TWELVE DRIVERS READY FOR GREAT SPEEDWAY EVENT

300 Mile Auto Derby Starts at 1:30 o'clock This Afternoon.

INTEREST IS NATIONWIDE

Auto World Watching Result As Test of Latest Type of Track.

NUMBERS ARE ASSIGNED

Rules of Race Laid Down in Final Instructions to the Contenders.

THE 300 MILE SPEED DERBY

Time - 1:30 o'clock this afternoon.

Distance - Three hundred laps.

Prizes - First, $5,000; second, $2,000; third, $1,000; fourth, $600; fifth, $500; sixth, $400; seventh, $300. Cars leading at 100 and 200 miles will receive $100 each.

Drivers - Fourteen drivers have entered, and eight have qualified for the race. Others will qualify this morning so that twelve will start.

Average speed in qualifying trials - Ninety miles an hour.

Roads to Speedway - The popular road through Valley Junction will be marked with flags. Another road is by River-to-River road to the first turn to the left past a white house in a grove of trees at the left, thence south to the tracks, along the north side of the tracks to the road turning into the speedway.

Weather - Partly cloudy.

Twelve drivers of racing automobiles, among them the premier speed fiend and road racer of the world, will start at 1:30 today on a 300-mile contest against each other and against time, at the Des Moines Speedway.

The event is being watched by the automobile world, for it will establish more completely than any previous event, the worth of a new element in the auto racing game: The one mile, scientifically banked board speedway. It is of the keenest interest to Des Moines people because - though the track was built by a private company - it has been given the character of a public enterprise through the close participation of the Chamber of Commerce in it.

Final Instructions Given.

All the preliminaries have been cleared away except elimination trials for a few of the late ones, and these will be taken at 10:00 o'clock this morning. At a meeting in the Chamber of Commerce reading room last evening, attended by all but two of the drivers who have entered cars, finals instructions were given to pilots, their car numbers were assigned, and Henry Gering, president of the Speedway company, delivered his final inspirational plea for a clean race, a good race, and a fast race.

Jack Edwards, manager of the Chicago Speedway and pioneer auto race starter, arrived here yesterday in time to tell the drivers the rules to which they would be expected to conform during the race. Edwards will be the court from which there will be no appeal at the race today. At the starter's and timer's stand built over one end of the finish line, he will be stationed with his five different colored flags, and drivers will be forced to obey the injunctions he signals them with these flags under penalty of losing their A.A.A. sanctions.

Heavy Sale of Tickets.

Advance sales of tickets for the race today indicate that the grandstand will be completely filled with auto race fans. A large part of this crowd will be from outside Des Moines. Half the space in the boxes was sold entirely to people from out of town during the first few days of the ticket sale, and it is presumed that a large proportion of those coming from outside will come in automobiles, in which they will sit during the race.

Starter Edwards announced the method by which the race will be started at the meeting of drivers last night. Ralph DePalma will be the pacemaker for the two or three preliminary laps, and the other cars will be lined up behind him two abreast. There will be two preliminary laps in which to attain speed, and then, if the lineup pleases the starter, the drivers will be given the red flag, the time each car crossed the finish line will be recorded on the electrical timing apparatus, and the race will be on.

Drivers and Numbers.

Following are the drivers, cars, mechanicians, and the numbers assigned to them by Starter Edwards. The numbers will be painted in large figures on the front, back and both sides of the cars:

1 - Ralph DePalma, driver; Lewis Fontain, mechanician; Stutz car.

2 - Joe Cooper, driver; Louis Peil, mechanician; Sebring car.

3 - Eddie O'Donnell, driver; Jack Henderson, mechanician; Duesenberg car.

4 - Billy Chandler, driver; Morris Keeler, mechanician; Duesenberg car.

6 - Ralph Mulford, driver; Harold Smith, mechanician; Duesenberg car.

7 - Tom Alley, driver; James Powers, mechanician; Ogren car.

8 - W.J. Shrunk, driver; Buddy Jones, mechanician; White Six car.

10 - W.W. Brown, driver; DuChesneau car.

12 - Pete Henderson, driver; Art Johnson, mechanician; Cooling car.

14 - A.F. Scott, driver; James Combs, mechanician; Anderson car.

15 - Grant Donaldson, driver; Donaldson car.

16 - Bill Barndollar, driver; Lloyd Bosley, mechanician; Clergy car.

17 - Bruno Lombardi, driver; Jack Shea, mechanician; O.C. Special car.

18 - C.H. Clarke, driver; Firestone-Columbus car.

Twelve to Start.

Only twelve of these fourteen drivers can start, and only eight of them so far have qualified. Four of the six machines, therefore, must qualify at this morning's trials. Five of the six cars that have not qualified are in Des Moines, and two of them have taken qualifying rounds unsuccessfully. The drivers who have qualified, with the official time of their best lap, and the speed this indicates, follow:

Six Still Unqualified.

Henderson, Scott, Donaldson, Barndollar, Lombardi and Clark remain to qualify. Barndollar and Lombardi have failed each once to attain the required speed. The others have not been on the track.

The speedway management will be disappointed if an average speed of less than 92 miles an hour is made today, and it is hoped the average will be boosted considerably above this figure. The Des Moines Speedway is conceded to be considerably faster than the new track at Omaha, where Rickenbacker won the 300-mile race on July 5 with an average of 91.07. On the other hand the track is not the considered to be as fast by several miles by as the Chicago speedway, where Resta won the 500-mile derby at a rate of 97.60 miles an hour on June 26. Larger motors are allowed here, however, and the distance is shorter, so the Speedway managers would not be surprised to see Resta's Chicago time nearly equalled. Should the average be only 90 miles an hour, however, the speed of the year's classic - the Indianapolis 500-mile race - will have been bettered. The average time at Indianapolis which was made by DePalma was 89.84 miles an hour.

Time in Chicago Event.

Something of the performance that may be expected of the drivers today may be determined by considering the time those same drivers made in the Chicago event. Tom Alley, who qualified in seventh place here, averaged 91.7 miles an hour and finished seventh at Chicago. Joe Cooper who qualified second here, averaged 90.3 miles at Chicago and finished tenth.

All the drivers were busy yesterday overhauling their motors and putting their machines in the best of condition for today's event. At the garage which is the headquarters for Duesenberg cars, Cooper and Henderson, Billy Chandler had his motor scattered all over the shop while he tinkered with parts of it. Some of the drivers were so busy that they did not have time to change their grease-smeared clothing in time for last evening's meeting - so they came grease and all.

Torrential Rain.

Rain which came down in torrents for a considerable period last night undoubtedly nullified much of the work that has been done on the speedway roads during the past week, but if the sun shines this morning conditions will be greatly improved by noon.

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