At Indianapolis

Thirty-three tiny bullet-shaped cars, strung out in a long, snaky line, roared across the starting line. Fifteen minutes later a laconic announcement came through the loudspeakers: "Clay Weatherly is over the wall. Car No. 45. He is dead. His mechanic has a broken back." The crowd of 155,000 ordered hot dogs and settled down to watch the race. Three minutes later another car, going at 108 m.p.h., crashed into the concrete barrier at almost the same spot as the Weatherly crash. Driver Al Gordon, pinned under the wreck, was pulled out alive with his steel helmet ground paper-thin against the wall. For the first 250 miles, the youngest driver in the field, Rex Mays of Los Angeles, who won the pole position for his record-breaking qualifying trial, set the pace. At 300 miles, he withdrew when his Gilmore Special broke a spring shackle. The last of four new Ford V-8's went out at 360 miles. At 450 miles, a drizzle made the track slippery and officials waved the yellow flag. This meant that the speed limit was 75 m.p.h. and the drivers were to hold their relative positions. By the time the rain stopped, there were only 20 miles left. Kelly Petillo, who had taken the lead when Mays was forced out and held it ever since, knew then that if his car held together he could not fail to win. It held together. Officials checked his time, found that with 106.24 m.p.h. average for 500 miles, he had set a new record for the Indianapolis Memorial Day Classic. Second, nearly a lap behind, was Wilbur Shaw of Indianapolis. Third was "Wild Bill" Cummings, winner in 1934.

Son of a Los Angeles fruit dealer, Driver Petillo. who used to get tickets for speeding in his father's truck, had invested his last $500 in a cream-colored Gilmore Speedway Special which he patched up for the race. In his first trial he broke the speed record but was disqualified for using too much gasoline. In his second, a broken connecting rod scattered his motor on the track. Before the race, which his wife and nine-year-old son watched him win, he used an electric vibrator to keep his forearm muscles supple. His prizes, when it was over: $20,000 for winning; $2,000 for laps on the way, thousands more from manufacturers whose accessories he used.

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