Barney Oldfield, veteran speed demon, will not appear in the 300-mile auto classic to be held here Saturday. He has secured Tom Alley to drive a machine which he has rented from the Ogren factory, in his stead. In place of Barney, Ralph Mulford, another veteran of the racing game, has entered in the derby. This will be the first appearance of Mulford in a race this year. With the exception of Dario Resta, Barney Oldfield and Eddie Rickenbacker, every driver of any prominence who has taken part in a race this year, will be entered in the Des Moines derby next Saturday.
A list of drivers, the cars they will pilot and the owners entering the cars, is given below.
With the exception of Tom Alley, all of the drivers entered have arrived in the city. They will spend the time yet before the race in tuning up their cars and practicing on the speedway.
Ten thousand dollars in prize money will be distributed to the winners following Saturday's speedfest. To the winner will go $5,000; second, $2,000; third, $1,000; fourth, $600; fifth, $500; sixth, $400, and seventh, $300. The driver leading at the 100-mile mark gets $100, as also does the driver leading at the 200-mile mark.
DePalma has deserted his Mercedes, which won him the Indianapolis race. He is now driving a Stutz. He says that the 500-mile mill at the Indiana city burned out the Mercedes to such an extent that it is no longer the same car.
The roads leading to the speedway will be doctored, and the finishing touches will be put on the speedway itself this week, so that everything will be in fine shape for the big event, say the speedway officials.