Firsts and Lasts in Motorsports

[Stan Reid]

I believe (correction welcome) the first father-son racers in the Indianapolis 500 were Earl Devore (1925-1928) and Billy Devore (1937-1948).

Billy was also the first driver to race a 6-wheeled car in the Indianapolis 500 (1948).

Earl was the first and last Indianapolis 500 driver to die being eaten by a shark (1928).

[D28]

Interesting. If the criteria were changed to father/son running a major international race, could the Devores be the first? They would be quite a bit earlier than the Ascaris by about 10 years.

[Stan Reid]

Interesting. If the criteria were changed to father/son running a major international race, could the Devores be the first? They would be quite a bit earlier than the Ascaris by about 10 years.

I would go with that right now D28. Earl actually won a major event; the 250 mi./400km. AAA Championship race on the 1.25 mi./2 km. board track near Charlotte NC in 1926. I don't see any wins on that level by Billy, born Louis Devore. The younger Devore did enter two World Championship races; the 1950 and 1954 Indianapolis 500s but he failed to qualify on both occasions. Years before 1937, when Billy began driving in the Indianapolis 500, he was a riding mechanic in the event.

[Stan Reid]

The first and last engine purpose built for the Indianapolis 500 that was later modified to race in Formula 1 was the 1964 Ford 4-cam V-8 Indy engine that was later downsized and raced in the McLaren during the 1966 F1 season.

Correction welcome

[D28]

The first and last engine purpose built for the Indianapolis 500 that was later modified to race in Formula 1 was the 1964 Ford 4-cam V-8 Indy engine that was later downsized and raced in the McLaren during the 1966 F1 season.

Correction welcome

And it must be said the conversion was a disaster for F1 racing. the engine and gearbox were too heavy and the hp inadequate. A rare dead end for McLaren, as Bruce spent most of the 66 season trying to get the Ford unit to work. Ironically, he had a lot of experience with the Traco modified Olds engine in sports cars, the same block that Brabham and Repco used to win 2 World Championships. A Ford F1 effort was being pursued independently by Colin Chapman and Cosworth, and evolved into the most successful F1 engine ever. McLaren eventually acquired one of these and things were fine, but first they had to go through the Ford, Serenissima and BRM engines on the way.

[Stan Reid]

Six wheel -three axle cars as best I can tell:

First 6 wheel/3 axle circuit racing car to compete in a major series=Pat Clancy Special Kurtis Offenhauser in the 1948-1949 AAA Championship=2-4 layout=Driven by Billy Devore, Jackie Holmes and Mack Hellings=Best finish - 4th in the 1949 Milwaukee 100 by Jackie Holmes

Last 6 wheel/3 axle circuit racing car to compete in a major series=Tyrrell P34 Cosworth in the 1976-1977 Formula 1 World Championship=4-2 layout=Driven by Jody Scheckter, Patrick Depailler and Ronnie Peterson=Best finish - 1st in the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix by Jody Scheckter

[Stan Reid]

I didn't realize that 1959 was such a banner year for Ward. He won at Indy, the Lime rock F Libre race and appeared at the USGP all in the same year. Such a shame he didn't have access to a proper Cooper or something similar for Sebring, he would have acquitted himself well. His only other F1 outing wasn't till 1963 at Watkins Glen in a Lotus-BRM. By then he was 42 and the car wasn't that competitive, he qualified 17th and was a DNF.

I actually saw Ward race in the 1959 Springfield 100 but his luck ran out that day. Four laps into the race, he burned a piston (probably too much nitro) and "finished" in last place.

[Stan Reid]

And it must be said the conversion was a disaster for F1 racing. the engine and gearbox were too heavy and the hp inadequate. A rare dead end for McLaren, as Bruce spent most of the 66 season trying to get the Ford unit to work. Ironically, he had a lot of experience with the Traco modified Olds engine in sports cars, the same block that Brabham and Repco used to win 2 World Championships. A Ford F1 effort was being pursued independently by Colin Chapman and Cosworth, and evolved into the most successful F1 engine ever. McLaren eventually acquired one of these and things were fine, but first they had to go through the Ford, Serenissima and BRM engines on the way.

Yes, the McLaren-Ford could do no better than a 5th place in the U.S. Grand Prix.

[D28]

Yes, the McLaren-Ford could do no better than a 5th place in the U.S. Grand Prix.

I had forgotten that result. Still a quick comparison with the Cosworth engine in F1 would read:
Ford Indy Engine 2 points Ford-Cosworth Engine 4336 points.

Of course the Indy engine was very good at what it was designed for, which was not F1.

[Stan Reid]

Harry Schell wangled an entry for the Monaco GP, but set no practice time. His Cooper-Jap starting from the back thus was the first Cooper to start a F1 WC race, as well as the first rear engined entry, even though the car was definitely not a F1 car. All for naught as he failed to complete a lap being involved in a 9 car pile up on lap 1. Because he had no practice time, it is difficult to assess his lap times, but he would have been quite a bit off the pace.

Although it was the first rear engine to race, I believe the first rear engined car to enter and practice for a World Championship Race (the 1950 Indianapolis 500) was the Rounds Rocket, a Lesovsky-Diedt Offenhauser. Indy practice began on May 1 of 1950 (almost 3 weeks before Monaco FP1) and the car was driven by both Sam Hanks and Bill Vukovich. Neither of the two future winners could get the car up to qualifying speed. The Rounds Rocket was a 4.5 liter normally aspirated racer so it was fully Formula 1 legal. I believe Al Miller also practiced one of the old Gulf-Millers in early May and it failed to qualify as well.

RoundsRocket.jpg Click to enlarge
Rounds Rocket

A beautiful machine ahead of its time, I'd say.