Daring Joe Cooper and his mechanician, Louis Pieo, staked a defective tire against certain death with but one chance in one hundred of winning - and lost. That is the finding of Coroner Claude Koons after a day spent investigating the facts in connection with the Cooper's death in the 300-mile race held on the Des Moines Speedway Saturday afternoon.
A broken wheel was responsible for the death of Morris Kieler, mechanician for Chandler, and the wreck of Chandler's machine toward the end of the race, the coroner found.
No inquest will be held. Chandler's accident was unavoidable. Cooper's would not have occurred, the coroner believes, had he not decided to take a chance.
Declaring the guard rail or safety fence on the outer edge of the speedway is not sufficient to prevent cars from plunging thru and over the edge of the track, Coroner Claude M. Koons today recommended to speedway owners to strengthen the rail.
"This rail is not strong enough for the purpose for which it is erected," said Koons. "It is there to prevent cars colliding with it from going over the top of the speedway. It is supposed to hurl the cars back on the track. Cooper went through this rail and died. It hardly checked his speed. O'Donnell told me he stayed clear away from the top of the track to escape the very accident that happened to Cooper. He said he was afraid he would go over, because of the weakness of the rail and and that he wouldn't take the chance."
"This is the only fault I find with the speedway. This fence should be strengthened by all means so that it will stop cars from going thru. The track is in very good shape. I went over it carefully. The descent at the north end on the west side is rather quick, but it cannot be remedied on the mile track.