SAM HANKS NO 28 Car: Walsh Special; motor, Offenhauser. Age 26 from Alhambra, CA. Pacfic Coast Midget Champ in 1937. In 1939 he won the
National Championship board meet at Chicago. Last year at Indy he was flagged down after Shaw won. Qualified this year at 118.211.
Hanks received the first Speedway's race- eve accident when his car spun and somersaulted during an eleventh hour practice run. Hanks was thrown
from the car after it turned over with him in it. He sustained minor injuries but the car was totally wrecked. Hanks was driving at a pace faster than at any time this year when it
appeared that the rear wheels locked and the car went out of control going into the southeast turn. After spinning down onto the apron it plunged through the inner guard rail and turned end
over end at least four times. Estimates that the car traveled 250 yards from the time it began to skid to the end.
OVERTON PHILLIPS NO 26 Car: Phillips Special; motor Miller. Age 33 from Beverly Hills, CA . Raced here in 1937 but an accident in front
of the pits kept him from finishing the race. Has raced on dirt tracks for a number of years and his car, one of the smallest in the race has one of the largest motors. Qualified at 116.298
DEACON LITZ NO 32 Out of the race in the 39th lap due to a smoking oil pump
LOUIE DURANT NO 44 Car: S and J Special; motor, Mercury. Age 30 from Glendale, CA Raced at Syracuse, Milwaukee, and Springfield,IL. Appeared at
Indy last year and qualified at 116.152 but had been forced out of the starting field.
RENE LeBEGUE is one race driver who refused to allow circumstances to keep him from the "500". Rene brought his French built Talbot over the
Pyrenees through Portugal and across 3000 miles of ocean from France. He attempted to qualify but his 115 mph speed wasn't enough to win him a starting position.
I hope you enjoyed this web site. I spent many hours scanning old photo's and trying to fix them so they would be presentable on this format. It was my feeling
that the compilation of this information would be of great interest to those who choose to visit this site. If I have made any mistakes that need to be corrected let me know
A Martha's Vineyard Web Site by Classic Car Collector. com
