12 replies to this topic

[ensign14]

Just looking through some old Indy 500 results and saw someone whose name had never leaped out at me before - Percy Ford, who was 3rd in the 1921 race, but never seemed to make the Speedway again, other than as a relief driver in 1929. John Glenn Printz lists him on here as a Chicago amateur hot-shoe, Riche has him as a former Packard salesman, but to come third at the Brickyard shows he must have had a bit more skill than most, even if the '21 race didn't have the strongest of fields. Anyone know any more about him? Seems a shame that someone with such a good result should have slipped through the cracks.

[fines]

Percy Ford was certainly a very good amateur racer, but you have to realise that he didn't finish third at Indy, he "merely" started the car which finished third. Without looking up the details, it was Jules Ellingboe who actually finished in third, and who probably did all the hard work. A bit like Fangio taking over the Johnny Claes Maserati and almost finishing third with it in Spa one year. Percy did, however, finish 6th once at Elgin, so he was no mean racer. But look at his Indy qualifying speed, and you will notice that he was far off the pace.

By the way, the relief driver in 1929 was not Percy Ford, but Roscoe Ford, a Californian Sprint Car driver and constructor, much like the (in)famous Barney Kleopfer.;)

[john glenn printz]

Percy Ford (1888-1962) in 1921 was an automobile sales manager in Chicago. His first race was in an "amateur" event held at the two mile Chicago-Maywood speedway in 1915. Ford's greatest victory was in a "dealer's or "nonprofessional" race, a 100 miler, in a Haynes car on June 16,1917 at the same Maywood track. Ford's elapsed time was 1:07:00.65 or c. 89 mph. Ford was then working for the Haynes automobile outlet in Chicago.

Percy was born in Chicago in 1888 and married a Chicago girl in 1910. Golf and auction bridge were said to be his favorite pastimes.

Ford only drove in two genuine AAA Championship races: i.e. 1. the August 28, 1920 Elgin road race and at Indianapolis on May 30, 1921. Ford placed 6th at Elgin and his car at Indianapolis took 3rd overall. But as Michael Ferner correctly points out, that was mostly due to Jules Ellingboe (1892-1948) takover of the car. Percy piloted Frontenacs in both his two Championship starts.

ADDENDUM OF JANUARY 20, 2011: According to the CHICAGO TRIBUNE issue of May 26, 1918, page D6, Percy Ford had entered the May 30 Harkness 100 mile Handicap at Sheepshead Bay with a Duesenberg. It was to be Ford's first venture into the professional ranks. Percy believed he would be awarded maximum handicap allowed, which would keep him among the race leaders. However Ford was not among 15 starters and is not listed among the entrants in this rain delayed event, which was held on June 1, 1918. I don't know what happened here.

Edited by john glenn printz, 20 January 2011 - 16:26.

[ensign14]

Do we know how much of the driving Ellingboe did? I wonder if his "dealer" racing got him a crack at the big time?

[Michael Ferner]

Ellingboe basically drove the second half of the race. Ford gave up the controls to Andy Burt, another Chicago veteran, on lap 95. A short time later, Ellingboe gave up on his original entry (which had been delayed for about an hour), and drove the last 95 laps in Ford's Fronty. I don't have any info on Ford's running position in the race, but he was never in contention. Ellingboe moved up to third place, mostly due to attrition it's true, but he apparently also made up two laps on the eventual winner, Toimmy Milton during that time.

Those "dealers races", much like the later "semi-professional" or "class B races", were a sort of talent pool for the "big time" - Red Fetterman is probably the most prominent name to have emerged that way. Before WW1, there were usually several classes for cars of different engine capacities, and the young guns would learn their craft by racing small cars first, and then progressing upwards, but with the introduction of the 300 CID class for the major races in the mid teens the smaller classes were abandoned. AAA didn't have much interest in dirt track racing at that time, and would encourage promoters to stage those dealers races to find new blood. Then the car manufacturers left one by one, and serving time as a riding mechanic became the main route to the top. With the introduction of the single-seaters, AAA made several attempts to get back into the dirt track game, but with varying success. Finally, many local independent clubs took over the role of talent pool, and the AAA would issue temporary permits for drivers as well as car owners to get a break. Many of those independent cars were "backyard specials", and not really up to the job of taking on Millers or Duesenbergs, even though some of those were really competitive. In order to give the owners and drivers of "lesser cars" some encouragement during the time of the dirt track boom in the thirties, when entry lists were often oversubscribed three or four times, the somewhat intangible concept of "class B" was introduced. Rules differed from area to area, and changed over time, but essentially those "class B" events were glorified consolation races to train newcomers, much like the "dealers races". Rex Mays and Ted Horn won their first spurs as class B drivers, before going on to become major stars on the AAA main circuit, the "big time". Percy Ford was not quite of that calibre.

[john glenn printz]

Ellingboe's relief role for Ford caught the attention of many at Indianapolis in 1921. Here are three contemporary reports written immediately after the race:

1. "Chicago's favorite son, Percy Ford, drove a careful race over the first half of the course and then gave his wheel to Jules Ellingboe, who brought the car in for third money, after a brillant exhibition. Ford, national amateur racing champion, did not find the brick track to his liking, but maneuvered to stay in the running and carefully nursed his mount until his relief arrived."

2. "Aside from Milton, the work of young Ellinghoe attracted considerable attention. The Crookson, Minn. pilot, driving on a brick track for the first time, made a great showing until forced out in the 49th lap. Later he replaced Percy Ford and brought the latter's car from tenth position to third at the finish. He was nine laps behind the winner."

3. "Jules Ellingboe, who won a name for himself on dirt tracks, made his first speedway debut in the International 500-mile race held at the Indianapolis Speedway, May 30th and carried away third place."

After his sensational driving at Indianapolis in 1921 Ellingboe was taken to Uniontown, with the Frontenac team, for the Uniontown 225 to be held on June 18, 1921. In the race Jules crashed on lap 128th lap. Both Ellingboe and his mechanic, Wallace Butler, were thrown out of the car. Ellingboe was seriously injured with internal hemmorhages.

After that Ellingboe continued to race occasionally on the AAA National Championship circuit, mostly at Indianapolis, up to 1927 but never did anything of note again. Jules seems to be a pilot who excelled in just one contest, i.e. the 1921 "500", and couldn't ever repeat his initial success.

Ellingboe had been also an IMCA dirt track driver, c. 1917-1920, before he joined up with the AAA.

Edited by john glenn printz, 21 December 2010 - 16:41.

[Michael Ferner]

Jules Ellingboe was indeed a very interesting, if somewhat enigmatic driver - maybe we should rename the thread?

He originally hailed from far up north, Crookston in Minnesota, which is about a hundred miles south of Winnipeg in Canada. The IMCA had a number of fair dates in the region, like Grand Forks, Minot or Fargo in North Dakota, so it was perhaps natural that Jules would join the "outlaws" in his early twenties, running a (presumably self-built) Model T Ford special. By 1916, his name appeared semi-regularly in promotional blurbs for upcoming races even further south, in Kansas or Iowa, and the following year he began driving Alex Sloan's "house cars", like the SCAT or one of the Briscoes (reputedly the one driven by Art Klein before). During the late teens, Ellingboe was one of the major stars on the IMCA circuit, winning countless races and establishing many track records. During the summer months, the IMCA often ventured into Canada, and Ellingboe was repeatedly refered to as the "Canadian dirt track champion", although it's unclear if there was any substance to this claim - likely, it was just the usual PR bullshit.

In 1920, Ellingboe surprised the establishment by entering two "Ellingboe Specials" for the Indy 500. Sadly, nothing is known about the cars which were to be built by the Ellingboe Motor Corp. in Memphis, Tennessee, where Jules had relocated to, as they were not finished in time and never appeared at the Speedway. Subsequently, Jules returned to the IMCA dirt tracks, driving a "Wisconsin Special" with some success - this was likely the same car made famous by Sig Haugdahl in his "three-miles-a-minute" run in 1922, and it is interesting to speculate about what could have happened if Ellingboe hadn't wanted so badly to drive at Indy. As it was, Jules made a deal to run a Frontenac in 1921 (reputedly the 1920 winner), and made one heck of an impression in his first AAA start.

As John has correctly pointed out, Ellingboe had a very serious accident at Uniontown only three weeks after his sterling performance at the brickyard, and it severely curtailed his activities in what would turn out to be his best year in the sport. Still, he made a lasting impression when he returned to Uniontown less than three months after the accident, and even more so when he won a 15-miler at the Indiana State Fairgounds only five days later over a field that included Howdy Wilcox, Roscoe Sarles, Bennie Hill and Lora Corum. Still in the same month, he returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to finish third once more, this time in a 50-miler behind Wilcox and Jimmy Murphy, and ahead of Joe Thomas and Eddie Hearne (this was the last race outside of May at the Speedway until the NASCAR "taxi cabs" came to town 73 years later).

These performances had caught the eye of the Duesenberg brothers, who offered him a ride in one of their cars for the 1922 season, although he only got one of the second-string cars, apparently Murphy's 1920 ride. Unfortunately, this proved to be his worst year at the Speedway, and he qualified way back in the field (though still fastest of the older Duesenbergs), and crashed out after only 25 laps. He was unhurt, however, and did relief stints in two other Duesenbergs which finished 5th and 6th, respectively, but his time with the team was unhappy, as the Millers began to dominate even over the newer Dueseys, and the AAA offered very little running on dirt tracks, which was still Ellingboe's main forte.

Edited by Michael Ferner, 22 December 2010 - 19:49.

[Michael Ferner]

[Ellingboe zwo]

Jules then appears to have purchased a Duesenberg, presumably his original car at Indy, and returned to the IMCA "outlaws", where he also drove Barney Oldfield's "Golden Submarine" Miller on occasion. When the Sloan organisation went west to compete on the newly built Ascot Speedway in early 1924, the "Canadian champion" was amongst the advertised stars that were to be "imported" to show the locals a thing or two, but Ellingboe had other plans, and never actually competed at Ascot. Instead, he was dickering for one of the Duesenbergs at the Beverly Hills board track, ultimately unsuccessfully though - another interesting "might have been", considering the success the Duesenbergs were going to have at Indy over the next few years!

Still, his stay in California proved fruitful, when Harry Miller himself invited him to drive one of two "surplus" cars he had built in the hope of selling them "back east", and Jules did his usual excellent job in qualifying at Indy, joining the still very exclusive club of 100mph+ qualifiers (one of only fifteen so far), but his luck was out again on race day, after staying with the leaders during the first half of the race, when a leaky radiator and then a loose fuel tank lost him so much time that he could finish only 11th, just outside of the money - but for the fact that for the first time, consolation prizes were paid at Indy in 1924, and Jules was the very first driver in the history of the '500' to win any money at all by not finishing in the top ten, and not leading a single lap - 1,048 dollars and 76 cents, to be precise.

From now on, he became a once-a-year racing driver, but his services were still sought after at Indy. In 1925, his old buddy from the IMCA days, Jerry Wonderlich offered him a ride in his old, unsupercharged Miller, and Jules qualified extremely well again, but was the first car out when the steering failed after only 60 miles. He did a few laps as a relief driver in Bennie Hill's supercharged Miller, but the car suffered from numerous problems and didn't finish. The next year, Bennie had a brand new Miller '91', and Ellingboe was given the older car with the engine rebuilt to conform with the new formula - a compromise solution, at best. Still, Jules was not only fastest of the dozen or so "class B" Millers, he also outqualified his boss in the supposedly faster new car, only to retire again in the early stages of the long grind.

For 1927, Ellingboe was given the front-drive Miller that Earl Cooper had qualified on pole for the previous race. Meanwhile, Cooper had built three "improved" copies of the car for Bennie Hill, Bob McDonogh and Pete Kreis to drive, three racers of the highest reputation - but Jules outqualified them all. Not only that, he also bettered Cooper's pole time of the year before in the same car, and had he managed his deed just a couple of days earlier, he would've cracked the qualifying records of Pete de Paolo and Leon Duray, but in the meantime Ralph Hepburn, Harry Hartz, de Paolo and finally Frank Lockhart had raised the bar considerably. Still, Ellingboe was sixth fastest in the 1927 starting field, and a top ten qualifyer for the fifth time in six tries. His time was more than a full minute better over ten miles than his own effort just five years earlier, with a car of twice the engine capacity - nothing illustrates better the advances made in racing technology in those days!

Excellent qualifyer though he was, come race day and he was out of luck, yet again: after again only 25 laps, he crashed heavily, and sustained very serious internal injuries that ended his driving days forever. He was an excellent dirt track driver, with a penchant for fast qualifying laps around the shrine of motordom, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With a little more "race luck", he could've been one of the greatest of his time, and deserving of more than a couple of lines in a wikipedia article.

Edited by Michael Ferner, 23 December 2010 - 08:41.

[ensign14]

Great stuff, Michael and John. Maybe Ellingboe's article could be updated...

This is the thing with the facts and figures of motor racing. It's all there, there are stories behind everything, Fat Controller lookalikes like Alexander Burton, Darwin award Belgians, cameraphobes like WW Brown...but they never get told. Thanks for illuminating a couple of those who, once upon a time, were right at the centre of the biggest race in the States.

[Michael Ferner]

Thanks for asking the questions, ensign - it's the questions that prompt the research! Why does man go to the moon? To find out if it is really made of green cheese...;)

[Lemnpiper]

Thanks for asking the questions, ensign - it's the questions that prompt the research! Why does man go to the moon? To find out if it is really made of green cheese...;)

Plus it seems Mr Ford was running 10th when relieve so he was doin a respectable job for a rookie at keeping his car in the race as well .



Paul

[Graham Clayton]

Percy Ford (1888-1962) in 1921 was an automobile sales manager in Chicago. His first race was in an "amateur" event held at the two mile Chicago-Maywood speedway in 1915. Ford's greatest victory was in a "dealer's or "nonprofessional" race, a 100 miler, in a Haynes car on June 16,1917 at the same Maywood track. Ford's elapsed time was 1:07:00.65 or c. 89 mph. Ford was then working for the Haynes automobile outlet in Chicago.

Percy Ford Jr also entered a Haynes in the 100 mile non-professional race that was part of the Chicago Auto Derby meeting in June 1917.

[Graham Clayton]

Jules Ellingboe was indeed a very interesting, if somewhat enigmatic driver - maybe we should rename the thread?
During the late teens, Ellingboe was one of the major stars on the IMCA circuit, winning countless races and establishing many track records. During the summer months, the IMCA often ventured into Canada, and Ellingboe was repeatedly refered to as the "Canadian dirt track champion", although it's unclear if there was any substance to this claim - likely, it was just the usual PR bullshit.

Here is a reference from the Calgary Daily Herald dated July 7, 1919, giving details of some of Ellingboe's record breaking exploits:

Jules Ellingboe, Canadian dirt track champion, again broke the Calgary speed record on Saturday afternoon in the time trials in the fourth event on the programme, He covered the two miles in 2:16 seconds flat; beating the local record by 2-5 second. His speed actually was between 2:15 4-5 and 2:16, so that it approximated the Canadian record of 2:15 4-5 seconds.

The championship match race was undoubtedly one of the most sensational features of the afternoon when Jules Ellingboe was matched against Wild Bill Endicott for the honors of the day...Endicott won the toss and selected the inside position. Ellingboe decided on a rolling start. Both drivers fairly tore up the dust as they pounded madly around the track fighting keenly for every foot of the ground and the issue was doubtful to the very end. The excitement became intense as the two raced past the stand abreast as the green flag waved in front of them for the fifth lap. The pace of this lap seemed to be madder than ever until the checkered flag fell as Jules Ellingboe flashed by winning by less than half a length.