58 laps and then crashed out for the second year in a row. Teammate Fred Frame took the new Miller-Hartz Wetteroth entry into the lead, led the final 58 laps, and Jean won his fourth Indianapolis ‘500’ as a chief mechanic in a six year period.  Marcenac joined forces with Harry Miller during the mid-nineteen thirties for the Four Wheel Driver Company entry and then around 1940 joined the efforts of William “Bud” Winfield’s supercharged V-8 racing engine, later known as the “Novi.” Marcenac worked for eccentric “Novi” car owners Lew Welch and later Andy Granatelli until his death on Valentine’s Day 1965.

In our next installment we will review George Souders’ life as the 1927 Indianapolis champion.           

George Souders- the 1927 ‘500’ winner

Part one


The subject of this article George Souders will be honored with a plaque placed by the Indiana Racing Memorial Association (IRMA) at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds in Lafayette Indiana on April 21 2017

Eight drivers have won the International 500-mile Sweepstakes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in their first attempt - most recently Alexander Rossi in 2016.  First-time or “rookie” drivers won the ‘500’ three times in the first four years – 1911, 1913 and 1914, then a dozen years passed before a “rookie” driver won again in 1926.

Lockhart’s 1926 surprise

Californian Frank Lockhart began the month of May 1926 as the designated relief driver for Miller team driver Bennett Hill. Before time trials, Lockhart was tapped to replace owner/driver Peter Kreis behind the wheel of the #15 Miller after Kreis contracted the flu and was briefly hospitalized. During his first practice run in the car on May 26, the 23-year old Lockhart surprised the ‘railbirds’ when he posted a lap of 112.22 miles per hours (MPH).

On the first day of time trials for the 1926 ‘500’ held on Thursday May 27, Lockhart set a new one-lap speed standard of 115.488 MPH that broke Peter DePaolo’s year old record of 114.255 MPH. After his second lap, Lockhart’s car experienced tire trouble and he was unable to complete the last two laps of his attempt, but his new one-lap record was recognized as official.  At the close of the first day of time trials at sundown, Earl Cooper, in what proved to be his final Indianapolis ‘500’ start claimed the pole position in one of two front-wheel drive Millers entered in 1926.

At the end of the second day of time trials, Lockhart still was not among the 19 drivers who had qualified for the starting field. A wire story which appeared in the Syracuse Herald accurately predicted that Lockhart “probably will take it slowly to play it safe and be sure to get Kreis’’ car in the big melee.” On the third day of time trials on Saturday May 29 Lockhart with his third and final qualifying attempt posted a four-lap average of 95.783 MPH. Although nearly twenty miles per hour slower than his record pace, it was still the fastest run of the day and earned Frank the 20th position in the starting field.

On Decoration Day 1926 Lockhart blazed his way to the front of the field, led 95 laps and scored a dominant victory in the rain-shortened 160-lap (400 mile) race with a two-lap advantage over second place Harry Hartz at the drop of the checkered flag. Lockhart used a portion of the $35,600 purse to buy the winning car from Kreis and with it scored four more wins during the 1926 AAA (American Automobile Association) championship season. 

The 1927 ‘500’

 

Copy of one page of the Lockhart intercooler patent application

 

Over the winter of 1926-1927 Lockhart and his crew dramatically modified the Miller 91 principally with the addition of a U-shaped intercooler which cooled the pressurized air that entered the engine and produced more horsepower.  Frank’s air-water intercooler, credited by racing historians as the first used at Indianapolis, later received United States patent # 1807042A in 1931.

With his more powerful Miller, Lockhart won the pole position for the 1927 Indianapolis 500-mile race as he set two new Indianapolis Motor Speedway track records with a best lap of 120.918 MPH and a four-lap average of 120.1 MPH. On Decoration  Day 1927, Lockhart led the first 81 laps of the race and was the leader on lap 119 when a connecting rod broke in his Perfect Circle Special’s four-cylinder Miller engine and ended his bid for a second consecutive ‘500’ victory.

Lockhart’s mechanical misfortune handed the lead to 1925 ‘500’ winner Peter DePaolo who was driving in relief of Bob McDonough in Earl Cooper’s new front wheel drive entry.  “Rookie” George Souders, who drove William S. White’s older Duesenberg chassis powered by 90-cubic inch double overhead camshaft supercharged straight-eight Duesenberg engine, surged past DePaolo into the lead on lap 150.

 

A 1927 portrait of George Souders

courtesy of the IUPUI University Library

Center for Digital Studies Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection

 

Souders a native Hoosier led the final 51 laps, and won over Earl Devore to become the second straight 500-mile race “rookie” winner. Devore had inherited second place when the Duesenberg driven by Babe Stapp in relief of Benton “Ben” Shoaff in a factory Duesenberg entry broke the pinion gear in the rear end and retired on lap 198.

With a margin over Devore of more than twelve minutes the 26-year old Souders (pronunciation of his name rhymes with “powders”) recorded the second largest winning margin in Speedway history; his margin was exceeded only by 1913 ‘500’ winner Jules Goux who won by 13 minutes. Despite his remarkable victory, George Souders’ racing accomplishment including his improbable 1927 “500’ victory is too often overlooked which this article is intended to rectify.  

George Souders’ early life and career

George R. Souders was born on September 11 1900 on his parent’s farm in Tippecanoe Township in Tippecanoe County Indiana four miles west of the historic Hoosier town of Battle Ground. The little town was so-named due its proximity to the site of the 1811Battle of Tippecanoe where General (and Governor of the Indiana territory) William Henry Harrison and his army of 1000 men defeated a group of warriors from local Native American tribes.

As a young man, George, his brother Richard and their parents, Charles and Cora, moved to a home at 1512 North Thirteenth Street in nearby Lafayette Indiana. George graduated from Jefferson High School as the 1918 class president, and then entered his hometown Purdue University as a member of the class of 1923 for the study of mechanical engineering. Sadly, Charles Souders passed away in January 1920 and George dropped of Purdue to work in a garage on Fourteenth Street in Lafayette to help support his family.

Legend has it that George became involved with automobile racing by happenstance when he accompanied an acquaintance who was entered in races held on July 4, 1922 in Danville Illinois.  The earliest recorded result uncovered by the author of George Souders as a race car driver was in the June 29 1923 edition of the Tippecanoe County Democrat newspaper which reported on a race held at the Tippecanoe County fairgrounds ½-mile track on the previous Sunday, June 24.  

Souders finished second behind SE Keith in the day’s first ten-mile race behind the wheel of a car owned by Elmer Schuck of Lafayette. The race was marred by an early crash which sent five spectators to the hospital - one with a broken leg, one with burns from the crashed car’s radiator and three after being struck with debris from flying timbers. Shortly after the completion of the ten-mile race, heavy rain and lightning forced the cancellation of the balance of the program. After the storm had passed, the estimated 5,000 fans attempted to obtain rain checks or refunds but found that the promoters of the race had disappeared.

Later during the 1923 racing season Souders behind the wheel of the ‘Schuck Special’ competed several times at the ‘new’ ½ mile oiled dirt Hoosier Motor Speedway which was located at the intersection of 38th street and Pendleton Pike on what is today Indianapolis’ near east side. George qualified twelfth fastest in the ‘Schuck Special’ the day before the scheduled July 4th 100-lap race which was rained out. The race was rescheduled for July 7th but was rained out again. 

Souders was one of 27 drivers listed as entrants for the 100-lap race rescheduled for Saturday August 4 1923.  The entries were to winnowed down through qualifying and heat races and apparently Souders was not among the eleven drivers that started the feature race   Earl Warrick in his own blue-hued car won the 100-mile grind in a time of 56 minutes and 15 seconds.

The Indianapolis Star reported that Warrick grabbed the race lead on the eighth lap and led the rest of the way and finished more than a lap ahead of second place finisher Chance Kinsley. Kinsley, who was the Hoosier Speedway track record holder in a Frontenac-Ford racer owned by Arthur Chevrolet, will be the subject of a future article on this site.    

1924

George Souders’ racing results for 1924 are spotty and both the results the author uncovered came from the same track, the ½ mile dirt oval at the Macon County fairgrounds in Decatur Illinois. On September 23, George was the fastest qualifier in his #401 ‘Souders Special’ as he toured the oval in 33.2 seconds, then won the five-mile “fast” heat race and the 20-mile feature race

The following month on Saturday afternoon October 11, Souders who listed his hometown as Covington, a border town about 50 miles southwest of Lafayette, scored a second consecutive Macon County ‘clean sweep’ behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Special. George set the day’s quick time in qualifying as he sped around the oval in 31-9/10 seconds, and then won the first five-mile heat race and the 20-mile feature race over Charles “Dutch” Baumann.  

1925

The 1925 season found Souders racing in Texas on the successful AAA southwestern circuit overseen by Abilene petroleum transporter D. H. Jefferies.  July 4 saw George racing on the dirt track at the West Texas Fairgrounds at Abilene “considered one of the best and safest dirt tracks in the country” in a “specially built Chevrolet special” owned by car dealer Earl Warrick of Covington Indiana.   

Souders who listed Lafayette Indiana as his home earned $1,200 in winnings on July 4 after he won both his 10-mile race and the 25-mile feature race. In local newspaper advertisements in the weeks following his victory, Souders credited his racing success to his use of gasoline from the Texhoma Oil and Refining Company of Wichita Falls, Texas and the fact that his car was shod with Dayton ‘Thorobred’ tires.

George Souders in his #401 Chevrolet Special in 1925

courtesy of the IUPUI University Library

Center for Digital Studies Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection

 

On August 8 1925 Souders raced in the AAA-sanctioned event on the 5/8-mile dirt track in Breckinridge Texas as part of the two-day opening of the “Oil Belt Fair” track that featured auto races and an aviation show. John Lee of San Angelo Texas was the day’s fast qualifier in Hoosier John Mais’ 16-valve ‘Dodge Special’ with Souders second fastest in his ‘Chevrolet Special.’ 

George won the second five-lap heat race over Harry Milburn in a Duesenberg with John Mais third in his own ‘Hudson Special.’  Souders won the 10-mile feature race over the two Mais-owned machines with Lee second and Mais third.  There were automobile races held the following day with many of the same drivers, but Souders was not mentioned in published reports of the race won by hometown driver Bob Stillwell.

In a race held on Wednesday afternoon September 23 1925 the “California Phenom” Frank Lockhart lowered his own West Texas Fairgrounds track record by 2 1/5 seconds as he circulated twice around the 5/8-mile track in 67 1/5 seconds.  George Souders meanwhile qualified fifth with a time of 69 2/5 seconds then finished as the runner-up to Lockhart in the first 10-mile 16-lap race for the day’s eight fastest cars. Lockhart won the day’s 30-mile 48-lap finale and led second-place finisher Souders across the finish line by 37 seconds.

Friday afternoon October 5 1925 found Souders racing on the Haskell County Fair Speedway in Haskell Texas about 50 miles north of his new hometown of Abilene. George qualified third fastest behind the new track record holder John Gerber, considered to be the original ‘outlaw’ racer. Souders won the second five-mile heat race on the 5/8-mile dirt oval then placed third in the fifteen-mile feature race and won $75.

George Souders closed out his 1925 season far west of his adopted hometown of Austin Texas as he raced on Christmas Day in Douglas Arizona on the 7/8 mile Cochise County Fairgrounds track. Souders finished fifth in the 50-mile race behind the winner, local driver Jimmy Randolph.

Part two of our series will trace George Souders’ path to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Thanks to fellow historian Bob Lawrence for providing information on several races during Souders’ 1925 season. Readers are encouraged to check out Bob’s work at http://kansasracinghistory.com/

 

  

Luxor Goggles

All the poster photos appear

courtesy of EB Meyrowitz

 

While safety protection of racers in the early days of automotive competition were rudimentary with no seat belts and the use of cloth helmets, from the start racers recognized the importance of protecting their vision from dust. The brand of choice for many early racers was a pair of Luxor Goggles manufactured by Meyrowitz Manufacturing Company which sold by E.B. Meyrowitz Incorporated from its eleven stores in five cities - New York City  (seven stores), Minneapolis and Saint Paul Minnesota and two subsidiaries in Paris and  London and many local distributors nationwide

Emil Bruno (E.B.) Meyrowitz was born in 1852 in the city of Danzig, then part of the Prussian Empire, today known as the Polish city of Gdansk.  Emil graduated from optical college in Russia, and after he served his apprenticeship, he immigrated to America in 1872. In New York City He worked for Benjamin Pike & Sons opticians but also tinkered in his spare time in a workshop in his basement.

Emil and his two younger brothers Oscar and Paul started the Meyrowitz Brothers Company in Albany New York in 1875 before Emil became a naturalized United States citizen in 1878. By 1886 he and his brothers had opened E.B. Meyrowitz Incorporated at 104 East 23rd Street in New York City and later would establish their flagship store at 520 Fifth Avenue.  

EB Meyrowitz Incorporated optician stores in New York City, Paris, London, and Minnesota specialized in custom hand-made eyewear with the last King of France, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, painter Claude Monet (whose glasses were tinted blue) and Winston Churchill all mentioned as past customers. The stores also sold precision vision-related instruments such as microscopes and binoculars along with a line of cameras and offered film processing.

Emil had a curious mind and during his life invented and patented many instruments used in the optical trade. In April 1893 Emil received US patent number 495506A for a perimeter, an instrument used to measure the extent of a patient’s visual field with moving targets. Emil’s invention combined the principles of the existing Landolt and Priestley-Smith perimeters along with “certain novel features peculiar to the improved instrument itself.”

Emil followed his first invention with two more devices for the support of optical testing instruments which received US patent protection in 1897 and in 1898. Also in 1898 Emil received a patent for “a saddle for spectacles” designed “to give the wearers of spectacles relief from the pressure upon the nose due to the weight of the lenses and their frames with a novel device with a pair of pads rest upon the face at the sides of the nose attached to the bridge of any make of spectacles.”

 

 

Emil Meyrowitz’ two major inventions were patented during the first decade of the twentieth century; in 1902 he patented an ophthalmoscope which allowed the optician to see inside the eye and in 1907 an ophthalmometer an instrument to measure the curvature of the surface of the cornea.

To manufacture Emil’s many inventions, the brothers set up a factory known as the Meyrowitz Surgical Manufacturing Company in New Jersey, and the three brothers prospered until tragedy struck on Wednesday January 8, 1902.  In a snowstorm as an inbound express train from Connecticut, stopped in the Yorkville tunnel is it waited to enter the overcrowded Grand Central Depot, a second train inbound from White Plains plowed into the waiting express and destroyed its two rear passenger cars.

Oscar Meyrowitz, 47 years old, who had gotten on the express train in New Rochelle, was among the fifteen people killed (two more died later of their injuries). Oscar’s widow filed a $150,000 suit against the railroad (equivalent to $4 million today) but a jury later awarded her just $20,000. The public outcry after the accident led to the construction of the larger Grand Central Terminal and the replacement of steam locomotives with electric units on city routes.     

Two years later, it was discovered that a night watchman at the Meyrowitz flagship store had surreptitiously looted the store and attempted to sell through an auction the $20,000 in stolen merchandise (mainly eyeglass frames) under an assumed name. His crime was discovered when John Schwenger an employee of the firm inspected the goods at the auction and found the ‘EBM’ trademark on the frames. Why the watchman William Cooper did not melt down the gold and sell it instead of trying to auction the frames was never explained.     

Meyrowitz had first advertised goggles in their catalog in 1905 which included a water-roof mask and nose piece for ‘rainy day’ driving but Meyrowitz’ place in racing history was cemented with the issuance on November 11 1907 of United States patent 871762A for “improved construction of goggles, goggles or protecting glasses for the use of motorists and other persons, for preventing dust and particles from entering the eyes particularly to render them more easily applied and removed in use.”  

Over the next 26 years Meyrowitz was issued nine more patents for improvements to his original goggle design.  Through the years, Emil (and in one case an employee) patented different bridge designs, various cushion styles  and methods to attach the cushion to the eye cups, ventilating inlets to prevent fogging, and even a moveable shutter so the wearer could adjust the amount of opening.

 

 

 

 

Truly, E B Meyrowitz Inc.’s Luxor brand of goggles became the standard of the industry and was sold at air fields, opticians, and sporting goods stores. A 1933 Luxor advertisement modestly proclaimed “there has been hardly a flight of consequence since aviation first began when Luxor Goggles were not worn. This is also true in important motor and speed-boat races. There must be a reason why the leaders of air and track races prefer Luxor.”

 

 

All the most experienced Hollywood stunt pilots of their day including Frank Clarke, Roscoe Turner, Al Wilson, Frank Tomick, Elmer Dyer and Garland Lincoln took part in the two years’ filming of Howard Hughes' epic motion picture Hells Angels and all wore Luxor goggles.

Colonel Charles Lindbergh and Art Goebel Jr. both appeared in Luxor print advertisements and Royal Air Force Lt. Sidney Webster wore Luxor goggles when he won the 1927 Schneider Cup air race at 281 miles per hour (MPH). Most famously, aviatrix Amelia Earhart wore Luxor #6 goggles fitted with hand-ground curved lenses, and a pair of her Luxor goggles with a cracked left lens sold at auction in 2011 for nearly $20,000.

The mention of Earhart’s goggles brings up the point that the standard lenses in Luxor goggles, whether flat or curved, while precision ground were not shatter-proof, although “non-shatterable” glass was an option on the model 8 which doubled the standard $18.00 list price. Buyers could also opt for meniscus, or convex-concave, lenses which had the effect of magnification.

Clear or “white” lenses were standard but amber, green or smoked lenses were also available and on special order, EB Meyrowitz Inc. could grind the goggle lenses to match a prescription. Whatever model was purchased, Luxor goggles always came furnished in a metal case engraved the Meyrowitz’ signature which remain a relatively inexpensive collector’s item today; cases usually sell for $50, while the goggles themselves often fetch more than $400.   

Tommy Milton in 1923 wore Luxor goggles with clear (white) flat lenses

Ralph DePalma in 1923 wore Luxor goggles with clear (white) flat lenses

Peter DePaolo in 1926 seated in the Marmon Wasp

wore Luxor goggles with curved lenses that appear tinted

 

In the world of automobile racing, Meyrowitz boasted a powerful line-up of customers which included the first two-time Indianapolis 500-mile race winner Tommy Milton, the 1924 ‘500’ co-winner LL ‘Slim’ Corum, the 1915 ‘500 winner Ralph DePalma and his nephew Peter DePaolo, who signed a photograph to Emil after this 1925 Indianapolis victory which read in part “Luxor goggles have been with me in all my victories” which was reproduced in advertisements.

 

Harry Hartz in 1923 wore Luxor goggles with white flat lenses

 

 

According to other print advertisements other noted racers such as Harry Hartz, the 1926 AAA (American Automobile Association) national champion, the 1920 AAA national champion Louis Chevrolet, and Cliff Durant also wore Luxor goggles in competition.  

There were of course competitors for Luxor Goggles such as General Optical Co. Inc.’s “Gogglette #3” which were used by drivers that included  the legendary barnstormer Berna Eli “Barney” Oldfield, the inaugural  Indianapolis 500’ winning relief driver Cyrus Patschke, 1916 Indianapolis ‘500’ winner Dario Resta and the 1919 Liberty ‘500’ winner Howard Wilcox.  EB Meyrowitz advertising warned discerning customers to make sure their goggles “have the new red rubber cushions bearing the word Luxor.”

 

 

Eventually center-hinged “tank style” goggles which had Triplex laminated flat clear glass and provided a wider field of vision grew in popularity and eventually replaced Luxor goggles. Company founder Emil Meyrowitz passed away at age 85 in 1937 after a two-month illness and the control of EB Meyrowitz Incorporated and its subsidiaries passed to his two sons, Ernest DuPont and Russell Alexander. Paul the youngest of the three original Meyrowitz brothers retired from the firm in 1943 and passed away at age 82 in 1946 in his apartment in New York’s swank Hotel Seymour.

Emil’s son eldest son Ernest also passed away in 1946 at the age of 61 in New Jersey while his brother, Russell born in 1890, died in 1965 in New Rochelle New York. Although no longer owned by family members, the EB Meyrowitz brand still exists; although the three locations in New York City, Paris and London are each owned by separate owners, they all sell a line of custom hand-made eyeglasses and frames. You can visit the three EB Meyrowitz stores websites by clicking the following links

http://www.midtownoptician.com/index.html

http://www.ebmeyrowitz.co.uk/

http://www.meyrowitz.com/en/

 

All the black and white driver photographs with Luxor goggles appear courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway collection in the IUPUI University Library Center for Digital Studies