BURMAN WELL PLEASED

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"WILD BOB" WILL BE HERE IN SEPTEMBER.

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Declared Local Track an Ideal One -- Recites Entertainly of Auto Racing Game.

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"It is on of the best tracks in the country today, and in another year will be the fastest half-mile dirst track in the world." That is what Bob Burman stated today regarding the Burlington Tri-State fair race course, over which he drove such a sensational race yesterday. "The track is soft now, it is natural for it to be and is no discredit to the track or the people who constructed it. It is a new track and the surface is not as hard as it will be after a year of hard weather has been allowed to work on it."

Burman took lunch today with one of the Gazette reporters, and the forgoing is only one of the many nice things he had to say regarding the Burlington course, the officials here and the general manner in which the big race was run yesterday. He spoke, too, of the large crowd that was present in spite of the bad weather, and stated that he was certain it was only the weather that kept the attendance below the 10,000 mark.

May Have Another Race.

Already there are being tentative plans made for another 100-mile race here in September, and if such is the case Burman will be here. He so stated today, and went event further by saying that he wouldn't miss it for a considerable sum of money. Burman is one of the foremost of the dirt track drivers, and when he sees the prospect of driving on such a two-lap course as the Burlington track he is going to be there.

"I like dirt track driving," stated Wild Bob today, "there is more excitement for the drivers and the race is much more interesting for the spectators. It is the spectators that makes our business possible and on that account everything possible should be done for their pleasure. On a two-lap course the cars are in full view all the time and every brush, either on the turns or straightaway may be plainly seen by all."

Small Track Interesting.

"It is these things that make the small track racing so much more interesting than a speedway race. On a large course the spectators will see one car go whizzing past, wait a couple of minutes and another car will go by and in a short time another. That is interesting to read about and shows faster time when rated by miles per hour but does not furnish nearly the thrills of the short course, where every turn is a bad one and every inch of the track is designed for the purpose of getting as many thrills as possible."

"I am not at all ashamed of my showing here yesterday as the race was a hard one and there was stiff enough competition for anyone. The thing that I am sorry for is that I did not have a low gear ratio with me and was forced to drive with a 2 1/2 to 1 ratio. This was a trifle lower than the one I used at Tacoma but even that was far too high. I should have a 3 3/4 to 4 to 1 ratio so as to get the full power from my car."

"It might be said that in yesterday's race there was only eight-thirteenths of my car in the contest. The reason for this is that with the high gear ratio I was forced to use the motor could turn only 1,800 revolutions per minute. In order to get the full horsepower the motor must turn 2,800 revolutions per minute."

Used Only 80 Horsepower.

"The tychrometer I have on my car showed that turning as I was able to do, only 1,800 revolutions, the Peugeot developed only 80 horsepower. The motor turning the full number of times per minute will show 130 horsepower, so it may be seen that it is possible to get much more speed from the car than was shown yesterday."

"It was too bad that Eddie O'Donnell had to drop out of the race for so long a time after having gone nearly the entire distance without a stop. It is the luck of the game, though, and Eddie doubtless is not complaining. It has happened to me and will happen to others. The only thing to do is to take every precautionary method to avoid accident and to then trust that it will be the other fellow who has the trouble."

"I have been fortunate this year. I have finished every race in which I have started and, better than that, have been in the money in all of them, which reminds me that it was at Galesburg last year that there was a good example of tough luck racing with me as the victim."

The Galesburg Race.

"I was driving in the 100 mile race there and was leading by a good distance. I let down a bit after getting my lead so as to take no chances. I had made the ninty-ninth lap and the starter gave me the green flag. The track there is a mile course and when I had gotten to the half mile post and had only a half mile to run to complete the race and get first money, the gas tank ran dry."

"I coasted into the turn and the jolting there slopped a few drops of gas into the carburetor so that I got a couple or three explosions and was able to cross the tape. I finished in second place though and it showed me that a race is never one until the finish. The race here taught me something else too, and that is to carry an emergency tank of gasoline under the hood. I had use for the emergency tank here yesterday and had it not been for that I might not have finished better than fourth or fifth."

Used Emergency Tank.

"Perhaps you remember the time. It was in the last ten miles of the race and I had a good lead, when the gas in the tank in the rear gave out. My car slowed down and several of the other cars passed me as I was standing still. I soon switched the gas feed to the emergency tank under the hood and managed to finish."

"The emergency tank is my own idea and it saved me yesterday, and I expect it to save me many other times. It only holds three gallons of gasoline, but when a car can go seven or eight miles on a gallon it will help like everything."

Burman shipped his cars to Waterloo last evening, where they will be given a general overhauling, after which they will be sent to Detroit. The driver went to Chicago today.

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