Word: speedways
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...sudden gust of wind, an oil slick on the track-any of these, at high speed, can bring death; the track's pavement and rails are covered with skid marks and paint scratches left by skidding, hurtling cars. In 50 years of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 50 people have died...
...After nine weeks of record-setting races that established the sharply banked track as the fastest in the world-and killed two drivers-officials of the spanking-new 27-mile Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway concluded the track was too fast for the powerful Indianapolis-type cars, indefinitely canceled future events for the class. Conceded Driver Tony Bettenhausen: "There ain't any room for mistakes on that track, no place...
...fastest automobile race ever run, Miami's Jim Rathmann drove his Simoniz Special around the steep-banked, 2½-mile track of the new Daytona International Speedway at an average speed of 170.261 m.p.h. to win the 100-mile U.S. Automobile Club championship race, breaking his own closed-course record, which he set by winning the Monza, Italy 500-mile race last year. The speed of the race brought death to Wisconsin's George Amick, 34, No. 2 in last year's Indianapolis race. On the last lap, his Bowes Seal Fast Special went out of control...
Every bit as careful as Sam, the Speedway management had also tried to play it safe. The limit on piston displacement for engines without superchargers had been lowered from 274.59 to 256.284 cu. in. (the limit for supercharged power plants was 170.856 cu. in.), on the theory that less power would mean less speed. It meant just the opposite. Smaller engines allowed smaller cars. The "bombs" that turned out for the 500 had never been lighter, had never handled so well on the turns. As a result, the first ten to finish all beat the late Bill Vukovich...
Last week the Pope had something to say about speed to participants of the second world congress of the International Road Federation: "Individuals, societies and nations must enter a universal race for greater and greater speed to the glory of God . . . Dispensaries, teachers and missionaries must now travel by speedway, bringing health of body and soul faster than ever before . . . He would be a heartless man who opposed building of speedways and their...