racers at rest · eldridge, lynn 10/15/1930 hollywood forever cemetery los angeles, ca. enterline,...
TRANSCRIPT
Racers At Rest Volume I, Issue 3 --- May, 2011
Under the Auspices of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame - Knoxville, Iowa -
T his is the centennial year for the
Indianapolis 500 and once again
there will be millions of dollars at
stake in the running of the Memorial Day
classic. The winner alone is likely to stroll
to the bank with a check for somewhere
around $2.75 million, like Dario Fran-
chitti did after his win in 2010. In ex-
change for a chance at snatching part of
the massive purse drivers will face danger
and the possibility of serious injury, or
worse.
But long before there was an
Alex Tagliani or Dario Franchitti, before
Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi, long
before the Borg-Warner Trophy and that
first swig of milk in victory lane, mo-
torsports pio-
neers were fac-
ing the same
dangers for a lot
less money, and
not all of those
pioneers sur-
vived. This is
the story of two
whose lives
ended at the
Brickyard.
Records
are a bit muddy,
but it appears
that Samuel M.
Dickson was
just 24 years old
when he took on
the job as a rid-
ing mechanic for driver Arthur Greiner
for the May 30, 1911 race at Indianapolis.
Dickson and Greiner were both Chicago
boys and likely knew each other well be-
fore they arrived in Indianapolis.
Their car for the 1911 event was
a #44 Amplex, a sleek racer in those
times, though to our eyes a huge, hulking,
smoky machine on spindly wheels and
skinny tires. It was one of those wheels
that failed just twelve laps into the race.
Heading into Turn 2 one of front
wheels collapsed causing the Amplex to
slide, then roll over. Greiner, the driver,
was thrown clear, knocked unconscious,
and suffered a broken arm. Dickson was
not as lucky. (Continued on Page 2)
I N D Y P I O N E E R S F O R G O T T E N
Racers At Rest is published
from time to time and is
available free of charge as a
digital newsletter.
To subscribe, send an email
request to
Racers At Rest welcomes
your comments, articles,
and photographs. Send
submittals, questions or
comments to racersa-
[email protected] or by post
to the Editor.
Mike Thompson, Editor
135 Heatherwoode Blvd.
Springboro, OH
45066-1579
(937) 219-5851
Special Memorial Day Indianapolis 500 Edition!
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
The List 3
Editor’s Desk 4
Rutherford & Rose 5
Harold “Hal” Delzio 5
Schrader & Englelhart 6
Markers Planned 7
Vintage Support 7
Driver Arthur Greiner and riding mechanic Samuel Dickson
strike a confident pose before the start of the 1911 Indianapolis 500.
Page 2
Honoring Our Racing Heroes in their Eternal Slumber
I N D Y P I O N E E R S - C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1
Sam Dickson was thrown against the
fence and died instantly.
Harry T. Martin was born
a Hoosier and, as it turned out,
would die a Hoosier at the nation’s
most famous race track.
Like Dickson, Martin was
24 years old when he arrived at the
Indianapolis Speedway June 26,
1913 to test a new Stutz racer. This
was apparently an important test ses-
sion since both Harry C. Stutz, the
president of the Stutz Company, and
R. E. Maypole, the company vice-
president, were in attendance.
Martin was a racer on his
way up. As a riding mechanic Mar-
tin had partnered with some of the
best drivers in the sport. In 1910 he
rode with Joe Dawson in a Marmon
factory racer, and he was aboard the
National that Dawson drove to win
the 1912 Indianapolis
500. His performance
as a top riding me-
chanic won him a job
as a driver for Stutz.
During the
June, 1913 test Martin
pushed the Stutz hard,
hard enough that after
four laps Harry Stutz
signaled Martin to
slow down. Martin did
just that, until the final
corner of the fifth lap
when he increased his
speed significantly. In
a sad replay of Dick-
son’s accident, the
right front wheel of the
Stutz collapsed. The
Stutz rocketed into the
outside wall and rolled
over. Both Martin and
his riding mechanic,
Frank Agan, were
pinned under the car.
Martin was killed instantly.
Sam Dickson rests now in
Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago while
Martin sleeps in Mount Hope Ceme-
tery in Peru, Indiana.
While both Dickson and
Martin perished at the Indianapolis
Speedway, in death they share an-
other distinction : 100 years after
Dickson died, and 98 years after
Martin perished, neither grave is
marked.
As we prepare to enjoy the
2011 Indy 500 and the attendant
celebration of the 100th year of this
great event, it is perhaps a sad and
sobering commentary on our respect
for those who helped to lay the foun-
dation to make this race the most
prestigious in the world, that both
Dickson and Martin lie in unmarked
graves.
We estimate the cost of
markers for Dickson and Martin, and
the others on our list, at around $850
each, or about the same as the win-
ner of this year’s Indy 500 will earn
for every 800 feet of the Brickyard
he or she covers.
If you’ve been holding off
making a donation because you
don’t think your $5 or $10 will make
a difference, please reconsider and
make that donation now.
Make your check payable to
the National Sprint Car Museum and
please be sure to write “Racers at
Rest” on the memo line to ensure
that your donation goes into the
proper account.
Mail your check to the mu-
seum at P.O. Box 542, Knoxville,
Iowa 50138.
Volume 1, Issue 3 - May, 2011
The photograph above was provided from the archives of the Library of Congress and shows a
wrecked Stutz race car. The information available with the photo indicates that it was taken at
Indianapolis sometime between 1911 and 1914 and while we cannot say with certainty that this
is the Stutz in which Harry Martin died while testing in 1913 the car does show damage similar
to that which Martin’s Stutz suffered in his accident and is typical for the Stutz racers of that era.
Racers at Rest Page 3
Honoring Our Racing Heroes in their Eternal Slumber
T here have been some additions to our list of those racers who rest in unmarked graves since the last issue
of Racers at Rest. Hal Delzio died behind the wheel of a midget racer at an event in New Haven, CT just
after WWII. Sam Dickson, a riding mechanic, died during the running of the very first Indianapolis 500
when the wheel of his Amplex racer collapsed on the 12th lap. Harry Martin was headed to the big time as a
driver after a stellar career as a riding mechanic. He died in 1913 while testing a new Stutz racer at the Indian-
apolis track in his first assignment as a driver for the Stutz factory.
R A C E R S W I T H O U T M A R K E R S F I N A L R E S T
D R I V E R D I E D C E M E T E R Y L O C A T I O N
Baker, Oscar "Kenny" 7/28/1935 Mountain View Cemetery Altadena, CA.
Bottorff, Seveica.O. 11/3/1919 Evergreen Almeda Cemetery El Paso, TX.
Brown, Walt 7/29/1951 St. Charles Cemetery Farmingdale, NY.
Brucks, Sherman 9/9/1928 Greenwood Cemetery Hamilton, OH.
Carlson, Billy 7/5/1915 Calvary Cemetery East Los Angeles, CA.
Christensen, George 4/22/1929 Calvary Catholic Cemetery Galveston, TX.
Cipelle, Steven "Dutch" 8/18/1939 Wichita Park Cemetery Wichita, KS.
Clark, Loren "Red" 6/13/1935 Valhalla Memorial Gardens North Hollywood, Ca
Craft, George "Jimmy" 2/3/1924 Oak Hill Cemetery Belle Plaine, IA.
Crane, Harvey 10/16/1920 Mount Hope Cemetery Logansport, IN.
Davidson, Jay 9/5/1934 Oneonta Plains Cemetery Oneonta, NY.
Delzio, Harold “Hal” 5/31/1946 Green-Wood Cemetery Brooklyn, NY
Dial, "T.B." 7/30/1910 Alcovy Mountain Baptist Cemetery Monroe, GA.
Dickson, Samuel 5/30/1911 Rosehill Cemetery Chicago, IL
Donnelly, Walter 6/21/1911 Milldale Cemetery New Boston, OH
Eldridge, Lynn 10/15/1930 Hollywood Forever Cemetery Los Angeles, CA.
Enterline, Garner "Slim" 10/8/1938 Rush Presbyterian Cemetery Northumberland, PA.
Farmer, Earl 2/1/1931 Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood, CA.
Ferch, Walter "Speedy" 7/4/1923 Forest Home Cemetery Milwaukee, WI.
Flagstead, Harlsten 9/4/1928 Alliance City Cemetery Alliance, OH
Ford, Leslie 5/3/1931 Elmwood Cemetery Centralia, IL.
Harris, Lawson 9/20/1939 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, IN.
Heid, Matthew "Matt" 6/29/1949 Mt. Ever Rest Cemetery Kalamazoo, MI.
Heisler, Bill 5/15/1932 Inglewood Memorial Park Inglewood, Calif.
Henderson, Garnet "Bud" 5/17/1939 Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery Akron, OH.
Knox, Francis Marion "F.M." 6/11/1933 Summit View Cemetery Guthrie, OK.
Lafon, Clyde 8/20/1927 Holy Cross Cemetery Akron, OH.
Lehmann, Curt A. 10/12/1957 Calvary Cemetery & Mausoleum St. Louis, MO.
Lockwood, James "Speedy" 3/1/1935 Woodlawn Cemetery Santa Monica, CA.
Maben, Curtis "Curly" 8/21/1954 Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park Seattle, WA.
Martin, Harry Thomas 6/26/1913 Mount Hope Cemetery Peru, IN
Miller, Lee 9/11/1938 Woodland Cemetery Quincy, IL.
Reid, Gordon 4/20/1952 Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale, CA.
Russo, Joe 6/9/1934 Mt. Olivet Cemetery Detroit, MI.
Shelly, Howard 9/1/1947 Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park Seattle, WA.
Spanglo, Charles "Dutch" 7/19/1925 Saint Marys Cemetery Champaign, IL.
Speth, Al 5/31/1953 Fairmount Cemetery Davenport, Iowa
Van Steenberg, Harry "Van" 8/11/1925 Mount Hope Cemetery Logansport, IN.
Winn, James M."Billy" 8/20/1938 Mount Olivet Cemetery Detroit, MI.
Page 4 Volume 1, Issue 3 - May, 2011
Honoring Our Racing Heroes in their Eternal Slumber
I had hoped that by this, the
third issue of the Racers at
Rest newsletter, I would be
able to tell you that we have success-
fully placed a memorial stone on the
grave of one of the racers on our list
of those without a grave marker.
Unfortunately, I cannot do that, and
in fact I have to confirm that we
have found three more racers to add
to our list.
But to the good news first.
Donations to the Racers at Rest pro-
ject have been arriving steadily at
the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
and Museum Foundation and the
contract to purchase our first marker
and have it placed remains just
slightly out of reach. We remain
confident and hopeful that donations
will allow us to place the first and
perhaps second markers very soon.
You can read more about our plans
elsewhere in this issue.
And now the sad news. Our
list has grown by three names since
the last issue of this newsletter. Our
page one story in this issue looks at
two early Indianapolis Speedway
racers, Sam Dickson and Harry
Martin, who have rested in un-
marked graves for a century, in
Dickson’s case at least.
I have to admit that I was
shocked to see that these two early
Indy competitors sleep in anonymity
particularly given all the generous
supporters of the Indianapolis event,
and the sponsors, the car owners,
and the drivers, many of them
wealthy and powerful and conscious
of the history of the Memorial Day
classic. And in this, the Centennial
Year of the race!
Hal Delzio joins Dickson
and Martin on our most recent list
and you can find his story elsewhere
in this issue.
I was asked recently whether
Racers at Rest donors could
specify which of the racers they
wanted their donation to go to. The
answer is, perhaps unfortunately, no.
Such an approach would
require a far more complex account-
ing and record keeping process than
we can provide.
W e are pleased to announce that
some well-known members of
the motorsports community have
endorsed our Racers at Rest project.
You’ll find some very famil-
iar names in this issue, each of
whom have thrown their support
behind this effort.
I n the last issue I asked for some
assistance for our website. My
goal is to eventually have a separate
page for each of the racers on our
list. Sadly we have very little infor-
mation on some of these racers and
even fewer photographs. If you are
able to help with details about the
racer’s life or provide photos we
would very much appreciate it.
You can contact me at fog-
[email protected] with infor-
mation and/or photos.
O ur offer to give a copy of Buzz
Rose’s book, Racers At Rest, to
anyone donating $250 or more is
still on the table. To date we have
had one kind and generous donor
take advantage of our offer and there
is still time for you to do the same.
The books are being paid for
by those of us on the committee; no
donated funds are being used to pay
for the books. We’ve committed to
providing at least four books, so
three remain available. But, since
none of us are independently
wealthy, our generosity can expire
anytime after those four books have
been claimed!
Large donations are wonder-
ful, but in the end the success of this
project will depend on much smaller
donations, $5, $10, and $20.
If you consider yourself a
race fan, please take a moment to
write out a small check today to
honor the memory of some of the
racers whose sacrifices helped create
the auto racing sport we know today.
Until next time...
Mike Thompson
F R O M T H E E D I T O R ’ S D E S K
Not one penny.
That’s how much your dona-
tion to the “Racers at Rest” will be re-
duced by administrative fees or over-
head!
Every dollar you donate will
go directly towards placing a marker on
the grave of one of the 39 open-wheel
racers whose graves are currently un-
marked.
All Racers at Rest Committee
labor and related fund raising costs
(including the cost of this newsletter)
are being donated.
So why not take a moment
right now and write out a check for
whatever amount you think appropriate
and send it to the National Sprint Car
Museum. You’ll find the address else-
where in this issue of Racers at Rest.
And don’t forget to write “Racers at
Rest” on the memo line!
NOT ONE PENNY….
Racers at Rest
J ohnny Rutherford (left), a three
-time winner of the Indianapolis
500, and noted author and for-
mer race driver Buzz Rose have
both thrown their support behind the
Racers at Rest project, it was re-
cently announced.
Rutherford, or “Lone Star
JR” as he was known during his rac-
ing career, won the Indy pole posi-
tion in 1973, 1976, and 1980. His
three wins at the Brickyard came in
1974, 1976, and 1980. While best
known for his Indy 500 exploits,
Rutherford also excelled in other
forms of racing.
In 1963 Rutherford won one
of the NASCAR Daytona qualifying
races driving for Smokey Yunick,
and in 1965 Rutherford was the
United States Auto Club National
Sprint Car champion.
Buzz Rose knew his way
around sprint cars, too. He drove
the powerful racers and did well, but
he is better known now for the many
books he has authored on the history
of our sport. Among them, Racers
at Rest, the book that documents
racers who have died in competition.
It was this book that led to the crea-
tion of the Racers at Rest project.
Honoring Our Racing Heroes in their Eternal Slumber
R U T H E R F O R D & R O S E L E N D S U P P O R T
H is business was operating the Sunoco gas sta-
tion he owned in the Jamaica neighborhood of
Queens in New York city, but his passion was
racing the lightning fast midgets that were all the rage in
the years after WWII.
Harold “Hal” Delzio had been driving
race cars for some eight years when he strapped
in to the midget owned by Nicholas Vetro of
Belleville, NJ on Thursday, May 30, 1946. The
pair had traveled to an American Racing Driv-
ers Club-sanctioned midget event on the tiny,
paved fifth-mile track in New Haven, CT.
While any precise records of the
night’s racing activities have been lost to time,
it appears that Hal and Nicholas weren’t doing
particularly well. Their qualifying and heat
race results were sufficiently unimpressive to
push them into the consolation race. During
that event Delzio lost control and hit the fence
with what was described in newspaper accounts
as “tremendous force.”
Harold Delzio was transported to the
New Haven hospital and there he died the fol-
lowing day, May 31, 1946, of a fractured skull
without ever having regained consciousness.
Delzio was 35 years old at the time of his
death.
The body of Harold “Hal” Delzio was buried in
Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. His grave re-
mains, 65 years after his death at the New Haven Speed-
way, unmarked.
Page 5
P R O F I L E : H A R O L D D E L Z I O
X
(Above) This photo by Bob Collins shows the final resting place of
race driver Harold Delzio in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. NY.
The Racers at Rest project will eventually place Delzio’s marker at the
“X” shown in the photo.
Volume 1, Issue 3 - May, 2011
Popular race driver Ken
Schrader recently lent his support to the
Racers at Rest project.
"The Racers at Rest" Project
pays tribute to fellow racers and in do-
ing so, preserves the history of open
wheel racing. It is a commendable ef-
fort to recognize those who may other-
wise go without notice, and I wish them
well with the project." --Ken Schrader
Honoring Our Racing Heroes in their Eternal Slumber
Page 6
S C H R A D E R E N G E L H A R T
T hinking of donating to the Rac-
ers at Rest project? We need
every dollar bill that you can
spare!
Mail your donation to
National Sprint Car Museum
P.O. Box 542
Knoxville Iowa 50138
and make your check payable to the
“National Sprint Car Museum.”
In order for your donation to
go to the Racers at Rest project, you
must write “Racers at Rest” on the
memo line of the check.
Thank you in advance for
your kind support of this very worthy
project!
D O N AT E !
W isconsin native Billy Engelhart spent his racing career in the
open-wheel ranks, and eventually landed a ride in an Indianapo-
lis-style champ car. During the 1980 - 1981 racing seasons Eng-
elhart started nine champ car events run under the Championship Auto
Racing Teams (CART) or United States Auto Club (USAC) sanction, in-
cluding the 1980 Indianapolis 500 where he completed 193 laps and was
credited with an eleventh-place finish. In other champ car events Engelhart
finished in the top 10 four times, including a best-ever finish of 8th at Mil-
waukee in 1981.
We’re pleased to announce that Billy Engelhart has offered his
endorsement of the Racers at Rest project. Here’s the note Billy sent us.
“I think the efforts of [the volunteers] bring some much needed
dignity and recognition for these racers who have been such a big part of
the history of auto racing in America.
“It goes without saying that safety was barely a consideration dur-
ing their time and that many of us would not have otherwise had the pro-
tections that developed as a result of their efforts. I for one have always
been grateful for their contributions and recognize how very brave they
must have been.
“They deserve better and the efforts of [the Racers at Rest volun-
teer committee] are helping to provide that. Thank you from all of us. It
was my honor to provide Buzz Rose with some of the photos that he used in
his book,"Racers at Rest".
Regards,
Billy Engelhart
C O N TA C T U S
H ave a question or something
to share with the members of
the Racers at Rest Commit-
tee? Don’t hesitate to contact us!
RACERS REST PROJECT
NATIONAL SPRINT CAR MU-
SEUM and HALL OF FAME
TOM SCHMEH
Curator
DON TASH
Phoenix, Arizona
(602) 791-3983
STEVE ESTES
Troy, Ohio
(937) 339-2784
JIM THURMAN
Palmdale, California
MIKE THOMPSON
Webmaster/Newsletter Editor
Springboro, Ohio
(937) 550-4067 (Office)
Page 7
T he Racers at Rest Committee
members are optimistically an-
ticipating soon being able to
place the first of project’s grave markers
and if all goes well those two markers
are likely to be placed on the side-by-
side graves of Joe Russo and Billy
Winn.
In previous issues of this news-
letter we’ve told the improbable and
tragic story of Russo and Winn and how
they happened to find themselves resting
for eternity shoulder to shoulder, but to
refresh memories here’s the tale.
Joe Russo had only been mar-
ried for a short time to Helene Yockey
when he was killed in a racing event in
1934. Following Russo’s fatal ride,
Yockey purchased two cemetery plots in
Detroit’s Mt. Olivet Cemetery and had
Russo buried there. She no doubt in-
tended that someday she would use the
second plot herself.
It’s an unpredictable world
when it comes to love and automobile
racing, and Yockey eventually found
herself in a relationship with race driver
Billy Winn. They married.
Unfortunately Billy Winn soon
followed Russo, racing to his death in
1938. For whatever reason, whether
financial or simple practicality, Helene
Yockey buried her second husband in
the space next to her first.
We’re unaware of what might
have happened to Helene Yockey after
Winn’s death, but her story would cer-
tainly be worthy of book-length treat-
ment.
Mt. Olivet will not permit us to
place a single marker with both Russo
and Winn names. Their regulations
require individual markers except where
the deceased are all members of the
same family, and being members of the
same racing family simply doesn’t
count.
We’re not approaching the
Racers at Rest project list of racers in
any particular order and the sequence in
which a racer will receive a marker de-
pends upon a variety of things, most
importantly our ability to get permission
from the cemetery to place the marker.
We’ve found that some ceme-
teries have a very relaxed policy to-
wards non-family members placing
markers while others make it very diffi-
cult. In the case of Russo and Winn we
have been able to get permission from
Mt. Olivet to place the markers and their
side-by-side location offer the possibil-
ity of saving money in either the marker
production or placement or both.
How soon Russo and Winn get
their well-deserved markers is up to you.
Won’t you help by sending a check to-
day? You’ll find instructions for mak-
ing that donation on Page 6 of this issue.
Honoring Our Racing Heroes in their Eternal Slumber
Racers at Rest
F I R S T M A R K E R S P L A N N E D
V I N TA G E G R O U P S U P P O R T S P R O J E C T
T he Southeastern Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame and the Vintage Modified Stock Car group, repre-
sented by John Surges and Bob Ralston, have thrown their support behind the Racers at Rest project and
we thank them! Here’s the recent release from their offices.
“[The Racers at Rest] volunteer committee [members] at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Mu-
seum Foundation in Knoxville, Iowa have recently embarked on a humanitarian mission that will both interest
and greatly please open wheel race fans across the country.
“They have identified, through exhaustive research, that out of fifteen hundred open wheel racers who
died on the track in this country's history, some thirty nine lay at rest in unmarked graves, their sacrifice lost to
the winds of time. [The members of the] committee are actively taking action to right this wrong through their
"Racers at Rest" program.
“The board at the Southeastern Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame and members of the Vintage Modi-
fied Stock Car group heartily endorse this worthwhile project and congratulate the "Racers at Rest" Committee
for taking on such a daunting and complex task.”
[Signed]
John Surges and Bob Ralston: representing the Southeastern Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame and
the Vintage Modified Stock Car group.
Joe Russo died June 10, 1934 of inju-
ries received in a sprint car crash at
Langhorne Speedway the previous day.