Motor AgeAugust 5, 1915
DE PALMA MAKES BEST QUALIFYING LAP AT DES MOINES
Italian, at Wheel of Stutz, Covers Mile at Average of 97.35 Miles Per Hour
Eight Cars Survive Elimination Trials for Saturday's Race
DES MOINES, Ia., July 31 - In the elimination trials held today for the 300-mile Des Moines' speedway race, originally scheduled for this afternoon but postponed to August 7 because of inclement weather, eight of the fifteen entries qualified to start by showing a speed of 80 miles an hour or better for one lap of the 1-mile wooden oval.
The cars that qualified and their time and average speed are as follows:
Car and Driver
Stutz, DePalma
Peugot, Burman
Sebring, J. Cooper
Ogren, Alley
Duesenberg, O'Donnell
White Special, Strunk
Duesenberg, Chandler
Duesenberg, O'Donnell |
Time
0:36.98
0:37.00
0:38.60
0:40.20
0:40.32
0:40.40
0:42.33
0:42.60 |
M.P.H.
97.33
97.00
94.00
89.20
89.10
89.00
84.25
84.00 |
|
O'Donnell qualified two cars, one for himself and the other for Ralph Mulford, who has not arrived as yet. Two entries failed to make the qualifying speed today. Brown's De Chesneau and Barndollar's Clergy Special averaged 77.5 miles per hour and will be given two more trials Friday when the elimination trials will be resumed.
After making the fastest qualifying time, DePalma stretched his elimination lap into a 5-mile exhibition trial. His time was 3 minutes, 4.65 seconds, an average of 97.5 miles per hour. Bob Burman also gave an exhibition 5-mile drive and covered the distance in 3 minutes 8.33 seconds, an average of 95.4 miles per hour.
Burman will not drive here Saturday. He is entered in the 100-mile challenge race to be run on the Chicago Speedway on that date and shipped his Peugot to the Illinois metropolis tonight. This will give DePalma a decided advantage as Burman was considered the only driver in the field that had a chance to defeat the Italian. The Duesenbergs now are looked upon as the cars that DePalma will have to beat.
Starter Fred J. Wagner, who officiated at today's elimination trials, will not wave the flags Saturday as he is under contract to start the Chicago contest. He has appointed F.E. Edwards, chairman of the technical committee of the American Automobile Association, as his substitute.