User:Harrias/1914 Indianapolis 500

1914 Indianapolis 500

Race

Josef Christiaens led the race for most of the opening ten miles.

The race started at 10:00 a.m. EDT; Carl G. Fisher led the field around for a lap in a large white Stoddard-Dayton, accompanied by Phinley Porter from the American Automobile Association, building the speed up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). After that pace lap, race starter Tom Hay signalled to the field that the racing could commence. Howdy Wilcox, who had started the race from the front row, was leading at the end of the first lap in his Gray Fox, but he had lost the lead by the next time around. Jean Chassagne, another front row starter, had taken the lead on the second lap, but then Josef Christiaens took over in first, and held onto it for the opening ten miles of the race, which he completed at an average of 87 miles per hour (140 km/h) in his Excelsior. After five laps, S. F. Brock retired his Ray in the pits with engine problems, later recorded as a failed camshaft. Jules Goux, running in second in his Peugeot was forced to pit with a blown tire on the sixth lap, drawing cheers from the partisan American crowd. Christiaens lost the lead to Caleb Bragg's Mercer on lap seven, but regained it again the following lap, by which point Georges Boillot, in another Peugeot, had moved up to third behind the pair.

By the end of the ninth lap, the leading four drivers were all Europeans; Christiaens was followed by René Thomas in the first of the Delage cars, then Boillot, and then Albert Guyot in the other Delage. Thomas took the lead on lap 13, and by the end of lap 20, fifty miles into the race, he led by quarter of a lap. Much of the field was struggling with tire or mechanical issues; after his stop on lap six, Goux returned to the pits for another tire change on lap seventeen, while both Teddy Tetzlaff and George Mason had pitted on lap eight. Charles Keene, Ralph Mulford and Billy Knipper all also hap to stop before lap 20 for new tires. Mulford suffered further misfortune when he had to stop for a broken water line. Boillot lost third place when his tires burst, forcing him to stop on lap 20. Chassagne, in the Sunbeam, was less lucky when his tire blew on a corner, rolling his car. Chassagne's mechanic, Albert Percy Mitchell, was knocked unconscious, suffered torn ligaments in his neck, and burns from the car's exhaust, while Chassagne only suffered minor facial injuries.

Joe Dawson suffered serious injuries after he rolled his car swerving to avoid Ray Gilhooley and his mechanic

On lap 35 Gil Andersen, in a Stutz, spun and hit the wall on the southern bend, but managed to continue. In contrast, Tetzlaff was unable to keep racing after his Maxwell caught fire on the track, and had to be evacuated off the course. The most serious incident of the race occurred around one hour and 25 minutes in; Ray Gilhooley's Isotta blew a tire and rolled, throwing both the driver and mechanic onto the track. Stunned, the pair lay where they had been thrown. Next around the track was Joe Dawson; seeing the bodies on the ground, he served to avoid them. In doing so, he rolled his own car. Gilhooley was reported to have a broken jaw and other facial injuries, while his mechanic had injuries to face, shoulder and knee, but neither was described as serious. In contrast, Dawson was initially described as suffering life-threatening injuries, but it was later found that he had a broken collar bone, spinal injuries and a kidney haemorrhage which were serious but not fatal. Andersen had also needed to take evasive action to avoid the two rolled cars, but managed to keep his car the right way around. Unfortunately for him, by going off the track, he damaged his driving shaft, and was also out of the race. Gilhooley was criticised for causing the accident; he had been warned not to drive around the outside of the corners at low speed, which was what he was doing at the time of the crash – had he been on the inside of the bend, it was speculated that Dawson would probably not have subsequently crashed.

Bob Burman had to retire his car on lap 46 due to engine problems, but subsequently acted as a relief driver for Knipper. After 50 laps, a quarter of the race, Thomas led Guyot and Bragg by a large margin, but had to pit for tires shortly thereafter and retook the lead only just ahead of the pair. Ten laps later, Thomas had lost the lead, which was being contested by Duray and Guyot in a Peugeot and Delage respectively. Duray fell back and was passed by Thomas a few laps later, who raced closely to Guyot over the next ten laps; as they completed 175 miles there were only a few seconds between them. Mason, Wilcox and William Chandler all retired before reaching 70 laps with a variety of engine problems.

By 225 miles (90 laps), Thomas led from Christiaens and Wishart. Ten laps later, Boillot had moved up into second and was contesting the lead with Thomas. Willard Rader took over driving duties of the #2 Stutz from Earl Cooper on lap 92, and Andersen relieved Barney Oldfield in the #3 Stutz on lap 99. On lap 105, Boillot overtook Thomas for the lead of the race; Christiaens and Wishart were third and fourth respectively. Two laps later, another driver change took place; Eddie Pullen replaced Bragg in the #21 Mercer. Boillot held onto the lead until lap 111, when he had to pit for oil and fuel, which let Thomas retake the lead. Wishart had moved up to third, while Duray and Cooper were fourth and fifth. When the drivers had completed 300 miles, Thomas led Boillot by half a lap. Bragg, Cooper and Wishart, who had all been running in the top ten, retired with camshaft, wheel and cam gear failures respectively between laps 117 and 122.