11 replies to this topic

[Jimmy Piget]

I own the 1946 official program of the "Indianapolis Sweepstake", which includes a year-by-year summary of every past 500s.

What intrigated me is in the 1941 report. Among the entered but not qualified cars & drivers, it reads a Miller special with a driver called "H A Miller". Could that mean Harry Arminius himself ? Did he really practise on the Speedway one of his cars ? Or was this only a typo, confusing the entrant with the driver ?
No clue at all in the Borgeson book.

In the same 1941 not qualified list, Joe Marks is listed as a driver of one of his entered cars : same question, as he never appeatred as a driver in all the Phil Harms records of the championship trail.

Last question about the 1947 AAA championship trail. A man called Art Scovell drove the Weil Alfa-Romeo (8C35 50012) to 10 at Milwaukee and to 14 at Langhorne.
The SSDI knows a Arthur Scovell, born 23 January 1910 and dead in January 1954, issued by Oregon.
A racing accident ? Where ? What kind of race — midget, sprint, stock ?

Somebody ?

[Phil Harms]

If you have a copy of one of Jack Fox's Indpls 500 boxes, you'll understand what they intended. I pulled out my copy of the 1946 program to be sure. If a driver was associated with the car, they listed the driver's name. If no driver, then they listed the entrant or car owner. Barringer did not start due to the garage fire and Hanks werecked after qualifying. Clemons, Marks, Jennings and Willets were car owners. I don't find Harry Miller listed in my copy of the '46 program.

[quintin cloud]

Welcome Phil to the group

[McSlick]

Barringer did not start due to the garage fire

I think it was pretty bad that Barringer didn't start the race in the Miller being it rear engined car
The car was qualified 15th out of 31
I think it could have started the rear engine revelution [at Indy]a lot earlier than when lotus/cooper came in the 60's with their funny cars

Max

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by Jimmy Piget

Last question about the 1947 AAA championship trail. A man called Art Scovell drove the Weil Alfa-Romeo (8C35 50012) to 10 at Milwaukee and to 14 at Langhorne.
The SSDI knows a Arthur Scovell, born 23 January 1910 and dead in January 1954, issued by Oregon.
A racing accident ? Where ? What kind of race — midget, sprint, stock ?

Somebody ?

Jimmy,

Art Scovell was from the Northwest U.S. (I believe Portland, Oregon). I'm not aware of him dying in a racing accident, especially being that time of year.

That is certainly a name I run across a lot in Pacific Northwest open wheel races in the late 1940's and early 1950's.

I'll check with some Northwest old timers and get back to you.


Jim Thurman

[Jimmy Piget]

to Phil Harms

First, it's with a great pleasure I read from you here !
Second, indy 1941. What I was talking of is at page 34 (I had to count myself for pages were not folioted) of the 1946 Official program. I copy it without correcting the typos (and trying not to make some more...
My mistake was that Harry Miller is mentioned for 1939, not 1941, page 32.

"Statistics of the 1939 500-Mile race.
(...)
Entered but did not start — Belanger Special, Duke Nalon ; Marchese Special ; W. A. Rotary Valve Special, George Robson ; Miller Special, Zeke Meyer ; Deacon Litz Special ; Kimmel Special, T. Hinnershitz ; Quillen bros. Refrigerator Special, Merril "Doc" Williams ; Cheesman Maserati Special, Henry Banks ; Kohlert's Miller Special ; Lucky Teetor Special ; Miller Purdy Special ; Miller Gardner Special ; Indiana Fur Special, F. M. Gordner ; Woestman-McDowell Special, Louis Webb ; Miller Special, Harry A. Miller."

"Statistics of the 1941 500-Mile race.
(...)
Entered but did not start — Talbot Special, Rene LeBegue ; Talbot Special, Jean Trevoux ; Tom Joyce Special, Sam Hanks ; Miller Special, Geo. Barringer ; Kimmel Special, Ira Hall ; J. & S. Special, Glayne Jennings ; Willets Special, J. M. Willets ; Clemons Special, F. E. Clemons ; Marks Special, Joe Marks ; Greene Special, Bill Lipscomb.
Withdrawn — Greenfield S. & S. Special. "

What I understand in these lists is that it mentioned 1st Name of the car — 2nd name of the driver.
When no driver nominated, it mentioned only the car's name and left a blank : see in 1939, for example : "Lucky Teetor Special" not mentioning Lucky Teter as entrant (nor as possible driver).

So, confusion raised from this program, between drivers and entrants !
Thanks for precising about Jennings, Willets, Clemons & Marks in 1941.
What about F. M. Gordner in 1939, and about Port De Fraties in 1940 ? (& possibly others in other years : haven't checked yet)


For Jim Thurman : thanks for looking for Art Scovell.
Dying at 34 is not so common, so ? If not a race accident (but why not midgets, even in January ?), perhaps a traffic accident ? Or ... ?

Happy new year every body !

[VAR1016]

Something I have always wanted to know: why were the cars always called "specials"?

I suppose that the British cars in the 1960s brought the era of the "special" to a close?

PdeRL

[Phil Harms]

I wouldn't assume that the data in the programs is compiled the same from year to year. I imagine they just copied the printouts from the previous year and, as is so often the case wihen researching racing history, mistakes are repeated time and time again without ever going back to the original source. We are so often faced with disputing data that is presented as fact. Fortunately this forum is made up of people who are interested in chasing down those errors and making the record correct.

I don't know if the cars listed without drivrs in 1941 even made an appearance. Phantom entries at Indianapolis has been a challange from 1911. The AAA records, altho not complete, don't even list those cars as having made an appearance in 1941.

M. Gordner is listed as the entrant for #47 in 1939 with no driver named -- per the AAA Form 1a report. The car probably never got there, as the tech inspection data is missing.

Port De Fraties was a sprint (big car) driver who drove for Johnny Gerber.

Art Scovell drove at Legion Ascot from Jul 21, 1931 until Feb 26, 1933. I have no record of him driving after that. Jim Thurman has more contacts that can set the record straight so I'll wait for his followup. There was also a Bob Scovell that drove at Legion Ascot (May 19, 1929 thru Sep 21, 1932); I've assumed that they were brothers but have nothing to confirm that. Bob was a carowner and ran a Kurtis 2000 in 1958 and 1960 at Phoenix and Sacramento. It wasn't very competitive.

The term "Special" that was used goes back to the early days of AAA when their rule books detailed the technical requirements for a stock chassis: what could be altered without falling out of the stock classification. Back then (even before 1910) the auto manufacturers use racing as a promotional tool and it was important to truthfully advertise that a car that raced had direct heritage to a showroom model. The non-stock or open class was for those that had extensive modification and these were often designated to be Specials. It became a universal designation at Indianapolis, long after the AAA abandoned the stock classification. I seem to remember the first actual use of the "Special" suffix at Indianapolis was the Richards Spl. in 1920 --- it really was a Hudson. Even today a champ car will ocassionally be listed as a Special. It is a quaint term.

[Don Capps]

Originally posted by VAR1016
Something I have always wanted to know: why were the cars always called "specials"?

PdeRL

The Official Bulletin of the Contest Board for 31 May 1916, carried the following item:

The standing of competitors after the 150 mile Metropolitan Trophy race at Sheepshead Bay on May 13th and the 300 mile race at Indianapolis on May 30th is:

The Official Bulletin of the Contest Board for 31 May 1916, carried the following item:

The standing of competitors after the 150 mile Metropolitan Trophy race at Sheepshead Bay on May 13th and the 300 mile race at Indianapolis on May 30th is:

Drivers Points
Dario Resta 900
E.V. Rickenbacher 600
W. D’Alene 470
Jules Devigne 320
Ralph Mulford 240
Ira Vail 170
J. Christiaens 130
C.J. Devlin 90
Barney Oldfield 80
George Adams 55
Howard Wilcox 40
Bert Watson 35
Art Johnson 30
Billy Chandler 25
F. Henderson 22
O. Haibe 20

[/list]Cars Points
Peugeot Special 1,140
Maxwell Special 650
Duesenberg Special 560
Delage Special 400
Hudson Special 170
Sunbeam Special 130
Crawford Special 55
Adams Special 55
Premier Special 40
J.J.R. Special 35
Ostewig Special 20

[Don Capps]

Originally posted by VAR1016
Something I have always wanted to know: why were the cars always called "specials"?

PdeRL

The Official Bulletin of the Contest Board for 31 May 1916, carried the following item:

The standing of competitors after the 150 mile Metropolitan Trophy race at Sheepshead Bay on May 13th and the 300 mile race at Indianapolis on May 30th is:


Drivers Points
Dario Resta 900
E.V. Rickenbacher 600
W. D’Alene 470
Jules Devigne 320
Ralph Mulford 240
Ira Vail 170
J. Christiaens 130
C.J. Devlin 90
Barney Oldfield 80
George Adams 55
Howard Wilcox 40
Bert Watson 35
Art Johnson 30
Billy Chandler 25
F. Henderson 22
O. Haibe 20


Cars Points
Peugeot Special 1,140
Maxwell Special 650
Duesenberg Special 560
Delage Special 400
Hudson Special 170
Sunbeam Special 130
Crawford Special 55
Adams Special 55
Premier Special 40
J.J.R. Special 35
Ostewig Special 20

The term "Special" was already in wide use by 1916 as we can see from this excerpt from the AAA Contest Board Bulletin.

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by Jimmy Piget


For Jim Thurman : thanks for looking for Art Scovell.
Dying at 34 is not so common, so ? If not a race accident (but why not midgets, even in January ?), perhaps a traffic accident ? Or ... ?

Only confirmation I have is that Art Scovell committed suicide. Some of the info I've received (some from fellows who raced against him) indicates he had some great tragedies in his life that led to his despondancy.

Bob Scovell was his brother. Bob was involved with vintage racing until his death a couple of years ago.

There wasn't much racing in the U.S. in January, aside from some indoor Midget racing and the occasional races in Southern California and Florida.

A good bio of Art Scovell from a program circa 1949. I'll check and see if that can be posted here.


Jim Thurman

[Michael Ferner]

What about F. M. Gordner in 1939, and about Port De Fraties in 1940 ? (& possibly others in other years : haven't checked yet)

Found accidently:

"F. M. Gordner" was actually Fanny Gardner, Chet Gardner's widow, so: not a driver!