SPEED KINGS BEGIN LOOK TOWARD DES MOINES FOR NEXT RACE

Local Auto Classic Will Rank With Best Of '16 Race Events

Drivers Start Coming to City, While More Will Arrive Next Week - Speedway in Good Condition.

Followers of the auto racing game in America are beginning to look toward Des Moines as the scene of the next struggle between the speed kings. Many of the best in the land are entered in the event which will be staged here June 26th, and final arrangements are almost completed for the big event. The sale of seats so far gives indication of a great crowd to witness the Des Moines races.

With the arrival of Eddie Rickenbacher and Pete Henderson, two of the drivers entered in the 150-mile sweepstakes, and Lou Dutton, Earl Cooper's mechanician, Des Moines within the next few days will be the mecca of the biggest speed pilots of the world. Ralph DePalma, the famous Italian racer, will probably be the last to arrive owing to his scheduled race with Dario Resta to be held in Chicago Sunday.

The big race for which the major part of the $10,000 purse will be offered, will be the first on the program with the fifty-mile free-for-all as a secondary attraction after the main event. Virtually all the drivers who participate in the 150 mile sweepstakes will compete in the fifty mile dash, and a new record for the distance is expected.

Joe Christiens and Frank Galvin with their Sunbeam racers will be seen in action on the local speedway for the first time. The SUnbeam racers have never been driven on an Iowa track before and Iowa enthusiasts of the motor racing game will witness the performance of a machine conceded to be one of the fastest ever built. It is manufactured in England. Christiens finished third in the Chicago races last week.

The vanguard of drivers including Ralph Mulford, Earl Cooper, Eddie O'Donnell, Billy Chandler, Tom Milton, Dave Lewis, Wilbur D'Alene, et al., will put in appearance by Friday at the latest. W.C. Barnes, traveling representative of the American Automobile association, and G. Decker French, the Iowa representative of the association, inspected the speedway track Wednesday and gave it the official endorsement. Few minor changes will be made in accordance with the suggestions of the A.A.A. representatives.

Eddie Rickenbacher, the first of the galaxy of racers to arrive, is confident of adding the big race to his string of winners. Eddie got his start in the game at Red Oak, Iowa years ago but has never won a race in Des Moines. He copped the Sioux City race twice in succession in 1914 and 1915 and repeated his victory at Omaha. He has never driven in a real competition in this city.

Eddie is a fatalist. He declares that he entertains no fear of an accident, that he believes that when his time comes, he'll go. He has been busy during the last few weeks denying reports that he was engaged to be married and planned to leave the track.

"My car is my soul-mate," was Eddie's reply to queries. "The racing game is good enough for me." Eddie admitted that he has had proposals, perhaps more than one but he refused to admit that he is engaged - unless it be to his car.

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